Kelly Cousins

My mother taught me how to bake when I was very young. However, China does not really do home baking. Most people do not own ovens, ingredients are hard to find, etc. But through a great deal of research and experimentation I have been able to continue doing what that I love, and sharing it with my friends.

First though, it seems only fair I explain baking in China. Traditional Chinese food is usually stir fried, boiled or steamed. None of these methods require an oven. Chinese culture also does not have much in the way of desserts. There are sweet snacks, like egg tarts. Occasionally, sweet foods are served with dinner, but they come as part of the meal instead of at the end of it. My favorite is a fried corn pancake, which is dusted with sugar. It is most similar to fried dough made of kernels of corn. There are bakeries all over China, but they are, again typically considered snack foods.

When I first came to China last year, my apartment came with a tiny kitchen, and part of that space was already taken by my laundry machine. At first, I did not have an oven (eventually I was given one by my awesome school). I had a gas stove top, a rice cooker, and a microwave. This was a little frustrating. Not to be deterred, I research the phenomenon of rice cooker cakes. Both rice cookers and microwaves are perfectly capable of turning out excellent cakes. Armed with this knowledge, I was able to start making treats for my coworkers!

When I did get an oven, finding baking ingredients was still tough. Perhaps the most problematic of these was the lack of baking powder. China does use baking soda however. It is pretty easy to make a baking powder substitute with just half baking soda and half vinegar. China also does not use dairy products as much as the western world. This means butter, cream, cheese, etc. There are, much to my pleasure, a whole bunch of cakes and cookies that do not use dairy. Carrot cake is a delightful option (my recipe calls for neither butter for baking powder). Over the course of the past year and I half I have also found recipes for chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, sugar cookies, and vanilla cake, none of which call for butter. 

One quick note, icing is tough. I have been experimenting with a lot of cooked icings like Swiss Meringue or French Buttercream, that do not call for powdered sugar. These frostings require more technique, but they are worth the extra work.  

I love being a baker in China because of the joy it brings. Last year on Christmas I baked furiously, resulting in enough cakes so that all of my coworkers could try some of my baking. I even got to hand it out dressed as Santa.

Having learned the art of baking early in life, it is engrained in my everyday life. I am fortunate to still be able to do things I love that remind me of home.