Baking Highlights

The iterative process of creating my ideal whole wheat sourdough boule brought me a sense of order and control during the early months of the pandemic. While I never achieved perfection, I relished the delicate work of shaping dough and planning of fermentation timelines.

My sweet tooth almost certainly comes from my oma, who hails from Germany. While Alzheimer's has stolen our family recipes, it brings me great joy to re-create the desserts we love and remember. 

In 2018, my mother surprised me with a trip to Norway, where I went hut-to-hut hiking and ran the Oslo Marathon. After all that exercise, I could not get enough of the cardamom scented raisin buns traditional to Scandinavia. As a yearly thank you to my mom, I make a batch or two of rosinboller to share. 

Baking has always been one of my favorite ways to share love and appreciation for the people in my life. There's nothing like a homemade layer cake to make one feel special. On this birthday cake, I went a step further and used a strip of orange peel to spell the recipient's name.

Two summers ago, I was so optimistic about my canning plans that I ordered an entire case of Fortune Plums from Collins Family Orchards. This crostata was part of a baking spree inspired by the pounds of plums languishing in our pantry. 

Ask any of my classmates about my baking and you'll hear one word: cookies. Since my days of running for 5th grade class representative, I've held a deep respect for the power of freshly baked cookies. These pumpkins were shared with my medical school class during our challenging neurology unit.