What's for Dessert?

I made muffins to sell at the bakery on Friday. Almond Joy Muffins (vanilla muffins loaded with chocolate chips, coconut, and toasted almonds), Wake-Me-Up Muffins (coffee and maple flavored), and a Lemon Poundcake with Lemon Icing, sliced and served up like Starbucks. “Where did you learn to bake like that?” was the question from my co-worker, Erin. No recipes, just instinct.

“That’s some good Custard Pie!” Kurt complimented tonight while eating the dessert I had made, smothered in my signature Whiskey Cream Sauce. “Where did you learn to bake like that?”

“What’s for dessert?” was a common question in my house as I raised my two daughters on my own for 14 years. You see, when I was growing up, my mother was a “clean your plate” tyrant. If I didn’t finish my hamburger at dinner, it was served to me cold-from-the-fridge for breakfast, and every meal after that until it was gone. I was determined to never do that to my own children.

My solution? I made dessert every night for my kids and my house rule was “if you clean your plate, you get dessert.” Sometimes the peas just weren’t worth a bowl of ice cream. So, I upped my game. I wanted to make sure that Chocolate Cheesecake would make anyone eat their brussel sprouts. It worked! My children became adventurous eaters… and I became a stellar baker!

No, my mother never let me in the kitchen when she was baking, and she baked everything from scratch… bread, cookies, cakes, kuchens… everything. I raised my girls sitting on the kitchen counter stirring batter as soon as they were old enough to hold a spoon.

 How did I become a baker? Necessity. As a single mom in a low income situation, making sure my girls ate well was number one, so dessert was a Must-Have! It worked. My girls are healthy adults with a love for food and a love for cooking and baking. And, I… well, I am a baker.