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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:
Mintjulia · 26/02/2021 16:30

And cost, of course. I can make a decent chocolate cake for ds' birthday party, ie 20 people for about £3.50.

A cake that large from a supermarket costs at least £12.

EmbarrassingAdmissions · 26/02/2021 16:30

The only independent (non-supermarket) bakery anywhere near me charges £3.20 and up for a fairly small loaf.

The sausage rolls are £2.85, individual pies are more expensive and family pies are approx. £18.

I can bake all of those for less.

I also bake some specialist items for friends and family. Eg, bread rolls with 23g of fibre in them etc., naan with similar.

It all depends on why you're baking.

user1471523870 · 26/02/2021 16:30

Sorry, I disagree. Shop bought cake taste average, while home made CAN taste amazing. Perhaps you need to bake something you really like, yummy and that your family also enjoys eating? Or find a really good recipe?
I agree standard recipes for standard cakes can produce average results. I had to try and test several and eventually now I have a range of at least 5-6 cakes we absolutely love and find super yummy.
In my case they are:

  • Bakewell cake (found the recipe here years ago I think)
  • Sbriciolata (an Italian crumble-type cake you can fill with berries or diced apple or nutella)
  • Anything with whole oranges in it (I have a chocolate version and a vanilla one, both so moist)
  • Brownies
OldRailer · 26/02/2021 16:31

I can bake but I'd rather go out to a cafe!

LunaLoveg00d · 26/02/2021 16:31

But there's shop bought and shop bought.

We have lots of independent bakeries and coffee shops which I can think of which sell lovely cakes - made in house, small batches, home-made style. Yes a slice of cake bought from somewhere like that is just as good as home made.

Those sorts of cakes are in no way comparable with a Mr Kipling cake or something cheap from Gregg's.

I have three teenage children. Cake does not last long.

MaMaLa321 · 26/02/2021 16:32

I totally agree. But, for me, it's because, if I make cake, I will eat it, almost immediately. Also I love uncooked cake mix.
I am lucky enough to live near a bakery that sell delicious cakes, and I buy one slice, which I share with my DH.

renovationfatigue · 26/02/2021 16:33

My children love baking with me so it's quite a fun activity which doesn't require a screen! And we usually gift some of the cake/biscuits/cupcakes to grandparents or our neighbours who seem to like us doing that too.

NotMeekNotObedient · 26/02/2021 16:34

Have to agree with a PP. Supermarket cake is rank.
Just make smaller, easier bakes, a lemon drizzle loaf for example? Or freeze portions?

I dont get the time to do it often, it is obviously an effort to do and if the recipie turns out to be crap (a lot online!) then it feels like a total waste. Wanted to make 25 gluten free biscuits last weekend, ended up with one the size of the baking sheet!

likeamillpond · 26/02/2021 16:34

I agree.
I'd be the size of a house if I baked.
Far better to buy ONE slice of something and be done with it.
If I bake I get like Miranda from SATC
I have to eat the whole thing.
No point in freezing it either. I'll eat it frozen.

TonTonMacoute · 26/02/2021 16:35

The point is that it is fun and relaxing to do, isn't that hard and doesn't take that much time, and the end result is a hundred times nicer than anything you can buy in a shop!

If none of these things apply, then there probably isn't much point in doing it. No one has to bake if they don't want to!

crazeelala2u · 26/02/2021 16:37

@waitingforautumn

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?

I use mini molds for my cakes and freeze / refrigerate batter and frosting as needed. Then I can make 3 mini personal sized cakes and still use batter later. Where possible I half the recipe so that there's just enough for 2 rounds and freeze. I do this with cookie batter too. Make small batches of the batter and freeze the rest in portions so that I can just grab and defrost and bake.
joystir59 · 26/02/2021 16:38

I want cake so badly now

MacDuffsMuff · 26/02/2021 16:39

I LOVE it.

I bake cakes, scones, doughnuts, brownies, cupcakes, blondies, muffins, flapjacks you name it I'll bake it. Only at the weekend though and I scale recipes down so that they're a weekend treat and we're not eating cupcakes every day until Thursday or something. I'd take homemade over shop bought any day of the week. It's probably the only thing I'm actually good at.

MapleMay11 · 26/02/2021 16:40

Shop bought cakes tastes awful especially from places like Marks and Spencer. I would much rather bake my own and be sure of the quality.

TangerineGenie · 26/02/2021 16:42

Being coeliac the choice of shop bought cake is very limited. In my local Tesco the cake choice amounts to a chocolate brownie if you're lucky.

Unless for a special occasion, I tend to make loaf type cakes and freeze half in slices.

I have a great peanut butter cookie recipe that's easier and quicker than going to the shop.

GrallaceandWomit · 26/02/2021 16:42

I hate baking but when I do attempt it I can eat almost the whole batch in one sitting! Not good! Homemade is certainly better than shop bought though!

BeardyButton · 26/02/2021 16:42

Also can’t stand shop bought. Tastes like sweet plastic to me. I guess it’s a question of tastes.

Megan2018 · 26/02/2021 16:43

I love eating baked goods.

If I make a cake I eat all of it - very quickly. I never lose interest in cake. But I am a glutton and I don't care. I don't even care if it is crap cake, I just warm it up and add cream and ice cream then.

I don't bake often as no time sadly. It's probably for the best.

Luna1980 · 26/02/2021 16:43

Absolutely agree. I really dont see much point either. Dc dont care and and DH is low-carbing. So basically I put in all the effort and no one care. But....I do feel really guilty when it comes to all the other mums. Everyone and I mean everyone around me bakes...constantly. And I do feel like the worst mum in the world. I do think it's a status thing and it's now a lot less acceptable to serve shop bough baked goods to other kid e.g. birthday parties etc. I know I shouldnt care and DH thinks am being silly but I do feel really judged for not baking.

Anoisagusaris · 26/02/2021 16:44

How has half a cake lasted that long???

SocialistSloth · 26/02/2021 16:44

I got back into baking in September. Didn't the first lockdown for unknown reasons. I haven't baked yet this year because I've been back and forwards to a friend's (we're in a bubble) helping with her terminally ill husband and although he loved cake they were overwhelmed with cake from other people. I will get back into it because I found it very soothing and I enjoyed everything I baked except some really badly done soda bread which annoyed me because I used to make that all the time when I was younger and I'm a huge fan of it.

The main thing was that once I started baking my own cakes the thought of eating anything shop-bought became really unappealing. I'm only a semi-decent baker but even so, all the things I baked were better than anything I could get from a supermarket and I can make things, like Dorset apple cake, that I can't get from a supermarket. I also got into making quiche which made me remember that quiche can be really bloody lovely when it's not some shite from a supermarket.

speakout · 26/02/2021 16:45

I agree OP.
I love cooking, but baking just seems like a way of stuffing everyone full of fat, sugar, refined carbs.
I have an amazing bakery near me that fills the gap for sugary stuff once in a while, and I don't buy supermarket cakes.
If my family are peckish there are always lots of better snacks to eat than home baking.

SilverGlassHare · 26/02/2021 16:45

I love baking but stopped doing it often in lockdown because we were all gaining weight from the constant cookies and cakes! Before lockdown I’d just offload it at the office.

Vestinium · 26/02/2021 16:46

My mind is boggled at the idea that shop bought cake is nicer than home made. Either someone's a seriously incompetent baker, or using shit ingredients. Use decent quality ingredients and your cakes will be miles better than the nicest shop bought cakes. Supermarket cake is rank, and anything posher is just passable.

Chanandlerbong01 · 26/02/2021 16:46

I love baking. I don’t really make just normal cakes though unless it’s a birthday cake. I can make nice brownies, cookies, cheesecakes kind of thing instead! They always go too quick.