I’m very thrilled to have been inspired by Stork to bake a cake for World Baking Day on 17th May. As you know, it doesn’t take much encouragement to get me donning my pinny, but this time, the incentive really is brilliant. We are all – all over the globe – going to bake ourselves happy. Anyone who’s been in a kitchen while baking is in progress knows that there is nothing nicer than the smell of a cake cooking. If you add that to the pleasure of weighing ingredients, combining everything and, of course, licking the bowl, then as far as I’m concerned, happiness is pretty much cake-shaped.
It turns out I’m not alone in thinking this. Emma Kenny, a registered psychological therapist, says “Baking is therapeutic. As well as producing delicious treats for loved ones, it offers an opportunity to be mindful and gives us a dedicated space for creativity to flourish – a real bonus for our mental wellbeing. World Baking Day is a fantastic opportunity to focus our energies on something fun that helps us to zone out of everyday anxieties, giving us all important head space. Sharing with friends and family makes us feel good – so happy hormones are released that lead to elevated mood. In fact, baking therapy is something that is gaining a great deal of support from therapeutic practitioners who believe the focusing effects along with the productive element can help boost mood.”
Well, I could have told you all – but then, I’m sure you knew already. Cake is just win-win, isn’t it? Why do you think the Great British Bake Off has so many happy viewers? But to gild an already beautiful lily, Stork has developed a special recipe for the World’s Happiest Cake, and that’s what I’ll be making on 17th May.
Part of getting involved is making a pledge, so here and now I am pledging my cake to my lovely daughters. One of them won’t be here to eat it, as she’s at uni, so I guess I’ll just have to eat her piece for her out of the sheer goodness of my heart. Luckily Child 2 is here and is in the throes of revising for some rather horrible exams, so some deeply therapeutic cake-eating will go down pretty well with her.
That’s it for the moment. I’ll just leave you to drool over a picture of the World’s Happiest Cake:
Sponsored by Stork
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