Journal 4
Baking has been my favorite leisure activity for a while. As the pastry turns golden brown in the oven, its fragrance gradually surrounds me and takes all my worries away. Baking is also an opportunity to get along with my family. When I plan to bake something, my brother is always there to help me prepare the ingredients. He really enjoys mixing the dough, and he often jokes about how the motion grows his muscles. My sister, on the contrary, hates to get her hands sticky and covered with flour, so she usually chooses to brew a nice pot of coffee to keep our pastry company. After the set is ready on the table, my parents come downstairs and dine with us. We have a sip of coffee and take a bite of pastry. Who doesn’t want to have such a moment refreshing the beginning of a day?
According to the feedback from my family, Basque Cheesecake is the one they are most satisfied with and looking forward to the most. While bearing such high expectations, Basque Cheesecake makes them content almost without effort. The ingredients it needs are so simple that I don't really need to memorize them: cream, cream cheese, eggs, flour, sugar, and that's all! However simple it is, the essence of Basque Cheesecake is the slightly "burn" surface. Sometimes that part tastes like coffee, and sometimes it tastes like caramel, taking a common cheese to another level. To make this kind of feature, all I have to do is simply adjust the temperature when I put the batter in the oven. When living in my dorm, I also use an air-fryer to bake Basque Cheesecake, and the outcome is pretty much the same as using an oven. Another interesting part of making Basque Cheesecake is that it allows me to have various experiments on it because of its simplicity. Adding nuts or tea powder are basic things to do. The most profound achievement of mine is to blend my favorite fruit --- custard apple into the batter. Though my friend sampled it and didn't give a nice reaction, I still think highly of this innovative combination.
Scone is another item which I am good at making. The crunchy edge and the fluffy texture make it a wonderful choice to be breakfast. If having additional fruits in the refrigerator, I will also cook marmalade on my own, and to me the pomelo one matches scones the best. Compared with Basque Cheesecake, scone requires more technique to make a perfect one. Temperature is still the key factor, but this time it lies in the process of mixing butter and flour. To form the appropriate fluffy texture, butter must be put in refrigerator beforehand. Otherwise, it will melt during blending and make the dough too soft. Finally, it may taste more like bread, which is far from what a scone gourmet is looking for. The procedure has to be quick and somehow “casual.” When you try to rub every chunk of butter with flour into crumbs, you’re allowing butter to have more time to melt. Because of the skills needed, scone is the recipe I do the most frequently, sometimes for hunger, sometimes for practice. And that’s why I have confidence to say that I can guide people who are not fans of scone to find a way to appreciate it.
carrot cake
carrot brownie
carrot cake
carrot cake
My Come BAKE Stage
Once I get familiar with baking, it is not only a leisure activity but also an option of my meal. There are several pieces of scone dough in my freezer, waiting for me to bake them as breakfast. Somebody consider baking to take too much time and they are too busy to do that. However, baking is a kind of meditation to me. The delicate process always helps me clam my emotions and organize my thoughts. I’m glad to have this peaceful moment in my daily life.