Get Baked by Baking! | By Amir Razif
Illustration by Clarissa and Yong Qi.
Photo by Sin Kuo Xuan.
Ways to Celebrate
A way that you can celebrate this fun day is through, you’ve guessed it, baking. If you’ve never baked before, now’s the perfect time to try your hand at it. I’ll introduce you to some easy recipes that even a child could make. Not a fan of baking? Don’t worry, there’s something for everyone. You can enjoy the things that your friends made. Anyone who bakes enjoys seeing people eating their baked goods and liking them.
If you’re worried about being original in baking, it’s not something that you should worry about. Baking is about expressing yourself and enjoying that expression. To quote Val Moore, “To make something for the sole sake of originality without a tether to something personal, is to risk making something that doesn’t mean anything to anyone.”
Of course, it can’t be denied that making something truly original and yours feels really nice. However, when you make originality your sole focus, can you ever truly enjoy what you’re doing? Most of the recipes I’ll introduce you to aren’t truly original. They’ve been passed down to Taylorians from friends, family or even the internet. The main point is that no one recipe belongs to a certain individual.
Recipes from Taylorians
Amira’s Cornflakes Cookies
“These cornflakes cookies are a staple in my family during Eid celebrations. They’re simple, easy to make, and absolutely delicious.”
Ingredients
- One egg
- 85g sugar
- 113g butter
- 141g flour
- A box of cornflakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
- Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
- Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated
- Add the flour
- Scoop a teaspoonful of the batter into a bowl of crushed cornflakes
- Coat the batter with the cornflakes, giving them a very light squeeze and roll into balls
- Arrange on a baking tray
- Repeat until the remaining batter is finished
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes
Baker’s Notes
- For better texture, manually crush the cornflakes by hand or roughly pulse them in a food processor.
Haikal Kho’s Kahk Cookies
“I actually got the recipe online and it’s been with me ever since for Eid. I usually make them with my family a few days before."
Photo by Tasbih on cleobuttera.com.
Ingredients
- 1kg flour
- 65g powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 600g ghee
- 160g milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixer bowl
- Add the ghee and mix at medium-low speed until fully incorporated
- Raise speed to medium and mix until the dough turns creamy and paste-like, usually for one to two minutes
- Reduce speed to low and gradually add the milk and vanilla.
- Continue mixing until a cohesive dough forms
- Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet, spoonfuls at a time
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly golden brown
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely
- Once completely cooled, dust them with powdered sugar
Baker’s Notes
- The recipe calls for 10g of kahk essence, a mixture of spices. Due to it being hard to find here, I’ve left it out.
- If you want, you can stamp the dough before baking with a fork to get some pretty designs.
Photo by Loh Qiao Yin.
Nas’ Semolina Cookies
“This is my mom’s recipe that she gave to me.”
Ingredients (cookies)
- 370g wheat flour
- 200g ghee
- 100g shortening
- 150g castor sugar
- 100g finely ground cornflakes
- One egg yolk
- 80g semolina flour
- 50g cornstarch
Ingredients (coating)
- ¾ cups finely ground Nestum
- ¼ cups milk powder
- One tablespoon of icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius
- Mix the ghee, shortening and castor sugar until fully incorporated
- Add the egg yolk and continue mixing
- Gradually add the dry ingredients until a dough forms
- Make balls and arrange on a baking tray
- Bake for 25 minutes
- Once cooled, roll the cookies in the coating
Why celebrate World Baking Day?
As mentioned, baking is about having fun and making (hopefully) delicious treats. It is a powerful thing to have the ability to connect with people and create bridges among them. So why don’t you go ahead and try out one of these recipes? Bake some cookies for that special someone or even your crush. Who knows, they might even reciprocate your feelings. You could even call it ‘love at first bite’.
Photo by Loh Qiao Yin.
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