How I Got Into Baking

I’m sure I have mentioned that baking is one of my hobbies. I specialize in cupcakes, but I enjoy baking almost everything (except red velvet cake) from cookies to pies and many other things.

Some people have asked me how I ‘got into baking’ and I’d love to share that with you.

I love celebrating birthdays.
Not just my own, but everyone’s. If you ask anyone that is close to me, they will affirm this.
And honestly, I prefer to make other peoples’ birthdays more extravagant than mine. I just love the planning of parties and cakes and presents.

I LOVE GIFT GIVING! (I’ll definitely have to get into that on another post.)

So, in high school, I made a big deal about my best friend’s birthday. Back then I was only into boxed cakes, but I still wanted to make an effort to show her she was special to me. I would make her cupcakes and stick them in her locker on her birthday day (or near it if it was on a weekend).

She LOVED it! But, who wouldn’t love surprise cupcakes in their locker? Come on, now.

This literally was the beginning for me.

When I went away to college, I started branching out more in general cooking and added some scratch baking in there, too. It wasn’t anything more than cookies and brownies, but I was still proud of those. I primarily made them for my boyfriend (now husband) to impress him. (eye roll) Plus, it made me REALLY popular with all his friends, so I was IN!

After getting married, I ventured into making more goodies and trying out recipes. My husband’s favorite thing I make are Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are great, but I was looking for something else to be my signature treat. I think it was a year or two after we had our daughter that I really got into baking cupcakes. I remember spending a lot of time in our little rundown apartment kitchen. I was borrowing books from the library and making different cupcakes for friends and family. The best part of all this was that it felt completely natural. Like, it wasn’t hard at all. This was super exciting! Even now, it takes a lot of confidence for me proclaim myself a natural baker.
Please note, I’m not full of myself. There are really only a handful of things I feel no shame in saying I am very good at.

One of my first recipe books was Martha Stewart Cupcakes. I still use this book to this day. It has fantastic recipes. I have another of her baking books and have looked up her recipes online. She is the queen of baking, in my opinion.

From there, things just ramped up quickly. My husband bought me a stand mixer for my birthday in 2011 so that I was able to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream and so many more things. Making that frosting with a hand mixer is near impossible.

After sharing all my treats with friends and family, people started offering to pay me for my creations. I was getting paid y’all! I was catering church events, weddings and other parties. Even now, I am surprised when someone wants me to make them something and PAY ME for it. It’s just cray.

For a time, I thought about making it a real business, but as I crept into that realm, it took away the fun. It genuinely is just a hobby that I love to do. I still cater events, at least once a year and enjoy every minute of it.

Lastly, if you’re interested in chatting with me about baking, I’d love that. Maybe you bake, too, and we can exchange recipes and tips! If you don’t bake, that’s cool, too. Whatever your hobby is, I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. If you’ve found a way to make it a business while still enjoying it, even better.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my sharing about something that is important to me and a good outlet for stress and control issues.

Until next time, friends.-the RealPositiveGirl