Welcome to Happy Home Baking, an online journal about my baking and cooking adventures!
I began my baking journey when I became a SAHM. I started with simple bakes like muffins, cookies and quick breads. It took me a while before I baked my first sponge cake, then my first bread, and much longer down the road, I attempted my first chiffon cake. It was a slow journey since I am a cautious baker who doesn't have the courage to try out new ingredients or things that I have not even tasted before. So far, I have not attended any baking classes or workshops, not even a demo session. I would love to give the excuse that I do not have the luxury of time to attend classes. But the truth is, I am simply too lazy to attend a class. Since I have never aspired to become a professional baker or a pâtissier there is no motivation for me to accelerate the learning process. I prefer to take my time and explore a little about baking each day.
Close to 90% of the recipes I posted here were my first attempts. Many of them turn out quite well. I attribute this to following recipes that are easy and simple, using very basic ingredients, nothing too complicated that would confuse a novice baker. I also follow recipes as closely as possible, sticking to the ingredients called for and use the recommended pan size. Every time I try something new, I will make sure my mind is very clear with the instructions given. My tolerance for failure is pretty low, as long as I can help it, I do not want to waste any food or ingredients. I tend to follow recipes that are written by Japanese pastry chefs. These cookbooks come with clear illustrations and very detailed explanation on each step and even the reasons behind why we need to do certain things or take that extra step.
With my limited knowledge and lack of skills, I shuddered at the thought of misleading my readers in anyway. I really hope I am not the blind leading the blind. So I take extra care to make sure my instructions are clear, sometimes to the extend that a simple recipe became so complicated and long-winded! My intention is to make sure that anyone, especially those who are baking the first time would be able to follow the steps and be successful on their first try, or at least reduce any failures to the minimal. No one likes a kitchen mishap.
It takes time and effort to craft out the recipes especially when the original ones are not in English. Sometimes I do get a little annoyed when I got to know what I have written has been cut-and-pasted, paraphrased and pass off as someone else's recipe. So I do appreciate anyone of you who wish to use or adapt any of the recipes I posted in this blog to at least provide a link to the relevant post. Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing every single one of my post.
