How I Started Baking
The question I get asked the most is how I started baking. It honestly took a little bit of reflection to figure out how I ended up with a baking blog, but I’ve finally navigated the roundabout way that led me here!
“Thanksgiving was creeping up and all I could think about was ‘Oh my god I don’t know if I can go through this again’.”
High School
I guess I could take my baking all the way to high school. At my high school, it was kind of a thing to bring people balloons/sweets on their birthday. I usually brought people brownies I made from a boxed brownie mix. For whatever reason, people really seemed to like my brownies. Multiple people even encouraged me to sell my brownies (which I thought was the most ridiculous thing at the time). The only thing I did differently was baking my brownies a little less than the time on the box so the centers would be moist, but somehow that was enough to create a mini brownie craze.
College
When I lived at home, I always wanted to try to make a cake from scratch, but my mom wasn’t the biggest fan of me baking in her kitchen. Once I went to college and had my own place, I started experimenting with different recipes. It started with an apple cinnamon bake I found on Buzzfeed to making a tiered birthday cake for one of my closest friends. I started investing in different tools (the most basic ones) like a handheld Kitchenaid mixer and icing spatulas.
My first cake from scratch.
After College
It wasn’t until I graduated from college and moved back home that I really started baking. I remember I made my mom a strawberry sponge cake for her birthday and she literally only ate the filling because the actual cake was SO sweet. Funny because the filling was even sweeter.
My mom’s 52nd birthday cake.
Then for my dad’s birthday, I made him a carrot cake, which luckily turned out DELICIOUS. That really brought my confidence back in my baking skills after the major strawberry cake fail.
My dad’s 55th birthday cake.
During this time I was studying for the MCAT. If you don’t know, the MCAT is a standardized test you have to take before applying to medical school. If you’ve ever self-studied for a standardized exam, you know it’s no walk in the park. There were times where I would have a full-on break down because I just felt so stupid. The test literally broke me down to my core, but looking back I’m so glad it did because I have so many more difficult exams to take in the future!! But anyway I digress.
During that time I discovered my FAVORITE blogger/baker Chelsweets. She had partnered up with Refinery 29 and Lucie Fink on a Christmas cake and it popped up on my discover page. I not only loved how simple the cake was from the outside but how it also had a special surprise on the inside. Feeling super hopeful, I decided to give the cake a try. The cake wasn’t a major fail, but I learned a lot from it, especially the importance of a crumb coat.
Once I took the MCAT, it was time to start applying to medical school. Looking back, I wish I stuck with baking in this period. I have a tendency to get hyper-focused on my education/career and throw all my energy into them. I literally sat day after day researching schools and writing essays. I was also unemployed (studying for the MCAT was a full-time job in itself) so I was job-searching which was also super time-consuming.
After applying
If you’re familiar with the medical school application process, you know it’s a waiting game. I turned in my primary application the first week of June and all my secondary applications (yes there are two sets of applications) by mid-July and had still not heard anything back in October. To say I was freaking out is a huge understatement.
In the pre-med world we have a saying that if you don’t have a single interview by Thanksgiving, it’s time to start considering reapplying. Thanksgiving was creeping up and all I could think about was “Oh my god I don’t know if I can go through this again”.
At this point in the application cycle, there was nothing more I could do to improve my chances of admission. After all those hours of hard work and shedding half my water weight in tears, my application cycle was going nowhere. This was such a difficult time for me. All I could think about was, “Wow, no one thinks I’m worthy of becoming a doctor.” (not at all true by the way, so many things go into admissions decisions, but it’s really how I felt in the moment).
During this time I had started baking again and made a Thanksgiving cake and a mocha chocolate cake for one of my friend’s birthdays. When I bake, I like to record myself baking. It started with time-lapse videos and progressed to mini-tutorials. In the beginning, I just wanted something cool to show my kids, but people seemed to really enjoy my baking videos.
At one point, someone I knew from college actually DMed me on Instagram to ask if she could order a cake for her daughter’s first birthday. This literally made me rethink everything. Someone wanted to buy one of my cakes? And for her daughter’s FIRST birthday?! Wow, I must have SOME sort of skill right?
I was literally shocked. But I think this was the final push I needed to start putting my videos up on YouTube and on a public Instagram. Even though I love looking back at my videos, I felt as if I couldn’t provide enough information about how to recreate the specific cake. That’s when I decided to launch my blog.
I think my blog is my favorite social media platform right now (I’m currently on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok). I love the ability to freely express myself and open up about about things like this. It also gives me a lot more space to explain why I like a specific tool or technique.
Future Plans
As of now, Sugar Plum Sweet Tart is a hobby/distraction that keeps me sane while I apply to medical school. I have so many ideas on how to improve my videos and posts, but only a limited amount of time. It’s been such a hard balance between working full-time at a medical device company, working on reapplication materials (just incase ya’know), and trying to find time to stay consistent in my posts.
As some of you may know, I volunteer with Cake4Kids, an organization that allows bakers to donate their cakes to underprivileged youth. Right now I try to focus on having one active cake request at all times. Even that is really difficult because I have to make sure the drop-off timing works with my work schedule, but I’ve gotten pretty lucky recently with a lot of afternoon drop-offs!
I truly LOVE baking for Cake4Kids. It really is a whole different experience. Sometimes you get super lucky and receive feedback from the child/family. Those times my heart literally melts. It makes me so happy that I could deliver such joy to another family.
Reach out!
As of now, I tend to bake after work and throughout my weekends. It will probably die down a bit as the medical school application cycle starts up again. I try to remind myself that baking is just a hobby and I should treat it as such. I have such high expectations for myself and sometimes I get a little carried away.
I’m super excited to see how much more I will learn about baking this next year. My growth has been unreal and I could not be more proud of myself.
If you’ve ever considered starting baking but have doubts or think you can’t do it, please reach out! I would love to throw some confidence your way. I think baking can be so therapeutic and should be something everyone gives a shot!