How It Started vs How It's Going

So, I'm back for a second post!

I'll take it as a good sign that I'm so eager to start my second post so soon after my first, and what better topic to write about than my baking journey so far. 

It feels like the COVID lockdowns happened so long ago, sometimes it even feels like they were part of some fever dream, and it wasn't until I moved home from university in March 2021 that I began to take more of an active interest in baking. I don't want to say that I began to "take myself seriously" as a baker, as this sounds a bit too formal, and I have a bad habit of comparing my bakes to those of professionals. I have to remind myself that I am an amateur baker for whom baking is a hobby to avoid upsetting myself too much when things don't go to plan, or when my finished bake isn't identical to the photos in recipe books.

How it started:

The first lockdown in March 2020 at least had some kind of novel feeling about it. It was something none of us had experienced before, and if, like me, you work in an industry such as hospitality where there were no opportunities for working from home, spending time in the sun in the garden or out on the one walk we were permitted per day became something of a lifeline. 

However, by the time the autumn lockdown of 2020 came around I think it's safe to say we were all sick of it. Daily death tolls were forced down our throats and promises concerning restrictions being lifted were broken. To make it worse, the nice weather of the first lockdowns was nowhere to be seen, it was dark when you woke up in the morning and it was dark when you went to bed at night. Spending time outside became more difficult, and, with nothing but coursework to fill days, it's little wonder I began to feel a little claustrophobic.

I'd take every opportunity to get out of the house for walks, either alone or with other friends (naughty, I know), but this wasn't enough. I needed something to occupy my time when back in the house. It was about this time I rediscovered my love for baking. 

In our third year house at university we didn't watch much TV together, but among the few shows we would get together to watch was The Great British Bake Off (others included Drag Race UK and Gogglebox!). I would have loved to have been able to do a bake-along with certain challenges, however after being out of work for so much of the year I couldn't affords lots of ingredients, so my bakes were quite simple, and often disastrous.

I know they say it's a poor craftsman who blames his tools (or something like that anyway), but honestly the oven in our house was appalling. A couple of weeks before term ended for Christmas we had a house Christmas dinner. Owed to the various restrictions there were only three of us; myself and two of my best friends. How hard could cooking a dinner for three be?

Very, as it turned out.

At around 3pm we started to cook the dinner, and we didn't actually eat until 9pm! It was a weird feeling sitting down to Christmas dinner at one of our desks that we'd used as a makeshift dining table whilst I'm a Celebrity was on in the background. I'm not making excuses, but this gives you a heads up on what our oven was like.

Christmas came early at 3 Railway Street!

To whoever lives at 3 Railway Street now, I hope they've got you a new oven!

One of my first attempts at farmhouse loaves...
Notice the messed up shape of the back loaf...

Brownies, made in the wrong size 
tin and massively overbaked...

A single layer chocolate cake, "decorated"
with what I think are crushed up KitKats...

As you can see in the pictures, my bake at university were simple, and far from pretty. Nonetheless, baking was still the perfect way to procrastinate... putting off coursework whilst simultaneously being productive!  

How it's going:

That's not to say that all my bakes at university were bad! I did make some delicious ginger biscuits to send to friends around Halloween (in the shapes of witches hats, bats, cats and ghosts), and some Halloween themed cupcakes too!

Graveyard Cupcakes!

 

However, after moving back home, where I had readier access to more familiar equipment, I began to bake more frequently, and with arguably more success. There are so many bakes that I'd love to show off, but for now I'll stick with the following three:

Passionfruit Martini Cupcakes!

Coffee and Walnut Financiers!

Lemon and Elderflower Cheesecake!

I'd use any occasion as an excuse to bake something and learn a new skill or develop an unfamiliar technique. Whether it was my sister's engagement meal, for which I made my first ever drip cake (I'll write a post comparing my first drip cake to my latest one as I've learned so much and massively improved!), Christmas, for which I made a Lemon and Ginger Cheesecake (as none of us actually like Christmas Pudding), or various friends' birthdays, any occasion was celebrated with a bake!

I think it's fair to say that my presentation has improved massively! After reading tips from numerous bakers and cooks, such as Nigella, Jane Dunn, Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, and Prue Leith to name just a few , I quickly realised that the tins, piping nozzles, and sometimes even the ingredients I used weren't always fit for purpose. After saving money for a couple of months I began to invest in new equipment, including buying my first stand mixer last December (she's called Veronica, just FYI). I also learned about oven hot spots, how to avoid them and how to utilise them.

I've also made several attempts in vegan and gluten free baking, with various results. I'll write about these sometime in the future, as I really enjoyed the challenges vegan baking can present. 

I have to admit, I'm still a bit unsure how you even sign off on a blog post, and I'm probably rambling on quite a lot on introductory stuff that probably isn't the most interesting. From hereon in I'll try to stay focused on the actual bakes I produce, the methods I follow and the hiccups I encounter along the way!

Gibby x