What’s inside – Substance over style
It’s what’s inside that counts.
I am so excited to see that baking has become so popular. Scroll through your Instagram. I bet you follow at least one baker. In my feed, I am overwhelmed by pictures of pretty desserts. Intricate piping, torched meringue, 3D sugar work, and gold leaf top every confection. Oh my goodness, it’s pretty. But how does it taste?
I was at an event and a friend unboxed two gorgeous cakes. I mean it. They were stunning. Intricate piping in an ombre style. I was so impressed, and immediately I wondered if the inside would be as good as the outside.
Fancy desserts have become expensive.
A birthday cake from a bakery shop (not the grocery store) can be $50-80. When I see the intricate decorations topping the cake, I understand why, but I am often disappointed when I take my first bite.
Back to the event. One cake was a vanilla and chocolate marble cake and the other was lemon. Or at least that’s what I read on the box. I had to read the box because after several bites of each cake, I had no idea what flavour they were. No idea at all. They tasted spongy, dense, and flavourless. I knew the host had paid a small fortune for the cakes, and I felt bad.
Confession here…I am not a great cake decorator. Not by a long shot. I describe my style as rustic and delicious. I think my cakes are respectable looking, but certainly not up to the decorating standards expected today. But I KNOW my cakes taste great. And that’s what matters to me.
Once someone accused me of baking to get attention. They couldn’t have been further from the truth. Honestly, I bake for me. Getting my hands into the dough or pastry, and bringing the batter together in the mixer is therapeutic for me. It relaxes me and helps me to think. When I bake something for someone, my intention is to give them something they will love with flavours that excite their tastebuds. And if I can master a new technique or skill along the way, I am delighted, but that isn’t the motivation.
The internet is such a fantastic place to find inspiration. There are so many baking blogs and recipes, and more and more I hear people telling me they just find recipes online. This concerns me a bit. As a person with a bit of a cookbook addiction, I believe that a cookbook helps you to find the best recipes. Ones with substance. Once you have tried a recipe from a cookbook, you can judge the success of the recipe. Try a few more and you determine if this author shares your culinary point of view. When I find a book that embraces tart and salty flavours, I know I have found a winner for me and it helps me to feel more confident when I try new things. The author becomes a friend who has my back. Now it’s the best of both worlds when my favourite cookbook authors also have websites. Here are a couple of my go-to cookbook authors:
David Lebovitz – https://www.davidlebovitz.com/
Anna Olson – http://www.annaolson.ca/
Dorie Greenspan – https://doriegreenspan.com/
Working in theatre I see a lot of new people all the time. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to learn someone else’s flavour profile and build a cake or confection that matches it.
As much as I love Instagram, I wish there was a way to convey how something tastes, not just how it looks. My Plain Jane cakes may not be the prettiest but I would confidently put them toe to toe with just about any cake in my feed.
