Learning A New Skill: Baking!

Something that has always completely confounded me is baking. Can you believe it?! No matter how much I tried my cakes would always be as hard as rocks, or gooey inside. And not the good kinda gooey. Hence why I’ve always stuck to really easy dessert or raw cakes… No baking required!

It wasn’t such a big deal in the past because I had my sweet tooth under control, but since being pregnant I have to say the sweet tooth of my youth has come back…. With a vengeance. After reading Michael Polan’s books all about eating better, I totally fell for the idea that you can eat whatever you want, so long as you make it yourself. Add to that the therapeutic effects of cooking and a long-term addiction to The Great British Bake Off (if you haven’t watched it you must!) I realised I had a pretty good reason to learn more about the art of baking. Enter, all the amazing courses on Skillshare to help me do just that. Today I’m sharing a few things I learnt – and scroll to the bottom end for a special offer from Skillshare!

You probably remember me talking about Skillshare a little while ago, but if not, it’s this great online learning platform with over 20,000 different creativity based courses. The format of the courses are great, with key steps and techniques broken down into short segments, making them easy to follow and digest. The content spans baking and cooking, calligraphy and hand-lettering, photography, and more technical topics like business, finance, and coding as well. It’s also amazing because you have access to all the courses, meaning for something like baking you can learn a huge number of skills, quickly. Here’s a few I’ve tried out so far:

The Art Of Baking: A Beginner’s Guide

This course gives you a really great foundation of skills and the ideal intro to baking. Sarah covers a fantastic set of golden rules along with cookies, bread and cake basics.

Get Started Baking Sponge Cakes

Amy, a seasoned baker with lots of classes on Skillshare, shares her knowledge all about the art of making a sponge cake, something that might seem simple but actually isn’t. She shares how to make both a classic American sponge and a Genoise sponge.

Mastering Buttercream Frostings

Another of Amy’s courses, buttercream is one thing that will take your baking to the next level, and she explains how to make it clearly, after which is doesn’t seem so daunting!

To test out my new skills, I made a very simple American Sponge Cake with jam and cream. This is actually a cake that my mum used to make me for my birthday all through my childhood, so I thought it fitting I try to perfect this recipe before I have my own bub. It’s definitely not rocket science (which suits me) but it was delicious!

 

 

 

I’ll also say that there’s something about learning about cooking in video format that I really enjoy. I mean, it’s easy to find a recipe online or consult a cookbook, but picking up on the nuances and personality of a teacher in video, and actually watching them work, really makes the learning experience more enjoyable. I’ve already bookmarked other classes on how to make your own pizza bases, French macaroons and butter croissants!

So whether you’d like to learn to bake, use photoshop or try out some sculpture, chances are you’ll find a great course on Skillshare. Even better, they’re gifting you two free months of unlimited access to stream their courses online. Register here to start your free two months. Enjoy!

This post is in collaboration with Skillshare.

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