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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What is the point of baking?

425 replies

waitingforautumn · 26/02/2021 15:40

OK to cover myself - I'm actually not a bad baker (promise! :)) my issue is that baking - while highly therapeutic, is not necessarily cheap, and it leaves you with a commitment to eating the baked good all week!! (doesn't sound like a bad thing does it...). Cakes in particular are quite hard to scale down.

AIBU to just prefer a supermarket / cafe slice of cake etc to spare myself the faff and expense of baking, and the smaller/individual portion sizes?! I know they are rarely as good as the home baked kind but some of them can be very decent. I get FOMO for not baking when a lot of friends and family do it - they make it look so fun and rewarding! Yet when I bake I totally lose interest in the final product after I've had one portion.

I spent a large chunk of last weekend baking a half size chocolate cake (it could still feed 10 tbh!), and by the end I just wish I'd gone to M&S lol. Especially now, 4 days later, when the fam are all bored of it and the remainder of this cake is just sitting there uneaten, getting drier and drier every day... yet we all feel too guilty to throw it away. It wasn't a very nice recipe actually. Not chocolatey enough and was on the dry side to begin with. But thats just part of the risk of trying a new recipe I suppose.

Or am I just missing the point of baking???? Is it supposed to be something people only do when feeding a crowd? How often do you bake and why do you do it? Does it all get eaten?? If you crave something in particular are you more likely to bake it or go out and buy it?

OP posts:
Dalamalama · 27/02/2021 19:56

You can't beat a homemade cake, mine anyway. I enjoy baking, especially for other people and it doesnt need to be expensive at all. Flour, butter and sugar from Aldi and i buy half a dozen eggs £1 from a local who have their own hens.

It's just the washing up I hate!

malificent7 · 27/02/2021 20:01

I love it but i had to stop as id get too fat!

Cockermummy88 · 27/02/2021 20:15

If you don’t enjoy baking then don’t do it..i find myself asking what’s the point of golf, or football etc. Baking is just another hobby that’s meant to be fun or therapeutic. You have to enjoy it to justify the cost, time investment and the mess!! Home bakes normally taste so much better than shop bought though. Buy them in and just dig out the mixer when you really fancy it lSmile

GlomOfNit · 27/02/2021 20:43

I agree with other posters that you have to be a fairly crappy home baker if your homemade cakes are WORSE than shop-bought! Grin

But really, who cares? You may as well say to me, I just don't get why you knit socks Glom - you can buy quite posh lambswool socks from M&S for a few quid, you claim that your arty sock yarn costs about £12 a skein AND you spend two weeks knitting them ... yeah. It's a hobby, it's therapeutic and those who do it take pride in their skills and artistry. Doesn't mean it's compulsory to enjoy doing it yourself. Buying your socks from M&S is entirely valid as long as you don't pretend they're better than the ones I knit and buying your cake from a cafe or supermarket is fine too, if that's what you prefer.

I bake too (yeah I know, sock knitting AND home baking, aren't I just living the feminist dream? Wink ) and I know damn well that unless I actually forget my cakes in the oven and they come out like crispy biscuits, they are going to taste better than pretty much anything you can buy in a supermarket. Supermarket cakes are a different species - they have long shelf lives, preservatives, often made with oil where you might use butter, and invariably too much sugar for my taste.

And it still doesn't matter. Bake if you want. Buy them if you prefer.

I'll admit that in lockdown, the main disadvantage in baking a cake is you get left with the entire thing to eat, and if you've made something that your family doesn't like ...The freezer is your friend, unless like me you have a badly organised one with no room left.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 27/02/2021 20:48

I never bake. I live on my own so can't see the point. Id have to eat a whole cake. If I'm desperate for cake I go to the bakery. A new artisan bakery has opened in my somerset village and they sell single slices of everything.

lazylinguist · 27/02/2021 21:02

Hand-knitted socks are the best, GlomofNit. They are my favourite things to knit!

garlictwist · 27/02/2021 21:06

I tried baking in lockdown. Bought all the shit and the trays etc. I made a few tired looking cakes that I lost interest in after the first slice and then was stuck with the bloody things as I live alone.

Now I have a cupboard of expensive baking stuff staring me in the face and no desire to use it.

MoroSun · 27/02/2021 21:07

It’s so that people can show off generally

Ladywinesalot · 27/02/2021 21:10

I wish I loved baking as home made taste so much nicer then shop bought, but I just don’t have the patience!
To many aspects can make it go wrong

Ladywinesalot · 27/02/2021 21:10

@MoroSun

It’s so that people can show off generally
You ok Hun? You’ve been leaving nasty comments all over the place tonight Confused
Amanduh · 27/02/2021 21:12

I’ve never had a shop bought cake ( that was from a mainstream shop) that is nicer than home made.

yasmin0147 · 27/02/2021 21:25

I’ve never been able to make a half decent chocolate cake, try a Victoria sponge, they are a lot easier.

Stroppyshite · 27/02/2021 21:28

I love it, but then I am quite happy eating it all week (if it even lasts that long) and I'm a fat bastard.

Flatoutonsofa · 27/02/2021 21:39

My cakes are spectacular and I enjoy making them, but they're making me fat! You're not being unreasonable. If you prefer shop bought, buy them. Life's too short to bake cakes you lose interest in. Do something more enjoyable for you.

SkedaddIe · 27/02/2021 21:47

For us it's the fun of experimenting, and finding out what we really like.

Dw doesn't like sugar in foods so like home made versions that have less. I love hot fresh food and will wolf down a weeks worth of portions while it can still burn the roof of my mouth. Dd loves the play and the counting and the science.

Lovelymonkeyninetynine · 27/02/2021 22:17

I'm another one saying freeze stuff! Often I'll bake and be really bored of the cake or feel a bit fat and will freeze it.
There's always a Sunday when there's nothing in the house or when a PMT sweet craving strikes that I am so glad I have homemade cake or treats to defrost and eat.

Shezow · 27/02/2021 22:28

I hate baking but my kids love it. I found the perfect recipe for chocolate cake online it’s easy, you just whack everything in and it comes out perfect each time. So moist and delicious! We never buy choc cake from shops anymore they taste so chemically! Biscuits on the other hand come out crap each time 😂

Rmw12 · 27/02/2021 23:00

If this was an AIBU my answer would be yes! 😂 You’re so right about it being therapeutic, it’s so satisfying making your own. It always gets eaten in our house. I don’t often bake cakes, unless it’s a birthday. I usually go with things like brownies, millionaires, biscuits, etc, as I feel they last a bit longer than cake which does dry up, even in our house. Or bread and other savouries so you feel slightly less bad about eating it all.

mrsbyers · 27/02/2021 23:14

I make tray bakes then portion and freeze

Happyher · 27/02/2021 23:17

I just bake about once a fortnight - usually lasts us about 3 days. My mum used to bake cakes so I prefer them to shop bought which I find too cheap and small. Just bake occasionally to keep your hand in and buy what the family like. You don’t have to answer to anyone else if your family is happy

Pinkerbells · 27/02/2021 23:20

I'm using baking as therapy for my depression. It means that I have to get my arse up and spend some time every day in the kitchen (well.most days) and it can be a real faff, and piss me off no end but my mood has been getting better in the last few eeks so.im sticking with it. Also helps tha my DP is like a hollow stick and will eat everything

yearinyearout · 27/02/2021 23:32

Blimey. If anyone bakes in this house it lasts 48 hours Max 😂

bemusedmoose · 27/02/2021 23:50

How does a cake last for days and everyone is bored!?! If I make a cake I have to beg them to leave some for tomorrow or to send to my mum! 2 days is the longest a cake has lasted in my house. I used to bake a lot, not so much lately and I miss it plus the kids are always begging for me to do it - cakes, brownies, hotcross buns, banana pudding, bread, crumble... They hate shop stuff, so do I to be honest, but I've baked so much I can look at a recipe now and tell if it will turn out to our taste before I start and my oven is funny - runs hot and more so on one side so I've learnt the knack for not over baking taking that into account - if I get a new oven or move I maybe screwed!

I love baking - it's helped me through some awful times, I love seeing it make people happy, sadly for my waist I love stuffing my face with it too. Shop stuff is generically bland and over sweet. The only times I get cake out is my local garden centre - they make their own cakes fresh every day and have the most amazing flavours - rose almond and pistachio, beetroot and chocolate, Guinness cake, good old coffee and walnut that has a good strong coffee flavour, pear and ginger... They are all delish and usually we all get a different slice and share because we can't choose!

TheTeenageYears · 27/02/2021 23:52

You can accurately scale down a cake to amounts requiring 1 egg so that's 50g of flour, butter, sugar etc and would be half a loaf tin. I don't do large chunks of cake but that amount of cake is never going to feed 10.

FlatteredRhubardFool · 28/02/2021 00:07

I had to do a retake on the title of this thread. Obviously the point of baking is the eating. I baked a cake today and a loaf of bread. Morning beats homemade cake and bread. Yesterday dd2 baked cookies. My godmother freezes cakes in portions if she has too much. She gave me a brownie recipe and it makes far too many to eat in a few days so I've started freezing them.
It's quite something really to take a group of basic ingredients and turn them into something that is pleasing to the eye and the palate. I made a cherry Bakewell cake today. Really simple recipe that was quick and easy to whip up. Filled with cherry jam and iced on top. Can't wait to eat some tomorrow. Shop bought taste very synthetic and give me abdo pain.