Food

 

You’ve probably heard of stress-baking, but for me, it’s the opposite. While many people who like to bake

tend to do so in moments of high stress, I can only bake in moments of relaxation. When I’m relaxed,
baking comes naturally, and I can let my worries dissipate from the back of my mind and immerse myself
in baking.

I usually put on some upbeat music and play it from my bluetooth speaker or in my bluetooth
headphones and lip-sync along to the lyrics as I gather my ingredients and materials to make cupcakes,
my go-to dish. When I say ingredients, I mean eggs, water, oil, and cake mix. Yes, I’m that kind of baker.
Some laugh, but I honestly believe that even baking with pre-prepared mix requires some level of skill.
It doesn’t hurt that I never have to spend time frantically searching for recipes; it’s right there on the box
in front of me. Besides, when the cupcakes finally come out of the oven and you sink your teeth into the
fluffy, heavenly, melt-in-your-mouth goodness, you wouldn’t care whether it was a cake mix cupcake or
one made from scratch.

I set the oven to preheat, then I crack the eggs, positioning them so the gooey mess of egg whites and
yolks plop in the mixing bowl in front of me, and, using my trusted whisk, I beat them to the tune of the
fast-paced music. Then I take the cake mix batter and unceremoniously dump it into the bowl. I know, I
know. I am committing a baking crime. The more professional way of mixing batter is mixing all the dry
ingredients first, then gently incorporating the liquid ingredients. Sue me, but I just want to avoid using
numerous bowls and end up using more water to wash them. I mix the beaten eggs and the cake mix
together, then dump all the needed water and oil in. I am breaking another baking rule by not slowly
pouring in my liquid ingredients, but I’m an upperclassman in high school: there’s only so much free time
I have. 

I stir the dry and wet ingredients together, which often leaves my arms aching, but when I catch a whiff
of the finished batter, it makes it all worth it. I grab my rainbow assortment of cupcake liners and place
them in the cupcake tray. Using a scoop-like utensil, I spoon the batter into each liner, trying my best not
to overfill it, and invariably failing every time. I check the oven and hope it’s preheated, but more often
than not, it isn’t (my oven takes an ungodly amount of time to preheat), so I settle down with a book or
scroll through Instagram for a few minutes until the oven is ready. I pull on my favorite (and only) mitts
and carefully place the tray into the oven.

After setting a timer to check on the cupcakes, I am free. Sometimes, I go back to reading my book or
scrolling through Instagram, but other times, I play Smash Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch with my little
brother. No matter what I do, I drop it when my timer goes off and rush to the oven, hoping they turn out
fine. I take a toothpick and slowly insert it into one of the cupcakes and pull it back out to make sure the
cupcakes are perfectly baked. Excitedly, I remove the tray and leave it on the counter to cool before
carefully extracting the cupcakes. Before I know it, my family is crowding around me, seeing how they
look and trying to snatch one.

My family is very religious, even though I’m not, so my mom always insist that every confection I bake be
placed in front of framed pictures of Hindu gods for a few minutes as a sort of offering. Those few
minutes of waiting are agonizing, but at least it prevents my dad from sneaking half of the entire batch
the second I take my eyes off the cupcakes. Finally, the wait is over and the moment of truth arrives.
As my mom, dad, and little brother watch on, I take a tiny bite from one of the cupcakes and almost melt
on the spot. I’ve been fortunate to never have messed up anything I’ve baked. This time is no different;
the cupcakes are to die for.

My family each takes one, and sometimes they go back to what they were doing, but other times, we just
sit together and talk over the plate of cupcakes, grabbing another as soon as the first is completed.
These are some of the happiest moments of my life, which is why I try to capture them in photographs.
I especially enjoy photographing my artwork (yes, baking is art), sometimes even more than I enjoy
actually eating them. The supply of cupcakes quickly dwindles, especially because my parents love
sharing them with their friends, but as long as I got to eat at least three, I don’t mind. Instead, I look
forward to the next time I’m free and relaxed enough to bake, and simply binge baking championship
shows in the meantime.

When the time finally comes, I do it all over again.

Bonus pictures of what I’ve baked:

(the last one was a fun creation made by my friends for my birthday many years ago)

(i know this one doesn't count, but it's still technically a baked food)