therapeutic

i hereby declare (regardless of whether or not it is scientifically backed up) that baking is therapeutic.

what did i do when the kid i tutored was being a pain in the ass? bake wonderfully delicious cutout cookies.

they look real good don't they. i shouldn't be the one to brag but they tasted a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

so today i stepped outside of my comfort zone and decided to bake two (woho!) different types of desserts at the same time. nutella croissant and lemon meringue pie. here's why.


i originally intended on only baking the lemon meringue pie (a wonderful recipe can be found here) but i'm an incredibly impatient person who likes to eat the food i make right away. the last time i tried to make a lemon meringue pie, the lemon curd boiled over the pie tin, the meringue went under the lemon curd and the biscuit base fell apart... all because i did not wait (all in all it was a mess even though it tasted quite good). so this time i thought i would make something real quick (like a croissant made out of puff pastry and nutella... recipe found here) so that i could wait (as in eat the croissant) for the lemon curd and the biscuit base to set before i put the meringue on the top.

both desserts turned out incredibly wonderful.

the lemon meringue pie had three distinctive layers and each layer tasted incredible alone and combined- buttery biscuit base, tangy lemon curd and sweet meringue. just thinking about it makes me want to grab another bite (which i shouldn't because it's 3am already).

caramelized meringue

three separate layers of the pie 

the nutella criossant was so simple yet so delicious. the puff pastry made each bite light and fluffy while the nutella in the center added the perfect amount of sweetness...

freshly baked

nutella... need i say more?

the process of making these desserts was very relaxing. there's a reason why i like baking more than cooking. being a person who likes to follow rules precisely, i love looking at baking recipes that says the exact amount of ingredients i need to put in. whereas for cooking, i haven't got the faintest idea what "moderate amount of salt" means. when my mom tells me her recipe for kimchi stew (in her own words, "add water, kimchi, salt, and canned tuna and let it cook") i get completely lost. how much of what do i need?!

anyhow back to the topic, following a set of guidelines (and successfully replicating the dessert) makes me incredibly happy.

so yes, baking is therapeutic, and i'm an extremely happy person today
-tiff.c