Scones...all on my own

Sometimes, I ask myself if I am one who always decides based on logic and practicality. Reality could really be harsh at times and they could slap hard on your faces. Good to activate the mind and think rationally, logically and practically. But at times, I suppose I would choose to focus on my heart, communicate with my heart and seek to understand it better. My heart has been telling me the past two days that I should try baking scones on my own and I am glad I listened to it...First time all on my own! Truly exciting as I wondered if I was going to cause a great disaster in the kitchen especially with the oven.  Filled with anxiety, I wondered if I had measured the right amount for all the ingredients. I was kinda worried about the science of baking as precision may not necessarily be my strength. Well, anxiety built up as I started looking at the scones being baked in the oven every three minutes, hoping everything was doing fine in there. And there we go! Out came those scones, not as 'disfigured' as I thought they would be after baking. Well, not the best scones in town and something seemed amiss in the taste but glad that I have given it a try and glad that I had listened to my heart. Ha, my father came home and asked why I had bought so many scones...I was beaming with pride. Did he mean that they  looked presentable enough be sold? :P 

"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." ~ Sir Ken Robinson 

Baking...a science

I was really wishing for a cup of hot tea while we were savouring the freshly baked croissants :P

Before placing it into the oven, a croissant? A crab?...Whatever it is, please do remember to appreciate and savour every bit of a croissant the next time you are eating one coz I must say it's really not easy baking croissants.

Crispy on top and real soft and fluffy beneath...have you ever experienced the excitement of bringing out a tray of freshly baked muffins from the oven? You should :)

Someone's crazy over bananas, hoping that every mouthful of the muffin is filled with pieces of banana :P

Attended a baking class (kinda an informal one I would say) with Mark and Derrick at Sally's place over the weekend. The agenda for that afternoon was banana muffins and croissants. Sally's a real warm, bubbly and friendly housewife. One thing which really amazes me is the fact that she's allergic to dairy products and yet she loves to bake. Yup, I think I can confidently say that it's her passion. I feel that it's not only the knowledge and skills of baking that I have learnt from Sally but also her dispositions and attitude towards her love - baking. Standing at the mixer, putting in one tablespoon of evaporated milk into the mixer at every interval of two minutes and never taking her eyes off the mixer...well, that's very much patience to me. Silly us asked if we could just pour in all the milk at one go into the mixer and she said no firmly, sharing that the shortcut would not give us nice muffins and that every little step counts :P

I remember PY once shared with me that cooking is an art and baking is a science. I think I couldn't agree more. Precision in baking is important but I am not sure if I like the science of it all, it could be somewhat like a form of restriction to me. I think I am someone who doesn't like to follow closely to recipes too. I was also wondering if baking could be an art too, well, maybe to a certain extent. You see, one needs to know the basics of baking and that's science. However, having a good grasp of the knowledge of the basics, the next level would be mastering the art of baking. What do you think?

Baking...is an art

Our last mission for the day - log cake. Yah! Baking ended near midnight but two pats on Rene's and Jakki's shoulders, effort goes to both of them, great job!

All placed in those nice cupcakes boxes...all ready to bring smiles this festive season :)

Rene's favourite design...gave her this high class looking cupcake. Hmm, was thinking about what theme it would come under :)

My design and creation...copyright @ 2010 :P

Love this stage the most! I got to decorate all twelve cupcakes :)

Indeed, baking is an art. Not everyone is a master of this art, it does take many factors to create this art form. One of which which I feel is passion and the next would be perseverance. Because one has passion, one becomes disciplined and resilient enough to keep creating and pursuing despite numerous failures. I am sure Rene and Jakki have failed many times before they could guide me to make those cupcakes :) But I am very sure the satisfaction from the little successes is something to be proud of...Dear Rene and Jakki, thanks for your patience in guiding and teaching me this form of art. Ha, it must be tough trying to answer the questions of this silly gal, explain the various terms and not to forget, having to keep repeating the instructions for this slow learner - me :P Muackz!

Baking...the initial stage

Wooo...so many peaks! Needed to deal with the uneven tops :P

Waiting in anticipation

Patience...part and parcel of the process

I thought one would need a bit of skill to separate the yolk and the white...Rene did a great job :P

Well-equipped...so many kinds and so many types

The last time I really baked was when I was having my Home Economics lessons during my secondary school days (I am not kidding :P). I can still remember how fierce my teacher was, I would always enter the Home Economics room with much fear and anxiety. But well, many years later, glad that I have got the chance to bake again, without a fierce teacher of course :P ...Always marvel at how beautiful Rene's cupcakes are, so beautiful you wouldn't even want to take a bite, not at all. Finally, we managed to arrange for a session to learn a bit of baking from her this December. Hee, but was more interested to design the little cupcakes.