Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake

Yesterday I finally tackled the Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake from Chronicle Books' new cookbook Flour. I've been meaning to make this for weeks! I only have a handheld mixer (hopefully not for much longer) and the 8-10 minutes of beating was looking particularly daunting. But the motor and I slugged on through and out came a delicious loaf. I slightly overcooked mine, which seems to be my defining baking trait (jealous?), but it turned out wonderful nonetheless. The glaze brings just the right amount of zingy lemon flavour to it. I brought the leftovers in to work today and it was demolished in record time! I got one marriage proposal from the mailman. One can only imagine what would have happened if I hadn't overcooked it...

My poor mixer put to the test

Next thing on my list was a French loaf. I treated my mom and I to a bread baking course last week at a community centre (a VERY belated mother's day gift). So today I put my newly acquired skills to the test. I did everything as directed. I kneaded and rolled and shaped. What greeted me after the second rising were two gargantuan loaves of French bread. Misshapen behemoths. But they taste great, especially with a bit of old cheddar. Yum. The only thing I'd do differently next time would be to add an egg wash.



The reflection foreshadows the monstrosity that this bread would become



My "dainty" French loaf

Let's try this again

I just recently graduated with a degree in Linguistics to realize that I don't want to do anything with it. Instead, I want to bake. I've been struggling to overcome this lust for baking all my life. I toyed with the idea of becoming an Egyptologist and then decided upon Linguistics. I was going to get my PhD and I'd dazzle the world with my academic contributions. Perhaps I'd discover a new language? But by the end of 4 years of university, the only things I learned were:
1) I love to bake; and,
2) University is boring

Which led me to conclude that I should continue baking.

I've been following so many different food blogs in the past few months and I'm feeling inspired. But now that I'm trying this on for size, I'm starting to appreciate the amount of work and skill that those bloggers have. Especially when it comes to photos. This is going to be a bumpy ride, but I think I'll get the hang of it. Just try to bear with me.

A new post...

I've been thinking about starting a blog for months now and have been doing everything possible to lengthen the process. I just wasted two hours fiddling with the templates, colours, font types... and now I'm more dissatisfied with it than ever. I keep catching myself composing blog posts in my head, but create some excuse not to post them.
Well tonight, I'm ending the torment.
So here it is.
My first blog post. 

And I'm at a loss for what to say...