I’m not master of many things. I’ve killed every house plant I’ve ever owned, my relationship with the gym is sporadic and when I sing my husband cries (not in a good way). But. I can bake. In fact, I think I’m pretty capable in that department. Not GBBO or anything, but I can hold my own. I can whip up a layer cake in under an hour and without any sweat. I love the mixing and weighing and dolloping. It’s therapeutic downtime from the chaos of life and sometimes, my cakes do manage a wow or two.
When people ask about my baking, I’m always keen to tell people the big secret; it is really not that hard if you just follow a recipe. I want people to love creating something edible as much as I do, and get stuck in. Often people seem to hesitate here though and be terrified of the unknown of creating a show-stopper alone.
That’s where Bakes comes in. Bakes is new monthly subscription service providing (almost) everything you need to make a stunning cake, the nifty bit? There’s a full tutorial online each month, so you’ll gain new skills and be able to share the photos of your creations online with everyone else baking along.
Bakes is run by the lovely Amanda Perry, we’ve said hello here and there on social media for years and knowing my love of baking, she asked me to road test one of the boxes and let her know what I thought. This isn’t a sponsored post or anything like that, I’ve just been sent the box and absolutely loved the idea and thought some of you may too.
I happily said I would try out the box, but what I hadn’t counted on was..
1. What a a lovely relief it was to bake a cake and just enjoy it for the process rather than engaging my brain. The children helped, it was fun and really relaxing to just be told what to do without faffing about buying too many ingredients or planning what to conjure up.
2. The life changing moment of asking myself, WHY OH WHY have I never used mascarpone in icing before? I am clearly so full of myself that I didn’t consider that I’d learn anything. Ooops. This has taught me a serious lesson in life.. Mascarpone is the way forward.
I think the boxes would make such a brilliant gift for a cake lover or someone branching out a little with their baking. The element of surprise, the nifty packaging that fits through your letter box and the really excellent, well tested recipe makes it a definite thumbs up from me. I can’t wait to see what’s going to pop up in the boxes in the coming months.
You can read more about the boxes here: mybakes.com.
Monthly Bakes Boxes cost £11.50 but if you use the code ‘MYBAKES’ you can get your first box for £10.
You can also find the latest box info on Instagram @bakesbox.
PS. Note to self, do not bake, decorate and photograph a chocolate cake like this on the one morning when your kitchen temperature is 32C. I promise it tasted much better than my slightly melting photos show!
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