Today I want to talk about the joys of baking.
That's right, baking. I'll be using bake as a verb throughout this newsletter, because baking is so much more than following a recipe.
Baking is an experience.
A ceremony.
When I started my business I would bake in my teeny tiny kitchen using my one tray at a time, teeny oven with my favourite classical music on for hours and lose track of all time.
When you bake with intention and presence, your kitchen becomes a sanctuary of creativity and your whole being fills with happy vibes.
And friends, that's the essence of what we cherish here at Le Dolci: Happiness.
In Italy where my family is from, baking a cake often spans an entire afternoon, a sweet ritual that's woven into the fabric of family traditions and involves lots of espressos and feedings of pasta in between.
During my most recent visit to see my best friend in Puglia, my dear friend Paolo had his counter top dusted with flour, sugar, bowls of fresh eggs from the neighbours farm, plums and rosemary from his garden all laid out one morning.
He made such a simple and yummy olive oil, plum cake and a batch of fresh focaccia that I still dream about it today. All using his beloved Thermomix. p.s. The Thermomix craze, has not hit North America yet.
Today, our Head Pastry Chef Vanessa bakes with this same simple passion. She made a delicious cake for a community bake sale last week and it looked delicious (no leftovers remained for brining back to the school sadly).
In our classes, students gather around and under our Chefs' guidance create something beautiful with their hands.
Whether it is decorating cakes, baking the most adorable profiteroles or slathering the most delicious spread onto their cinnamon bun dough. Students embrace an afternoon where time expands with each mix of the batter.
I do love eating cake, don't get me wrong but I also believe the luxury is in the making of it.
It's the warm kitchen, the smell of vanilla, the little (& big!) fingers licking spoons and bowls, and it's the smell of it baking in the oven.
My heart fills with happiness when I come home and can smell my neighbour Amy's baking (which happens almost every weekend!) And I am even more fortunate that she shares her baking with us.
A fresh loaf of sourdough is the best present you could ever find on your doorstep -thank you Amy! (p.s. we have some big sourdough announcements coming soon!)
Today I wanted to share our Famous Vanilla Cake and Vanilla Buttercream recipe and invite you to join us the next time you want to feel the warm hug of baking or cake decorating in your life.
xoLisa Sanguedolce
Chief taste tester and founder of Le Dolci Culinary School
P.S. Use code Luxury when you check out to get 15% off your fave cake classes until Sunday!
