Anyone can bake.

I was fortunate that I had my babcia (grandma) taught me how to bake and cook. I was never interested in the cooking, but absolutely loved baking! We both enjoyed the science behind baking. But it’s not as difficult as you might think…

If I can bake, so can you!

Find a mentor
My fabulous mentor, babcia and then Korina! I owe them everything I know! In Poland, we would bake our hearts out with my babcia, but when I first arrived in the US, everything was so different! I had to learn to convert everything, including temperatures and learn a new metric system. That was a totally new experience for me!

I was very lucky to have met Korina, my neighbor who has extensive experience in cooking and baking and graciously shared it with me time after time. We bake together and look at recipes. She’s patient, understanding, and definitely has a love for baking.

Watch TV
To hone my skills and satisfy my overwhelming desire for knowledge on U.S. baking, I also turn to YouTube and find inspiration in millions of absolutely delicious looking recipes (and learn about different techniques and methods).

I also watch way more hours of Food Network shows than I care to admit publicly. I absolutely love, love, love the ones where recipes are made from scratch. I am a huge fan of Farmhouse Rules with Nancy Fuller and Baking with Julia.

As far as baking books, to be honest, I don’t own many – maybe 2 or 3, but I bookmark many, many baking websites. One of the good ones is http://thewoodandspoon.com or http://ilovebake.pl/ Sadly I don’t find myself going back to the paper books often, I find the Internet to be the fastest source for my inspirations.

Experiment
My brave husband! I test everything on him. He used to be a good liar, but by now I have learned his little tricks… I know how bad the cake is based on the number of days it sits on the counter (one day = SUCCESS; three days = total DISASTER!).

I also must admit that I spend countless hours studying the same recipe, comparing methods and techniques and measuring ingredients. I cannot tell you how many times I would make the same cake over and over. There were weeks where I would use one recipe as my base and paired it with different cream, fruit, etc. Fun at times, and not so fun when a disaster strikes!

Ready to go?
Now, are you ready to give it a try? You sure should! There is nothing to lose (maybe some time or patience), but I promise you, you will have fun and it will be yummy! I would recommend starting out with a recipe that is easier to make like Cranberry Cake or Butter Cookies.

And don’t forget to share about your first baking experience – cannot wait to hear it!