Britain’s fascination with baking and cooking has been growing year on year and especially with TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off proving immensely popular, photos of everyone’s attempts appeared all over Instagram and Facebook during the first lockdown.
Pyrex originally founded National Baking Week back in 2007 with other like-minded baking brands, with the aim of encouraging people of all abilities to bake at home.
But baking can also be good for us. According to nationalbakingweek.co.uk, there are lots of benefits other than just eating the yummy creations.
Baking stimulates the senses. We all love the smell of freshly baked bread or cakes coming out of the oven and this can have a positive effect on our mood and in return our well being.
Baking is creative. If you are baking for yourself, there is no right or wrong way of doing something. It’s a chance to experiment with flavours, ingredients, colourings and textures.
Baking makes other people happy. We’ve all seen the smile on people’s faces when someone brings homemade cakes into the office
And with all this in mind baking can help with your mental health and this can be see no more so than Danielle’s challenges with Post-natal depression, read her story and be inspired
In May 2019 Danielle Almond welcomed a health baby boy, Edward, with her husband Michael and so began the lovely journey of parenthood, or so Danielle thought. She couldn’t imagine the journey that faced her in the coming months following a diagnosis of Post Natal Depression, three months after the birth of Edward.
‘During every midwife appointment you’re asked if you have any worries about bonding with your baby and I didn’t’, explains Danielle. ‘Even when I was diagnosed I felt like it couldn’t be correct as I had bonded with Edward but to put it simply I hadn’t bonded with myself’.
Prior to having Edward, Danielle had worked in the NHS starting out in an admin position and working her way up to assistant manager and practice manager in just 4 years.
‘My career was all I’d known, being organised and working to deadlines and now none of that existed and I was struggling. I didn’t recognise the person looking back in the mirror and that scared me and I didn’t like it. As awful as it sounds, I hated myself.’
Although it wasn’t easy, Danielle says she’s one of the lucky ones as she had a good support network and often worries about those who don’t.
Danielle tried to return to her demanding role within the NHS but struggled and so decided for the sake of her mental well-being and her family it was time to find something new and so Baked.Cakes was born.
‘I’d baked for family and friends for years’, says Danielle, ‘many had often said it was something I should do full time and so after learning in therapy that no decision was a wrong one and that I could always change my mind and do something else I decided to take the risk and start Baked.Cakes.’
Baked.Cakes, situated in Bacup centre, offers a daily selection of cakes, as well as custom celebration cakes, vegan, gluten free and diabetic friendly options. As Danielle says, everyone should be able to enjoy cake.
24 Saint James’s Street, Bacup OL13 9NJ
Tel : 07517 904575
www.bake-d.co.uk
