Learning the imporance of not burning a cake

Creativity is everywhere. Many of us experience at least a part of the creative process every day, whether it is while we are getting dressed for the day, or doing our homework, creativity is what keeps our lives interesting. But, by actually taking the time to look into what creativity really is and the process we go through to achieve it, I have developed a new appreciation for something that I used to take for granted.

When I first started researching my creative field, I just knew the basics and didn’t really realize the amount of work required to be an expert in the field. We all have seen those beautiful cakes on display in grocery stores or maybe have seen a clip of a show on TV involving the making of an elaborate dessert, Baking is something that not many people appreciate. Sure, they love to eat the delicious foods that come as a result of the work of the experts but we don’t think about the skill required to make such beautiful and tasty treats. I have learned about the creativity that is required to be in this field.

Trying to recreate something from my field was the hardest part of this project. I studied a baker, Buddy Valastro, who has been doing this his whole life and now has an entire business that revolves around his unique skills to make something that tastes delicious and looks like artwork. When you think about it, that’s an amazing feat to combine those two important things. So if I were to do this project again I would probably either, 1) Choose a different artist simply because Buddy’s skills are pretty hard to replicate without the proper tools and knowledge that he has 2) Focus on a different kind of cake that he makes and try to recreate that. The work that Buddy creates takes lots of time and energy, and so it is not easy to try to replicate that in a couple of hours which is what I tried to do.

The most fun part about my field is all the possibilities it holds (and the fact that I get to eat what I create). Each cake is completely different from the next whether it is the batter used or the icing put on top, there is a lot of room for change and creativity is very present in making each decision. Nut mainly the best part about this field is eating.

With my original creation part of the project I experienced a lot of flow. While I was deciding what to make, I went through the creative process that we learned about and then while actually making my project I got completely caught up in it. Baking has always been something that relaxes me and so being able to experiment with it.

This project taught me a lot about the process of creativity. I have been taught to look at things in new ways and think of original solutions to everyday problems. This has been my favorite unit of the class so far because of the skills that I have gained from it. I would love to do a project like this again. After all of the failed baking attempts I have had in the past, it was nice to finally know what went wrong and how to fix it (using creativity of course).