Bake-Queen

Yes. I’m baking. Again. It really should be no surprise to those who know me. It is the holiday season, after all, and nothing says Holly Jolly Christmas like trying to pull myself out of Seasonal Depression like sweets and gluten.

So for this post, I figured it is a sufficient time to both share my latest creations and address the question many think and few ask: Why do you bake?

Of course, this is related to the questions: How do you find the time to bake? (I multitask and make it a priority) How do you keep from eating everything you bake? (I don’t) What do you do with all those bakes‽ (Freeze them for later or pawn them off on my coworkers)

Before we get too far, let me say that today’s bakes are specifically FOR my coworkers and not a pawning off. You see, we finally have permission from the powers-that-be to have a voluntary staff get together after our Wednesday staph meeting this week. One of my coworkers who spent time teaching in Sweden (and is a Swede like me) suggested we have a Fika, which is a traditionally long coffee break where people gather to eat, drink, and socialize at work — something that even my introverted self missed after a year of working from home during Covid.

Let me also clarify that my baking suffered during the teach-from-home dumpster fire. I had no one to share my bakes with AND I started a very strict diet. Baking was pushed aside for quite some time, but I’m back, baby!

I’ve made star bread before, which is something like the bread my mom used to make when I was little — she called it stollen bread because that’s what the lady at church called it who shared the recipe, but I now know this isn’t stollen bread. I modified a recipe online from King Arthur Baking to create the first star — a cinnamon and mixed spice star with decorative sugar. Classic.

For the other bake I decided to be more adventurous and modify another baker’s recipe ( https://www.womanscribbles.net/almond-star-bread/) to turn it into my vision of heaven on earth. I give you: the Almond-Cherry Christmas Star of Awesome. Filled with almond paste and chopped dried cherries, sprinkled with slivered almonds, and garnished with maraschino cherries and almond-flavored icing. I sure hope it tastes as good as it looks!

My coworkers better like it.

Which gets me to the point of this week’s/month’s post (let’s be honest — I’m not consistent with my blog)… why I bake.

For me, baking is therapeutic. There is a goal to meet, steps to take, and decisions to make. I can be with my family but also alone. I can lose myself in the task and indulge my creative side while also feeding the mathematical side of my personality.

Baking is order.

And baking is chaos.

Baking is making an absolute mess of my kitchen while simultaneously building a delightful and (hopefully) intricate confection. Baking is measuring, precision, gut instinct, and passion.

Baking is smiles on faces as the first taste hits the palate and the frustration of lopsided cakes and over baked breads.

It is the marriage of exactness and unpredictability. It keeps my wandering mind in line and keeps my ego in check.

And the more I share it, the more I challenge myself. Because if it was not for sharing those perfectly pillowy breads and uniformly shaped cookies with others, then I’d stagnate. Where is the joy in that?

That is why I bake.