Why I Bake

I bake, not because I like mixing dough or achieving the perfect frosting swirl. I bake because I love people. I love the joy that spreads across someone’s face when they take that first bite of something delicious. I cherish each birthday and celebration cake I have made to honor someone’s existence and/or achievements. I bake to say thank you to those around me for the happiness they bring me, by being in my life.

I remember baking with my grandmother and my mother at a young age. There’s some recipes that will always taste of childhood. But my desire to bake flourished in high school. The introvert in me has always been a bit of a wallflower. But one day, I made a few too many cupcakes for the number of friends I had, and I just shared them with whomever I came across. There are few things that will brighten your day, like an unexpected cupcake. So I kept baking. And kept sharing. I even earned my own superlative in the yearbook. For someone that feels most at home fading into the background, this was an unusual turn of events. But I liked it.

I continued baking through college, even moonlighting as a pro-bono baker for the on-campus coffeehouse one semester. But grad school was where I honed my craft. I had class on my birthday one year, and I baked cupcakes to share. They were pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. From that point forward, I again came to be known for my baking. I would bake cake balls for the faculty each holiday season, and stocked the honor society bake sales with cupcakes and cookies.

After finishing grad school, baking just became what I did for people. My friends & coworkers are often the (gracious) guinea pigs for my culinary endeavors. My dinner group has been a true laboratory for my cake baking skills. I actually had a chance to write something up about it in the Hoboken Grace blog that, in part, inspired this post.

Baking is a sort of calculated creativity. And with anything in life, there are plenty of times when things aren’t perfect, but they still taste delicious.