Everyday Life Vegan Lifestyle

5 Reasons Why I Like to Bake

When I recently told a friend how much I liked baking, she looked horrified. ‘But all that mess!’ she exclaimed. She’s right – it definitely causes a mess – but as I’ve mentioned before, I’d choose getting covered in flour and icing sugar over cooking an evening meal any day.

Knowing how much I enjoy baking, for my birthday Ian bought me Ms. Cupcake’s book ‘The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town’, and words cannot express how much I love it. Over the years, we’ve bought a few different vegan baking books, but they all seem to be aimed towards the American market and include ingredients not readily available in the UK. With Ms. Cupcake, it’s different – I can actually purchase all of the ingredients with ease. In fact, most of them, I already have. Bonus! So on a Sunday, one of my new favourite things to do is bake, and here’s why:

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It’s relaxing:

Okay, okay, apart from the clearing up afterwards, which is the exact opposite – I find the act of baking really relaxing. I find myself in the zone and even when there’s an incident with the icing sugar, I find myself staying calm rather than losing my rag like I do with cooking.

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It’s creative:

Being creative feeds my soul and I use the right side of my brain a hell of a lot more than the left. But let’s face it, as much as I like to write, print and make things, I also need other creative outlets. With baking, I find myself lost in the zone – especially with the decorating and finishing touches. Having said that, I don’t find myself getting overly attached to the outcome like with other creative activities.

To prove that vegan food is tasty:

There seems to be this notion that vegan food is bland and tasteless when in reality it’s the opposite. When Ian takes cakes into work, many people are surprised by how good it tastes: ‘This is vegan? But it tastes just like a real cake!’.

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I get praise:

That sounds a bit shit when I see it written down, but we all like getting praise right? It makes us feel warm, fuzzy and uplifted. I’m not a natural in the kitchen and I hate cooking, but making cakes for others gives me the chance to practice my baking skills on someone other than Ian. 24 cupcakes = way too many for me and Ian to eat, so we have a couple each and then he takes the rest to work the next day. I love getting my cake report and hearing comments like: ‘yummy, delicious, light and fluffy’. What a great way to start the week!

Although, I’m not sure it’s all about the praise. I think this is also linked to proving that vegan food is tasty; it’s knowing I’m helping to crush the rumours that surround vegan foods, and I love hearing how surprised people are.

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I get to eat cake:

And last but by definitely no means least, I get to eat cake. Tasty, delicious, homemade, light and fluffy, yummy, vegan cake.

Do you like baking? What’s your favourite thing to make?

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