[How to] Add Creativity and Presentation to Baking

Now that we’ve mastered organization and prep, equipment and tools, baking techniques, and execution and measurements; it’s time for the fun part—being creative with your baking!

Creativity and presentation are the icing on the cake (pun intended) when it comes to baking like a pro. This was my favourite part back in my dessert company days, and it still is today! I love to add a special extra touch to my recipes and you’ll see that all throughout the blog. But now it’s your turn to add your personal touch, experiment fearlessly, and let your confidence soar! With a dash of creativity and a sprinkle of imagination, you’ll be baking up a storm and wowing your friends and family with your creations in no time!

Tips For Creativity and Presentation

1. Know the Recipe: Once you’ve mastered a recipe and know it like the back of your hand, it’s time to spread your wings. Play with different flavours, swap out ingredients, and be bold. Who knows? You might stumble upon a flavour combination that’s out of this world. *I do not recommend making changes to any recipes until you know it’s successful, then and only then can you start to make adjustments to your desired tastes.
2. Confidence Breeds Creativity: Confidence is the secret ingredient that elevates your baking from good to great. As you gain experience and hone your skills, you’ll find yourself more willing to take risks, make changes, and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the kitchen. Trust yourself, trust your instincts, and let your creativity shine.
3. Adaptability is Key: As any seasoned baker knows, sometimes recipes don’t go exactly as planned. But here’s the secret—embracing adaptability can turn a potential disaster into a stroke of genius. Don’t be afraid to think on your feet, make adjustments, and turn a recipe mishap into a culinary masterpiece.
4. Add Your Special Touch: What sets your baking apart from the rest? It’s those personal touches—the delicate swirl of frosting, the intricate piping, or the edible flowers adorning your creation that make it uniquely yours. Let your imagination run wild and infuse your baking with your own special flair. Take that last, extra step to make your baking beautiful!

Recipes with a Special Touch

1. Almond Flour Chocolate Brownies – Here I took a simple brownie recipe and topped each brownie with fresh whipped cream and berries. It takes a plain looking brownie to the next level and looks professional, like it came from a restaurant or for an event!
2. Almond Cherry Cupcakes – A very simple extra touch is to add fresh fruit with its stems and foliage still on. Like what I’ve done with this almond cherry cupcake recipe by adding a plump cherry with the stem still attached. It makes these cupcakes stand out more than if they had no cherry at all.
3. Chocolate Cupcakes – Take the extra step and pipe your cupcakes with a star tip, this gives them that professional bakery style!
4. Lemon Berry Angel Food Cake – I had a lot of fun decorating this Angel food cake. These cakes are typically on the plainer side so to give it a little more flair I paid special attention to the topping. After I iced the cake I piled on lots of fresh berries, thin lemon slices and some flowers. Have fun and get creative!
5. Lemon Zucchini Cake – The cake features lemon, so why not make a pretty topping out of lemons?! The extra step of adding sugared lemons on top of the cake really elevated this cake!
6. Make Ahead, No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake – I’ve played around with the decorating of this recipe a few times but I love adding edible flowers to each square with a dollop of cream. I’ve also added fresh strawberries too.
7. No Bake Coconut Tart with Sugared Fruit – This has to be my favourite way to elevate a dessert; sugaring fruit (flowers, herbs, etc) and adding them to the recipe. This was the common signature that I used in my dessert company to make any dessert extra special. Some more examples of this are my Rosewater Panna Cotta recipe and White Chocolate Cranberry Tart recipe.
8. Spring Vanilla Cake – Now this is a great example of getting creative and I love this cute bunny ear cake topper that I added. Simple is always the way to go if you ask me!