I attribute my love of food to two factors: being of Pakistani origin (food is an inherent part of Pakistani culture); and having a mother who is never happier than when she’s feeding people. Some of my earliest memories are of eating my mamma’s cheeni roti – homemade flatbread smothered with butter and sugar – and of big family get-togethers that consisted primarily of eating all day.
My philosophy in life is that a cup of tea solves everything, especially when accompanied by a generous wodge of cake. Okay, so perhaps this is a rather simplistic view, but I'm convinced there are few people in the world who you can’t make smile with a good brew (Yorkshire, please) and a nice slab of homemade cakeage!
When I’m not eating cake, I’m baking it, when I’m not baking cake, I’m talking about it, and when I’m not talking about cake, I’m dreaming of it. Baked goodness is my not-so-healthy obsession, and it makes me happy, so I’ve set up this blog so that I can share the happiness with you!
In 2015 I got married to the love of my life, the pretty much perfect Dr D, so you'll probably see mention of him from time to time. He's my biggest supporter, not just when it comes to baking but in everything I do, so it's only right that he therefore gets to be my chief cake-tester!
A note on photography: I'm by no means an expert, but I did invest in a beginner's DSLR - the Canon 1100D for anyone who is interested - for the sake of this blog as, for me, food blogs just don't cut the mustard (pun intended) without vibrant photography to make you salivate and incentivise you to get baking yourself. I hope my photos will improve as the blog goes on, so please bear with me. Some of the older photos on the site are taken with my trusty old compact Canon Ixus II.
As a personal preference, I always shoot food in colour and I always try to make sure I have a good photo of the inside of whatever I have made - the cake in cross-section if you will! - though sometimes it gets scoffed by others before I get the chance! I just think these things give the reader a better idea of the final bake and help to show the cake in its full glory.
Follow me on Twitter at @ranadarbyshire and Instagram at @ranadarbyshire
