The hardest part of baking isn’t the measuring and weighing of ingredients, the kneading and folding of dough or even cooking food at the proper temperature.
It’s the waiting.
Waiting for yeast to blossom. Waiting for dough to rise and rise again. Waiting for pastry to chill. Waiting for cream or egg whites to whip into clouds. Waiting for butter to brown. Waiting for butter to soften in a cold room. Waiting for cakes to come to room temperature so you can frost ’em. Waiting for mousse or puddings or creams or custards to set. Waiting for caramel to form. Waiting for pie to get cool enough to eat.
All of this waiting feels uncomfortable when one lives a life in the rush of now, the breakneck pace of busy. Which is also why I appreciate baking’s long wait times. Waiting forces me to slow down, to take my time, to recognize that I’m trying to create good food — not fast food.
Waiting requires patience and I feel like that’s a virtue few, if any of us, cultivate anymore. Perhaps we should.
–Title quote by Craig Bruce
