Home-made Baked Goodies

My husband Ryan has long been telling me about his dream of fulfilling his life-long passion – baking. He got hooked into it after college, and is forever declaring how much he wants to pursue this hobby. I vividly remember how much he was into this baking thing when we were still in manila. In fact, I had given his home-made butterscotch as Christmas presents to my colleagues in my ex-company. Oh yeah, he’s really that serious about baking!

I thought this whole baking thing was just a phase, till we finally lived together when he joined me here in Dubai last year. boy, he had tons of recipes in tow! He never got the chance to actually bake them until we came back from the wedding early this year. He showed signs of serious enthusiasm, and being the supportive wife (naks!), we purchased a new cooker with built-in electric oven and thermostat (this was a MAJOR requirement!), courtesy of the cash wedding gift from our dear friends Yvonne & JP. In honor of the former, who was a baker herself, we named our dear oven “Annette”, which is Yvonne’s middle name.

Being an excited amateur baker, the first recipe he tried was the oatmeal cookie. I have to admit that it wasn’t bad at all. Bessie Beth was too excited about the whole idea that she kept encouraging Ryan, as well to keep baking. And so he tweaked his oatmeal recipe a bit and added raisins to it. The outcome was too good I decided to share them with my friends at work, and they loved it!

But the best he’s baked by far is his now-famous carrotcake. Never fails to delight the lips of those who taste it. During my recent birthday bash, he prepared one for me. We served it as dessert for my guests, and of course, it was a blockbuster hit! My friend from work Jen even commented that it was of the same notch as that of Lime Tree Café’s -- the city’s most popular café known for it’s best tasting carrot cake.

With this new talent that Ryan has unearthed, the apartment now frequently smells of this wonderful aroma of freshly baked goodies. The sweet scent is now a familiar odor in our humble abode as Ryan perks up his new found talent on a regular basis. Just last night, he baked his famous carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I took a secret peek at the oven to have a look:


…and waited for a few minutes to find this divine-smelling masterpiece on our table ready to serve:


After spreading the home-made cream cheese icing, it was ready for devouring! Yum yum!!




I think we should seriously start considering opening up a small consignment business here. With a few patrons left and right, I’m sure we’ll do just fine. At least ryan gets to do what he really wants, and earn from it, too. Now if I could only get my hands into this.