'A piece of cake!': my new newfound respect for bakers

But I don't think the same can be said for baking.

With senior journalist Ruby Pascoe's birthday approaching, I had the genius idea to make a cake for her and the office in celebration.

How hard could it be?

For a fairly inexperienced baker, I decided I could easily transform a chocolate cake into an edible re-creation of a scene from the 2023 film and popular office conversation topic, Saltburn.

Reader, I may have overestimated myself.

I had originally planned to be a decadent chocolate cake with a thick layer of cream and a topping covered in icing.

Instead I bought into the office a rushed packet mix creation with dismal icing piping and only a tiny smear of cream in the middle.

What originally was planned to be a task I could easily complete in one night became two evenings worth of bowls, mixers and spatulas clattering in confusion against each other.

I had decided to take a crack at making buttercream icing- a recipe I have never attempted before.

Whilst my housemates were more than happy to be taste testers, by the 40 minute mark I had given up trying to combine icing sugar and butter into a thick paste.

People like plain butter on cakes don't they?

The perfectionist in me had to go on sabbatical on Thursday evening when putting the finishing touches to the cake.

'If there's enough sugar on here, surely they'll ignore the texture?' I thought to myself.

It's given me a few found respect for all the bakers who entered their cakes at the Wauchope and Kempsey Show.

At both shows I saw some of the spectacular creations from our local bakers both young and old.

These succulent scones, beautiful biscuits and creative cakes I'm sure were no easy feat to make.

But you forget all the hard work that goes into these creations when you're only seeing the end result.

We have some truly talented bakers in our local region that I'd be more than happy to take a page or two out of their cookbook.

In the meantime, I'll be practising my baking a little more often much to the detriment (or benefit?) of my co-workers.