Andrea bakes it off, part 1: Rising to the challenge

Bourke Street Bakeoff wrap up, part 1 of 3

Parts of the beginning of this post come from the notes that were in my head before I started writing last Saturday’s bake-off post titled “Bourke St. Bakery Bake-off: Starring me“.
(“I originally had this profound post in my head that was going to supplement the poster; an ode to my childhood and a book review, but you can read that after the competition. “)

For as long as I can remember, baking has been a hobby of mine. I don’t remember when it started but while drafting this post I recalled being enrolled in a baking class for kids with my sister at really young. Single digit age, I’d guess between 6 and 8. It would have been the early 80s. As my mind glimpses one tiny moment, I can visualize the classroom. I think it was at the downtown JCC, now the Miles Nadal JCC, years before the name changed and large reno. I recall that this cookbook was somehow connected, like many we were cooking recipes from it:

I have great childhood memories of helping my mom in the kitchen, whether it was baking or cooking. Spending time in the kitchen seems as Jewish as bagels and lox. But then, I think that every culture has an equivalent analogy.

Of course we had all the standard appliances; Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, Cuisinart food processor with various blades. It made our lives simple in the kitchen.

One summer – I must have been in my early teens or younger – my sister and I made my mom a birthday cake from a Duncan Heinz mix and forgot to grease the pan. That didn’t turn out so well but the story was told for awhile and was a minor learning experience.

I recall a period of time when I baked almost daily.

In my adulthood I’ve been more into cooking than baking which is in part a matter of lifestyle, in part a matter of personality.

My sister, however, excels and both cooking and baking but is an especially impressive baker. Years ago I realized that our strengths in the kitchen are indicative of our personalities and other differences: Her Bachelor of Science and MBA degrees, creative, yet methodical mind and patience are all suited to baking. She once said that she realized that baking was like chemistry. Then there’s me: Bachelor of Arts (communications) degree, Arts Administration-Cultural Management diploma, ADD, creative, impulsive, common need for instant gratification, free form in the kitchen. Recipes are guidelines. Cookbooks are sometimes inspirational, sometimes food porn, rarely rules. I read cookbooks the way I read novels.

I love to bake but I don’t have the patience and living on my own is a big influence. I’ve never had the kitchen space to roll out dough. I lack the stand mixer. When I bake, I’m not baking for a family or a roommate or a significant other. My colleagues benefit from my baking moods.

Baking is so satisfying, though. I love experimenting and getting my hands messy. I like using my hands to combine flour and butter and eating the batter (ubiquitously the best part). I really enjoy baking but I am not a baker.

What I am is competitive and I like a challenge and I like to get out of my comfort zone occasionally and to try new things, have new experience.  So when Ivy Knight, host of 86′D Monday nights at the Drake Hotel solicited bloggers for a bake-off to launch the cookbook, Bourke Street Bakery: Ultimate Baking Companion I didn’t hesitate to say yes and internally qualified it with “But I am not a baker.”

It presented a fun challenge and a chance to try a new cookbook and although this might sound dorky or pretentious, I still get a kick out of being sent review copies of cookbooks. I wasn’t the least bit intimidated until I learned who my fellow competitors were. I knew three of the four: Kristina works in the kitchen at the new and notable Enoteca Sociale. David Ort and Joel Solish are super-talented.