The Joy of Baking

Baking makes me feel productive.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, after far too many hours flitted away on the internet, I wander into my kitchen and pull two sticks of butter and a few eggs out of the fridge. I walk over to the stereo, thumb through the records, and settle on a Van Morrison LP (I have been on a big-time Van Morrison kick lately). While the butter and eggs come to room temperature, I meander about the kitchen, grooving to the music while pulling out the flour, the sugar, and the vanilla extract, and then zesting a couple of lemons. There is nothing in the world like baking while rocking out to good music.

I pull the cake pan out of the cupboard, pat a slice of butter onto some wax paper and rub down the pan. Next the oven goes on to pre-heat. And then I start to sing along to the music.

One by one, the ingredients go into the bowl—butter beaten with the sugar; eggs cracked in one-by-one; drops of vanilla added; a squirt of lemon juice; a sprinkle of lemon zest; and slowly, slowly, the flour sifted in. I stir, and I stick my finger in the batter to taste. Mmmmm. I think that I need to taste it again. Yep. One more taste is needed. Sweet. I pour the batter into the pan, and slide it into the oven. The timer goes on. “Into the Mystic,” comes on, and I start to clean up the mixing bowls and spoons—enjoying every minute of it.

Three quarters of an hour later, my house smells like sweet lemons with a hint of vanilla. I pull the cake out of the oven, and let it cool.

I made something.

I started with flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. Now it is a sweet indulgence to have with a cup of tea. My Saturday feels a little more productive, and a little more decadent. My friend coming over to visit will now feel a little more special, because I baked a cake for her. I made it. And we all know that the best gifts are homemade.

Baking a cake for the people I love is the best way that I can say ‘thank you’—thank you for love, support, and friendship—please have a sweet piece of indulgence that I made for you. And that is just what I am going to do in September at our wedding. There is no better way for Ben and I to thank the people who have loved and supported us, separately and as a couple, than to serve them a piece of cake, that I made with my own two hands—starting with just butter, eggs, flour, and sugar, and crafting it into a delicious work of art.

So yes, sorry for my abrupt (and unannounced) departure from my posts, but I was caught in a whirlwind of wedding planning, because (just in case it was not obvious already) Ben and I decided to get married. We are quite thrilled, and while deciding upon a place, a date, a photographer, and all that jazz is quite hectic, there has been one given from the start—I am baking the cake.