100th Post: The Morals Behind Cupcake-Baking

The art of cupcake-baking threw up many important lessons for me yesterday. Let me share my adventure with you, in the hope that each and every one of you will be able to learn from the morals of my story.

“A long time ago, long before you were born, in the Southern province of China …”

There was a girl by the name of Laura. One day, she chanced upon a cupcake recipe book buried in the recesses between the microwave oven and the shelving. As she flipped through this beautiful book, she was hit with a sudden inspiration to try her hand at these creative inventions.

At 10 p.m. on the night of 1 Oct, she rummaged through kitchen cupboards and drawers, taking stock of ingredients which she possessed. In an emergency pit stop, she flew out to Cold Storage, Holland Village. Finally, she lined up all the tools she would need for this immense exercise.

Carefully measuring out the ingredients she needed, Laura painstakingly followed the steps stated in the recipe book. She was determined to create beautiful cupcakes, just like those in the pictures. 

“Yum yum”, she thought, as she tasted the chocolate-brown mixture. “What delicious cupcakes these are going to be!” As Laura went about preparing the icing, she did not take note of what was going on in the oven.

Before long, smoke was escaping from the oven.

“OH NO!”

Not at all like the pictures in the book, the black cupcakes seemed to remind her of the failures she had created throughout her life. For a while, Laura still doggedly refused to admit her failure, insisting on removing the cupcakes from the cases. But when she ventured to taste her creation, “Yuck!” Hard as rock. Inedible. Oh dear.

By this time, Laura was hot and bothered and stifled in the smoky kitchen. She was tired and disappointed and demoralised. Once again, she took stock of what she had left.

She didn’t give up on her dream of seeing a beautiful creation, but she started over again. Sieving the flour, creaming the butter and sugar, folding in the flour, cocoa powder, milk & guava juice, spooning the mixture into cute little paper cases. She learnt her lesson, and watched the cupcakes in the oven as they baked this time around.

And she did it!

Her dream came true.

Of course, it didn’t look exactly like the pictures in the book. But they were her own beautiful inventions nonetheless.

“So children, what are the morals of this story?”

Moral #1. When you fail the first time, try and try again.

Moral #2. Always make sure you have enough energy, time, effort, ingredients, to go for a second round.

Moral #3. Failures are a stepping stone to success. Each failure is a lesson learnt.

Of course, there was a lot of rubbish to clear and dishes to wash at the end of the 4-hour adventure. She finished the whole process at 2 a.m. as she cleared out the rubbish & wiped the table.

Moral #4. Hard work is part of the process.

Laura marvels at the beauty of creation.

Self-raising flour, butter, castor sugar, cocoa powder, almond flakes, milk, guava juice, water, dark chocolate, Ribena, vanilla essence, salt. Each ingredient is individual in terms of taste, form & texture. Yet when the ingredients are combined in the right amounts, with a healthy dose of creativity, a beautiful invention can emerge from the heat of the oven & the fire.

Heart-shaped sweets as cup-cake decoration. A spark of creativity brings much beauty.

Moral #5. Don’t be afraid to try new creative ideas.

Laura’s Next Project: Butterfly Cup-cakes.

Moral #6. When one adventure is over, embark on the next one.

“Have faith in your dreams, and someday,

your rainbow will come shining through.”

- Cinderella