On Sunday, I baked

I don’t bake very often, I’m more of a cook as opposed to a baker. However on this particular Sunday I made a (gluten and dairy free) cake from scratch- that’s right there was no packet mix in sight! When I was younger I would never use a packet mix to bake anything, however since I was diagnosed with my allergies I’ve found making things from scratch such as cakes more laborious not to mention expensive and just far easier to open a box.

For some reason on this day I felt like baking which isn’t a feeling I get that often, mostly because I can’t stand the washing up associated with it. But this particular experience made me realise that I do actually enjoy baking and the sense of achievement felt afterwards (or tears of failure). On this occasion, I made a sponge cake which is something my Gran always used to make for me because it was my favourite so as a result when I was older I asked her to teach me and pass on the recipe (which she did!).

Now, my sponges are nowhere near as good as hers (especially as mine now have to be gluten free which changes the texture of the cake slightly) but the experience did evoke fond memories of us baking together and me being told off for putting far too much plum jam on my piece of cake- which used to happen A LOT- or me burning my fingers because it’d only just come out of the oven and was too hot to touch just yet.

All in all, it was a frugal experience (the ingredients aren’t overly expensive) and also a mindful one as it made me appreciate years gone. I will say this though, it was definitely minimalist as this sponge cake wasn’t in existence for very long at all! But jokes aside, it was an experience I gave myself that cost very little and brought back pleasant childhood memories and I’ve used this as a reminder that it’s probably something I should take the time to do a bit more often, simply by putting aside Netflix or my phone.

Is baking one of your favourite pastimes?