piece of Cake

My love for baking keeps on growing with each passing day. Few months back when someone asked me to write an article for newspaper i choose to write about baking. Although it never got published but still I tried to share my inner most feelings here . Just have a look, what u think of it does it make any difference in your point of view regarding baking or u already agree to it


Finally weather has started to change in Lahore. Long summer evenings are about to end and soon winter breeze will be knocking at our doors. There were times when Lahories used to enjoy wonderful winters. But now you hardly get the proper taste of it and before you know they are already gone. At times one really misses those cold winter mornings when everything is covered in fog. It’s not just the weather but many other things have changed as well. Like, people have changed, their life style, choices of food, sense of dressing every thing changed with time. Some may feel that we are leaving behind our traditions while others may say its part of progress; as they say, “life moves on” hence we adapt to new things and leave the old ones behind.
Our beautiful city Lahore was once known for its liveliness. People knew how to celebrate, have fun and enjoy life for what it is. Amongst all Pakistanis, Lahories were famous for their loudness in expression. Whether we were sad or happy we express in a loud manner. Although this attitude has not much changed, but yes what is changed are the choices we make for expressing our feelings. Once kashmire tea used to be in fashion, now we love to order coffee. Special occasions were used to be celebrated with local sweets such as gulab jamun and laddo, now cakes and pastries have replaced them. This is one of those changes which are for good. How many of us remember those sugar decorated cakes from local bakeries, limited were the options in the past. But now you name it and you have it. It seems all of a sudden there is some kind of a revolution in baking industry. All types of cakes are easily available in the market. Price range starts from 180 rupees per pound and goes up till 1000 rupees.
Baking was never so popular in Pakistan but nowadays it is not just in fashion but also need of the time. Thanks to the famous sit-com FRIENDS coffee shop trend took off and reached the heights of success in no time. Irony has it; we are exposed to a large number of choices by each passing day while on the other hand living expenses are increasing day by day making it even more difficult to enjoy these choices.
Few days back while I was on my way to shop some baking material I met Saira Ali, mother of a 6 year old and she was in search of black food colour. While I was unable to find shortening, she was complaining about not finding the required colour which she had requested couple of weeks back. Her son wanted a Ben 10 cake for his 7th birthday which she was planning to bake herself. “Why you have to go through all the trouble when u can get one from any bakery?” that was my question to her. “Yes it is very much possible to get a customized cake but seriously it is way too expensive”. I could not agree more.
Baking is a vast field, you think you know every thing but then suddenly you realize that there is a lot to learn yet. Thanks to cable and internet common man has been introduced to many things about which he had no idea before. Baking is one of those. From morning till night many channels are teaching their viewers how to bake, and if you are not satisfied with them than all you need to do is type your request on Youtube and a long list of options will open in front of you. Many house wives who used to bake as a hobby started their small bakery business with the help of face book. Sadia is among those house wives whose running her small home made bakery business very successfully. For her cake decorating was an expression of art in the beginning but soon she realized that this skill can earn her some extra money. When asked how she markets her business she replied “Thanks to on line social networking things have gone easier for house wives like me, now all we have to do is make an account on face book and up load pics of our products .people starts responding. This is how I market my cakes. ”.
Unlike cooking, baking is an art which needs a lot of patience and practice to master. It is something that requires expertise’s which comes after years of hard work. All the effort involved in baking gives you a sense of achievement when after taking first bit people say yumiiii. Nothing is compared to that excitement which you feel when your baked cake turns out to be perfect, and smell of freshly baked cookies surrounding your kitchen increases your apatite. Baking is heavenly experience and those who really know how to do it, are the gifted ones. Those who bake can related to that happiness when you bake a cake for your loved ones on their birthday, putting all your love in that one creation is something special which is hard to explain in words.