I’ve enjoyed baking ever since I was about nine or ten years old. I remember being bored in the summer sometimes, so I would flip through my mom’s Southern Living cookbooks and find a cake to bake. I mainly chose what I wanted to make based on whether or not the recipe featured a pretty picture. I made it my goal to make my cake look the same as the cake in the picture.
I continued baking on and off through middle and high school. I always enjoyed whipping something up for get-togethers with friends. I started college several years ago when the cupcake craze began to take off, and I quickly discovered how much I love to make cupcakes.
My love for baking grew throughout college, and I started getting requests from my friends to make a certain cake or cupcake for their birthdays. I didn’t mind at all and actually enjoyed being able to make the various treats. Baking has always been a great way for me to disconnect from everything else going on in my life and put my focus into whatever I’m creating.
Like every baker, I’ve had my fair share of sweets that didn’t turn out right. I vividly remember one baking disaster in particular. In fourth grade, my friend and I were making chocolate chip cookies and thought it would be fine to substitute cake flour for regular flour. We were very wrong. Instead pulling out delicious chocolate cookies out of the oven, we pulled out one huge runny “cookie.” Lesson learned.
One of my favorite parts of baking is the process of making my treats look pretty. One of the reasons I particularly love baking cakes and cupcakes is because there are so many creative ways to decorate them. Anyone can follow a recipe and throw together some cupcakes, but not everyone can ice them beautifully and then top each cupcake off with a coordinating decoration.
My friends and family tell me they can see me opening a little cupcake bakery one day, but I honestly don’t see myself doing that. I enjoy baking as a hobby, but I don’t think I would love it like I do now if I was required to do it for my full-time job. I think I’ll stick with baking for fun right now and will hopefully enjoy being a “Bakingista” for years to come!
--Laura Morton, Bakingista