Written by Guest Writer – Baci Cake Baker
Isn’t it amazing how much Lockdown has taught us about our personal limitations, or, more precisely, the lack thereof? So many of the things we have simply taken for granted that we thought we could, or could not, do – have been turned on their head. Baking cupcakes, as it turns out, is one of them.
We have upskilled ourselves in issues such as family dynamics, just being alone in a room, and just getting out of the ruts we placed ourselves in. This is especially true when it comes to what to feed my family.
As a working mom with two teenage daughters and a son, in my home, it has become the norm that I or the girls cook, and my hubby and son wash up.
Why? Because we have always followed the stereotype.
But Lockdown changed all the stereotypes and paradigms in our lives, and it sure upped the ante of the importance of food in our homes.
Our next meal, or snack, was suddenly the most important point of discussion in my home. The family now expects a lot more of each other, as the meal planner and budget shopper.
Between my hubby and three ravenous teens, I found myself in the beginning constantly bombarded with “What can I eat?” and “Not pasta again!” to the point that I exploded and insisted on a family meeting. “Now!” I demanded sternly.
Given the fact that I was the food planner in the house, I knew I had the upper hand. None of them thought they could manage without me. And so, I used my position of strength: “Firstly,” I said firmly, “everyone is going to have to play their part.”
By the time we got up from the table, food and cooking, were never to be the same again.
Everyone, including myself, understood that we had to extend the repetitive menu items we had grown accustomed to.
We would, in the future, make new dishes, using flavour that was not part of our usual fare. I pledged to return to home baking which I really enjoyed when first married. Snacks, sides, and deserts would be cooked as far as possible.
In fact, we decided, we would not make anything we were used to having. It would all be new, and the girls and I would share our passion for cooking by having one of the two boys at our sides every time we made or baked anything.
While my hubby and son were a bit skeptical that they could learn such things at first. Cooking? Baking? Meal planning?
We started right away. I told the boys to get ready for their first lesson and decided to bake the old failsafe of cupcakes. Baking cupcakes can’t fail, I reasoned, and we didn’t have to create the perfect cupcake just yet.
I Googled cupcake tips to make sure I would not make a fool of myself. After all, with three teens, this was something I had not done in a decade. The guys were very keen starters and would ask me questions as we went along.
Of course, choosing cupcakes as our first project turned out to be a masterstroke. We mixed two batches of creamy vanilla batter as each of them wanted a turn. Cupcakes are easy to mix and bake and the boys did a sterling job, except it looked like a cyclone had filled up their cups. Each of the kids has their own personality and these came out in their flair for making the cupcakes, two are quite conservative and filled the cups with less batter. And the other two, being outgoing and mischievous tried to put enough batter into one cup that would easily fill three.
I just stood back and allowed them to experiment. They needed to make mistakes and learn from them. I had used the same philosophy when teaching my daughters, with the same amount of mess.
Needless to say, when their creations came out of the oven, they were proud as punch. As we waited for their fare to cool, I taught them both how to make silky buttercream to add that perfect final touch.
Icing became a creative competition between the two boys; they were like two kids on Christmas morning. Later, I would teach them how to create using fondant icing.
It wasn’t long before our boys were falling over themselves to add to what became their insatiable quest to outbake the girls and I.
