Baking Cakes

The Peanut

In work today, there is a cake sale raising money for a very worthy charity. Very worthy cause and some of the workers here have gone to a lot of effort to bake stuff.

What has amazed me though is the reaction from many of the female employees to cakes/buns that have been submitted from men? Do ladies view men who can bake as more desirable than the non-baking male? Are bakers the new rock stars? Men, have you baked your way into a ladies heart?;)

Menas

If I had known this 20 years ago I would have been bringing home baked cakes in to Coppers.

jamesbere

it's something about men putting buns in the oven that appeal to women

The Peanut

Trigger Happy wrote: »

If I had known this 20 years ago I would have been bringing home baked cakes in to Coppers.

It was quite amazing. I don't watch the Bake-off programs on telly so I was kinda unaware of whatever social impact it was causing but there was a lad there this morning from IT - who is a reserved chap - and the females were all gushing(:eek:) about the quality of his shortbread.

Maximus Alexander

The Peanut wrote: »

What has amazed me though is the reaction from many of the female employees to cakes/buns that have been submitted from men?

I've noticed this in my own workplace too. However, I've also noticed that it very rarely results in copious amounts of office sex for the baker, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Shenshen

A man who can cook and bake is definitely much more attractive than one who can't - and I say that as someone who loves cooking and baking herself

The Peanut

jamesbere wrote: »

it's something about men putting buns in the oven that appeal to women

I do think that females are correctly very appreciative of men that have gathered any skills other than what's perceived as traditional or archaic male skills but it just appeared to me that baking has become very sexy.

osarusan

I bake bread, cakes, scones, biscuits all the time and bring them into work.

Whatever about in Ireland, here in Japan where most men don't seem to be able to boild an egg (woman's work don't you know, while I slave away for 16 hours a day in an office), the ladies practically wet themselves.

Augmerson

I'm deadly with a dutch oven.

stimpson

Shenshen wrote: »

A man who can cook and bake is definitely much more attractive than one who can't - and I say that as someone who loves cooking and baking herself

You bake yourself? Like Shenshen pie?

kylith

Lads, most women love a guy who can cook. Seriously.

anncoates

Thinly veiled bitchez like men with dough thread.

GLaDOS

Any real man knows his way around a kitchen

DoYouEvenLift

Surprised that cooking and baking is still a big deal to some people. You can find recipes and instructions for any meal online, it's not exactly difficult to follow a set list and time the food cooking. I'd say it's just putting in the effort that's more impressive to most people since it seems like many are so lazy nowadays. Same story with working out, people are surprised if you workout and get results from it. Who knew hard work and consistency with things in life gives positive results?

kylith

Actually, a guy with any skills around the house is very desirable. I've been watching the British Sewing Bee and I wouldn't mind sitting as a model for some of those guys. The ability to turn a pair of curtains into a one-of-a-kind evening dress brings any guy a couple of points further up the 'would do' scale for me.

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

Surprised that cooking and baking is still a big deal to some people. You can find recipes and instructions for any meal online, it's not exactly difficult to follow a set list and time the food cooking. I'd say it's just putting in the effort that's more impressive to most people since it seems like many are so lazy nowadays. Same story with working out, people are surprised if you workout and get results from it. Who knew hard work and consistency with things in life lead to improvements?

Like The Mammy always said; anyone who can read can cook. The internet is an unbelievable resource where you can learn to do anything from welding to crochet.

jamesbere

The Peanut wrote: »

I do think that females are correctly very appreciative of men that have gathered any skills other than what's perceived as traditional or archaic male skills but it just appeared to me that baking has become very sexy.

Well my tinder profile pick will be me taking a tray of buns out of the oven, women will be flocking towards me.

jamesbere

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Any real man knows his way around a kitchen

You would be surprised how many women don't know their way around a kitchen. I live with a girl before who didn't know how to cook spuds

whiskeyman

The Peanut wrote: »

and the females were all gushing(:eek:) about the quality of his shortbread.

durty!

The Backwards Man

I bake because I'm a mean, stingy old codger.

The Peanut

kylith wrote: »

Lads, most women love a guy who can cook. Seriously.

I must have some default mechanism in my brain regarding baking. I am quite a good cook but I cannot bake. :mad:

kylith

The Peanut wrote: »

I must have some default mechanism in my brain regarding baking. I am quite a good cook but I cannot bake. :mad:

I think baking is regarded as trickier than anything else because it's basically chemistry; you're mixing together a bunch of stuff and hoping that the resulting chemical interactions become cake, too much or too little of anything can ruin it.

I should bake more. My ex didn't eat baked goods and I couldn't eat an entire cake by myself. I should bring stuff into work...

stimpson

The Peanut wrote: »

I must have some default mechanism in my brain regarding baking. I am quite a good cook but I cannot bake. :mad:

Cooking is art, baking is science.

Baking is very unforgiving on quantities, temperature and time.

TheBeardedLady

If you can read, you can cook. Ye mightn't be Gordan Ramsey but anyone can read instructions and cook something.



People who don't even try and live off ready meals or whatever ****e are not very attractive (men and women).

The Peanut

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I bake because I'm a mean, stingy old codger.

For your pleasure.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/maggiemae

denhaagenite

The Peanut wrote: »

I must have some default mechanism in my brain regarding baking. I am quite a good cook but I cannot bake. :mad:

Me too. My husband, on the other hand, has an uncanny ability to turn a "20 minute meal" into a four hour debacle in which he almost sets the kitchen on fire, but is amazing at baking. I think it's the fact that you need to be flexible with ingredients and timing with cooking, with taste being quite an instinctive thing, whereas baking you need to weigh everything properly with ratios for butter, sugar, flour, eggs etc and temperature/ timing need to be just so. I've no patience for all that but he loves it.

The Peanut

kylith wrote: »

I think baking is regarded as trickier than anything else because it's basically chemistry; you're mixing together a bunch of stuff and hoping that the resulting chemical interactions become cake, too much or too little of anything can ruin it.

QUOTE]

Here's the kicker.......I'm a chemist.:o

Work in labs; I should be able to do it.

Menas

But with baking you also need to know 'texture'...ie to know when something is mixed just right with the right amount of air in it etc.
That only comes with patience and experience.

kylith

The Peanut wrote: »

Here's the kicker.......I'm a chemist.:o

Work in labs; I should be able to do it.

There's no hope for you so!

Ms2011

Married a baker so must have worked on me

Maximus Alexander

Trigger Happy wrote: »

But with baking you also need to know 'texture'...ie to know when something is mixed just right with the right amount of air in it etc.
That only comes with patience and experience.

Or a HD video on YouTube

The Peanut

Trigger Happy wrote: »

But with baking you also need to know 'texture'...ie to know when something is mixed just right with the right amount of air in it etc.
That only comes with patience and experience.

Ah!

kylith

Actually, I have to confess; I can't bake bread. I balls it up totally 9 times out of 10

Jawgap

Women know you can't beat a good muffin......


......anyway, I cook and bake (I do nearly all the cooking in the house) and I'm currently trying to persuade my teenage sons that a guy who can whip up a half decent three course meal gets a lot more lady attention than a guy who knows the number of the local Chinese by heart.......

.......I was fighting a losing battle until the eldest lad's 'girlfriend' was around the house and was having a bit of food with us and asked him if he could cook like me - cue, sudden interest in cooking!

The Peanut

Jawgap wrote: »

Women know you can't beat a good muffin......


......anyway, I cook and bake (I do nearly all the cooking in the house) and I'm currently trying to persuade my teenage sons that a guy who can whip up a half decent three course meal gets a lot more lady attention than a guy who knows the number of the local Chinese by heart.......

.......I was fighting a losing battle until the eldest lad's 'girlfriend' was around the house and was having a bit of food with us and asked him if he could cook like me - cue, sudden interest in cooking!

Love it!

My mam made sure we could all cook before we left home to go to college. I still enjoy cooking and would do most of the cooking at home. She was a terrible baker though and I've inherited her ability.

TheBeardedLady

Jawgap wrote: »

Women know you can't beat a good muffin......


......anyway, I cook and bake (I do nearly all the cooking in the house) and I'm currently trying to persuade my teenage sons that a guy who can whip up a half decent three course meal gets a lot more lady attention than a guy who knows the number of the local Chinese by heart.......

.......I was fighting a losing battle until the eldest lad's 'girlfriend' was around the house and was having a bit of food with us and asked him if he could cook like me - cue, sudden interest in cooking!

It is a very attractive skill. I was seeing a chef for a while who'd trained in France and jaysus, the stuff he whipped up. Some aphrodisiac that was.

The Peanut

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

It is a very attractive skill. I was seeing a chef for a while who'd trained in France and jaysus, the stuff he whipped up. Some aphrodisiac that was.

Tell us more.;)

Jawgap

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

It is a very attractive skill. I was seeing a chef for a while who'd trained in France and jaysus, the stuff he whipped up. Some aphrodisiac that was.

My Dad is a retired chef so I worked as a chef through college and just enjoyed cooking.

If you can cook steak, chicken, fish and veg (properly!!), master a couple of basic sauces, a basic risotto recipe and a decent Spag Bol, you can thrive!

After that, it's just fresh food, take your time and experiment!

Esterhase

Man cooking and baking > man not cooking and baking.

It's the cooking part that's more important to me. I hate cooking and am perfectly happy to leave himself to do the dinner while I make nice cakes and desserts. Perfect teamwork!