My Alter Ego: Baker Meagan
One question that I never seem to know how to answer is: what do you like to do for fun? I always end up coming with all the basic and typical answers: read books, watch movies, spend time with friends and family, etc, etc. However it always comes to mind much later that one of the things that I love to do is bake!
The beginning of my baking began in high school. For anyone's birthday it was pretty much a school-wide tradition to decorate the celebrant's locker with pictures, balloons, wrapping paper and bows. Then for one of my friend's birthday I decided I wanted to do something a little extra and made her birthday cupcakes. And I haven't stopped baking since.
I love baking for any occasion whether that be for a birthday, family party or just to take a break from school. For family occasions, cupcakes are always requested and more specifically red velvet cupcakes. Check out my favorite recipe I use for what my family has deemed Megs' Famous Red Velvet Cupcakes! My favorite part of baking cupcakes are picking the cupcake liners to match whatever occasion I am baking for. I stock up on liners, and my friends and family may say my collection of liners is borderline excessive...but my excessiveness allows me to have the perfect liner for every event! I also love to pipe fun designs with my icing with every color of the rainbow. Color coordinating my liners to my decorations is KEY for me!
Some of my cupcake baking essentials:
- Ice cream scooper - I use this to make sure all my cupcakes are of equal sizes. It is also much easier to scoop the cake batter with this!
- Disposable piping bags - these are so easy to use and allow for a quick cleanup.
- SPRINKLES - you can never go wrong with sprinkles and there are so many colors, shapes and sizes available for decorating. Sprinkles are also the easiest way to add a pop of color to your cupcakes.
One thing that I really like to do when baking is trying to choose recipes that go according to the season. This summer I baked a lot of things using blueberries as the main component! I would pair this fruit with lemons or peaches! I treated my dad to some Lemon and Blueberry Scones for his daily commute to work, with a few modifications (whole wheat flour and without the glaze) to make it slightly healthier. And my biggest blueberry hit this summer was my Peach and Blueberry Crisp. This is such an easy recipe and crisps are one my favorite things to eat during the fall topped off with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream!
The best things to bake with for the fall are apples and caramel! My most recent baking expedition was making Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies. And the results? They've gotten the approval from one of my official taste testers - my brother. Despite the love of cupcakes within my family, personally I love and prefer baking cookies because its one type of baked good that I will always indulge in. I can never say no to a cookie!
Sharing my baked goods with people is honestly my favorite part of baking. Baked goods always seem to put a smile on people's faces and I love the warm and fuzzy feeling I get when I share with others.
Come back soon and I will have my Halloween baking post up! Trying something completely new and fingers crossed they turn out yummy!
Thanks for the read! Try out some of my favorite recipes and happy baking! Thanks for checking out a Glimpse of Meagan's Journey!
