Last Saturday morning I decided to combat the bleakness of the rains pummeling against my windows with the warms smells of baking and coffee.
Wild-berry “protein” muffins fresh out the oven!
I made myself some wild-berry “protein” muffins. Now before you go giving me any undue credit, I used a mix…but, as I often do when making food, I did change up the recipe and add a few of my own ingredients. That’s usually easier to do with cooking than baking, given the exactness required more often in baking recipes but I find muffins to be pretty forgiving.
Fun story: In high school Home Economics class my group put all the melted butter listed for the recipe in our orange muffin batter. While the muffins were baking we went to prepare the topping and realized the butter was meant to top the muffins with. There was a slight panic in the eyes of four plaid-clad young ladies! What happened to the muffins, you ask? They came out looking perfect! We melted more butter, topped them with zest and sugar and got rave reviews for our super moist creations! HIGH-FIVE!
For Saturday’s muffins I just substituted vanilla protein powder for the milk and added more spice with cinnamon and nutmeg. I added some flax too, just for a bit more nutritional value.
I love my well worn muffin tin. It reminds me of fond times chatting over morning muffins with roommates and my sister.
September is a new month and so it’s time for a new letter: B! Inspired by our new letter and morning muffins, our first FFF is all about baking.
Encyclopedia.com defines baking as:
two culinary processes: cooking by dry heat in an enclosed oven and making up flour-based goods (breads, cakes, pastries) that are cooked by baking. By extension a baking day is devoted to making breads and cakes and includes the idea of a batch bake or tray bake made up in quantity for cutting into smaller pieces.
and lists the occupations of the trade as the baker and the pastry chef:
the baker using yeast to make breads and the pastry cook producing delicate pastries and cakes.
Bakers and Pastry Chefs have a patron saint all their own; Saint Honore. Honore was a Bishop and, fittingly, French. When Honore became Bishop, a woman baking didn’t believe it and to prove he was indeed Bishop, a piece of her bread was placed in the ground and grew into a tree. Celebrate on May 16th by baking with fruit from trees, like a lemon pound cake!
Saw this helpful hint on Today I Found Out:
And an found article from Wise Bread to help crack the code! Buy Better Bread!
One of the first things I helped my mother bake, cake. My mom was incredible and made all the cakes for my siblings and cousins. She was a master of themes and icing, creating everything from an army battle field to a Care Bear.
Cakes come in all shapes and sizes now but were traditionally round and here’s why:
Find out about the history of cakes from Weekend Notes!
This symbolizes the cyclical nature of life, the sun and the moon, which is probably the reason why we have cakes during important events; highlighting that we are embarking on a new journey in our life-span.
Ancient breads were also round, typically fashioned into round balls and baked in shallow pans. In the 17th century, cake hoops made from metal or wood were increasingly used.
Now everyone together, you know the song…“Cake-Cake-Cake-Cake-Cake”
Know who the Guiness World Record holder for the world’s largest brownie is? All American Cooking does!
It’s Something Sweet BakeShop in Daphne, Alabama who used 432 eggs, 216 pounds of sugar, 108 cups of flour, and 27 pounds of chocolate, 54 pounds of butter, to make the 234.2 pound confection! Sounds like just enough chocolaty deliciousness to satisfy my sweet tooth!
I hope these fun facts have preheated your desire-to-bake-oven! Click around on the links for more fun baking facts and tips and check back on SAS for upcoming baking ideas. Remeber, baking should be like these facts, fun! It doesn’t have to be from-scratch to count either. Slice-and-bake cookie? Yummy! Box cornbread? Yes, please! Cake from a mix? Make mine fun-fetti!
So my dear readers, whether you’re an oven novice or a pro,
Blissfully Bust-out some Baking!
What’s your favorite thing to bake or favorite baking tip? Let us hear it below!
some alphabet soup 