Brownie Points

I am no timekeeper.

It's been well over six months since my last post and I have many bake tales to catch up on. I guess part of my absence was due to the fact that there was much in life to be taken care of, including tending to a 9-6 (sometimes past that), finding time to work on other commitments, and occasionally having an overwhelming reaction to the realities of day-to-day adulting.

All things considered, baking remains close to my heart, and it continues to be that one thing that helps keep my sanity intact for the most part. A little update on what kept me particularly busy last Christmas - I had my first ever seasonal bake sale!

This was something I'd always wanted to do, but yet never had the courage to. Here's what happened. Few weeks before Christmas I was toying with the idea of a mass baking project, and I figured, what better idea than churning out a box of brownies to make people happy? So I made a tester batch and had my peers try it, to which they reacted positively to. Not long after, orders trickled in - and I was pretty much on my feet daily until 3am for the subsequent few weeks leading up to Christmas, double boiling cocoa, sifting bowls of flour, splattering salted caramel all over trays, then going to bed exhausted yet happy.

Tester batch. No, that's not a dirty fingernail, but an inked one having voted in my constituency's by-election.

The USP for this bake sale was essentially - Salted Caramel Cocoa Brownies. A combination so classic yet jazzy that many would find hard to resist. The initial challenge was making the caramel, and to strike that balance of salting it to an optimum point proved tricky. My first few tries resulted in crystallised pots of sugar, and it wasn't until after a few more attempts that I realised I hadn't put a lid on my pot while the sugar water simmered away. So, pro-tip - cover your pots while making your caramel. Trust me, it works.

To amp up the brownie experience, I made sure to bake some caramel in with the brownies, and once baked and cooled, to drizzle the tray with another round of salted caramel. Because, why not?

Traybake, with sprinkles of biscoff crumbs baked in.

This bake sale has given me joy and slight pressure knowing that I had commercial expectations to fulfil. Granted, most orders were handed out to friends, or friends of friends, but the perfectionist in me made it a point to ensure every bite lived up to what was represented. But my thanks to those who gave me their feedback and encouragement. On to Christmas 2019 :)