Is baking a science or an art?

I lurrvvveeee to bake but it's really quite a time-consuming affair. It's not the mixing of the ingredients that takes a long time...it's the measuring of the specific quantity of baking ingredients, the washing up after that I really dread!

Many people seem to have the opinion that baking is a very difficult thing to do. But I think otherwise. As long as you can read your weighing scales, I'd think you will be able to bake as the key to good baking is the ability to get all the proportions right (of course, you'll need a good recipe to start with!).

Baking is almost a science 'cos you are required to measure the right quantity of each ingredient, mix them together, heat at x deg celcius for y min/hour and you'll get a great end product as long as your follow everything to the T. Occasionally, the end product may not turn out the way you wanted it to be and it'd be a matter of going back to the recipe and steps to see what needs to be further fine-tuned. Hence, anyone and everyone should be able to do some simple baking.

However, to be a great baker, one will have to go beyond following/adapting other people's recipes. One will need to create new recipes based on one's understanding and intuition of how the different ingredients can come together to achieve a great masterpiece that's not only tasty but beautiful. That's an ART!

For me, I'm still taking little baby steps in baking...only having just started trying my hands at baking a couple of years ago. I'm definitely not at the stage when I start concocting my own recipes. I'm happy just using someone else's tried-and-tested recipe!

Here are some of my bakes. I'm happy to say that most are edible! Would love to bake more if I can find the time. My inspiration comes from the many amazing ladies at Kitchen Capers who are so passionate about baking. And also, Aunty Yochana who never fails to amaze me with her beautiful bakes!

The frustrations of a gal who loves to bake

I'm not sure if you are like me?...but I find it so hard to find unique, beautiful and affordable bakewares in Singapore. Luckily for me, I've found this little bakers' paradise right in the heart of Tokyo called Kappabashi. The shops that lined both sides of the road are bursting at the seams with all kinds of cookwares, bakewares, food packagings...basically anything & everything that one will need to start a restaurant can be found in this one little street in one of the most exciting cities in the world.

In my most recent trip earlier this month, I've returned with quite a few interesting items which aren't commonly found in Singapore or which cost much more in Singapore than what I had to pay for in JPY. My friends/relatives who are into baking have taken most of the stuffs that I had brought back...these are just some of the extra items left for sale if any of you are interested.

The cutter and plunger sets are definitely cheaper than what you can find at some of the well-known bakeware shops in Singapore....the individual cutters are kinda unique as I don't really see them being sold in Singapore.

*SORRY FOLKS, EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY BEEN SOLD. TILL THE NEXT TIME I GO TO TOKYO...STAY TUNED =)*