Tag: baking

The Calm in the Craft

Today, I set up a wedding cake. I haven’t done much of that in a while. The blessing called Amaka has held the fort for me at the bake shop for a couple of years now.
Every once in a while I get a day or two off work, and when there’s some baking to be done, Amaka almost always goes; ‘Aha, ma, you will work today. e don tey wei you work’.
I was off work on Thursday and Friday, so I worked on a wedding cake at the bake shop… And so today we set up at the venue.

There’s something about the final moments, the precision, the little adjustments, the way everything comes together… it feels deeply satisfying. Standing back to look at it, I felt it again: this is something I love…

…But alongside that feeling came another truth, just as clear… I am not ready to fully step into the hustle of it… Again.

I had to sit with that thought…Because we often tell ourselves that if we love something, we should go all in. Turn it into a business. Scale it. Push it. Monetize it. Build something big out of it.
But what if love doesn’t always need pressure to prove itself?

Baking, for me, is more than a skill or a side hustle. It is a soft place. A quiet rhythm. Measuring, mixing, watching something rise, layering, coating and frosting… it settles me. It brings me back to myself in a way very few things do.

I’ve come to realize something important: There is a difference between loving a part of something and wanting to carry the full weight of it… I love the setup, the artistry and the moment where everything comes together beautifully.

But the constant demand? The deadlines, the pressure, the expectation to always be “on”? That part feels heavy. I’ve done that full time and I’ve done it part time. I think I am more at peace with the part time.

And I am not ready to trade my all of my calm for that. So maybe the answer isn’t “all in” or “not at all.” Maybe it looks like this:
Choosing baking as my soft space first, and a business second.
Taking on only what excites me.
Saying yes slowly, intentionally.
Letting it grow gently, without force.

I don’t have to turn my passion into nonstop chase, I can choose to create at my own pace and become the kind of baker people are happy to wait for…
Because the truth is, I don’t want to lose the part of baking that heals me just to gain the part that pays me.

That feeling I had today… setting up that cake… it wasn’t a push to do more… It was a reminder of what matters.
I can hold both.
The calm… and the craft.

Black Goodness

I lived in Lagos city for some time and while I did, my late uncle’s wife was a darling to me, she made sure her house felt like home to me and she made sure food was not a thing I had to worry about. Her generosity and love didn’t help when it came to my mental state of mind and she sensed it.  She once said; “Mimi bakes when she is depressed”. We laughed about it, but she was right.

Lagos is a tough city and isn’t for the faint hearted, whenever it took its toll on me, I would stop by the market, stock up on all the necessary ingredients, go home, bake, leave it in the kitchen for anyone who wanted to eat and then I would go upstairs and catch up on a TV series or watch a movie.

I used to love baking, not so much anymore, but I still enjoy it every now and again. For someone who loves to bake, you would expect that I eat a lot of cake. The reverse is the case; I could go months without eating cake. However, there’s one cake that I can never walk by without wanting to have a slice or two or maybe more. My blogtober challenge will not be complete if I do not use one of my days to share the recipe.

Black Midnight Cake.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of coffee
  • 1 cup of milk
  • ½ cup of vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 1 ¾ cups of plain flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¾ cup dark cocoa powder

Note: you need extra flour or cocoa powder on the side to dust the pans after you have greased them with butter.

Method:

  • In a bowl, combine all wet ingredients; coffee, milk, vegetable oil and eggs (beaten). Stir well till all ingredients blend together.
  • In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients; sugar, flour (sieved), baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder. Mix all together till they are well blended.
  • Make a well in your dry ingredients and begin to add the wet ingredients as you stir, stir till the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.
  • Pour in your greased and dusted pans and bake for 30 minutes. (2 pans preferably).
  • Try not to over bake this cake, it is meant to be soft and moist. Insert a tooth pick in the middle of the cake to check, if it comes out clean and dry then your cake is ready.

As a coffee lover, I think the main thing that draws me to this cake is the rich aroma and taste of coffee. Whenever I bake a batch for myself, I love to enjoy it with a good cup of black coffee.

Do you like cake? What’s your favourite flavour?