When I first started baking, around age seven, a batch of rock cakes, afghans or Anzac biscuits were the standard entry-level bake – the goal just being to make something edible! Then, as you became more accomplished, you’d try a banana cake, tan square, or even a scone.
Now thanks to social media and TV shows such as The Great Kiwi Bake Off, home baking has been elevated to a higher art form, now able to be judged, critiqued and voted upon.
Meanwhile, despite the hype, baking resolutely remains enjoyable, pleasing and calming, requiring your full attention and focus while engaging all your senses. A practice of mindfulness, in fact; or as psychologists call it, “behavioural activation”.
And then there are the rewards; baking never stops being magical. Something flat…
