The smell of freshly-baked sweets is tantalising. Maybe you’ve even thought about trying your hand at making some treats of your own. Weaving through the racks at the supermarket, searching for the perfect fruits and nuts to use in your next baking project, is a rush that many of us experience. Suddenly, there’s a window in front of you, and you spot the perfect apricot – the one you’ve been searching for all afternoon. Before you know it, you’ve popped the kernel in your mouth and are transported away to the happy place in your head where baking and cooking reside.
What is sugar rush, you ask? Essentially, it’s that momentary euphoria that afflicts the average human being when they think about or experience something sugary. For some, it may be the sight of a chocolate cake batter pooling in the middle of the floor that makes them momentarily light-headed. For others, it’s the warmth of the sun rising slowly as they watch it creep up over the rooftops, tinting them a lovely, welcoming shade of orange. Some people even get an extra rush from mixing up a batch of cookies or fudge, coming back soon afterward and eating every crumb, spoonful, or bite they can manage. When you experience sugar rush, you feel elated. Your mood improves immediately – it’s like a pick-me-up in the form of a sweet bite!
Sugar rush is all around us. We experience it when we think about food and its impact on our bodies. We experience it when we taste something delicious – whether that’s a freshly-baked cake or tart, a perfectly-made cup of coffee, or a bowl of fresh fruit – and our bodies react with an increased heart rate, blood pressure, and hormones such as serotonin and dopamine, which give us a lift. It’s not just about the food, either. We get sugar rushes from the excitement of buying something new or finding a hidden gem at the retail store. When we get the urge to visit somewhere new, some of us may get a tingly feeling in the pit of our stomachs, which is a sure sign that we’re about to get a sugar rush.
Create A Space For Baking
To get the sugar rush, you need to have something sweet in your vicinity. If you want to bake your own treats, there are a few things you should do to ensure that you get the most out of it. Set aside a space in your kitchen for the preparation and cooking of food. This could be a small space near the stove or a pantry, or even a corner of a large kitchen. You’ll want to have something close at hand so that you can pull out the necessary tools and ingredients as you go along. Having a space for cooking means that you’ll spend less time sitting in front of a screen, less time waiting for stuff to cook, and more time enjoying the process.
Learn The Basics
If you’ve never made desserts or simple snacks before, it’s a good idea to start small. Whether you opt for a chocolate fountain, ice cream scoop, or a pastry chef’s knife, none of these are difficult instruments to learn how to use properly. If you’re finding the recipes a little too easy or you just want to enhance your baking experience, take a look at various chef’s blogs for some extra tips and tricks. For example, you may want to try making a chocolate fountain using the perfect piece of chocolate that you’ve found during your hunt through the chocolate aisle. You may even want to explore the artistry of making a perfect doughnut or cake, perfect in every way.
Get Creative
It’s important to have a goal in mind when you’re starting out. What do you want to make? What kind of treats do you want to try out? Once you’ve set your goal and have a rough idea of what you’ll need, you can start brainstorming. From there, you can develop recipes, gather ingredients, and modify them to fit your needs. Some of us may want to create a chocolate fountain, while others may want to make a tart that will require fresh fruit – both of which can be done using a cookie cutter, a cake ring, or even a drinking glass. The options are endless!
Do Your Research
If you’ve decided that you want to start making some sweets, it’s important to do some research first. Not only does it help you create the perfect recipe for your palate, but it also helps when it comes time to modify them. When you do your research, you’ll learn plenty of tidbits about what works best in terms of flavor and texture. This is important because you don’t want to end up with something that isn’t up to par – after all, it’s your own special creation that you’re bringing to life.
Practice
There’s no substitute for practice when it comes to baking. Even the most experienced chefs get occasional wrong turns, and it’s very rare that they end up with an edible masterpiece. If you want to get better at it, practice making desserts and snacks using the recipes that you’ve collected over the years. Doing so will help you identify any errors that you may have made, as well as give you a better sense of how the flavors should taste. It’s also a good idea to join a cooking group or start a blog of your own, as both of these help you get practice as well as connect with others who may be interested in learning how to bake.
Making treats can be fun, and it’s definitely a rewarding experience to create something delicious after many hours of toiling over a hot stove. However, you need to ensure that you get the most out of it by following these simple tips – once you do, you’ll be able to experience that momentary rush any time you get the craving for sweets!