The Art Of Procrastibaking

It's much more fun to bake cupcakes than it is to clean the bathroom. Or knead dough instead of mowing the lawn. If you feel this way, you're probably a procrastibaker someone who opts for baking over mundane chores. You're not alone. There's more than a baker's dozen of them out there.

The great Julia Moskin wrote about this new trend in today's New York Times Food section.It probably was always a hobby(?) or vice (?) but Instagram gave it legs. It spikes in the weeks leading up to a annual rituals of anxiety like exams, tax day and Election Day.There's also a rush in seeing one's work praised and lauded on Instagram too.Let's face there is absolute fun in baking confetti cookies or making a great pie than there is in handling spread sheets or trying to finish writing that chapter. Many writers have taken to it (Not me- if I want to bake I'll wait til Christmas or someone's birthday), feeling it helps in the writing process. They enter a flow state which allows for more creative thinking.In a way, it's no different than heading to the local Starbucks or Panera for a coffee. One writer, Mia Hopkins, a Los Angeles based writer of racy romance novels,procrastinates by baking pies.It's helps in getting her out of an occasional writer's block Ms. Hopkins always go to pies.There more stimulating to the senses than other bakes. There's kneading the dough, slicing the fruit and crimping the crust. This gets her out of the tangle of words and into the real., allowing her to recharge.

Writers aren't the only procrastibakers. Med students are known for it too. Rachel Courville, a veterinary student at the University of Missouri has baking sessions along study ones. Dedicating a few hours to mixing, baking and decorating is like a mini vacation away from hours of memorization
and worrying about  about passing grades.It's hit the UK too. London medical student, Jonathan Martin wants recipes with many steps. This allows him and other procrastibakers to actually get some work done and give the illusion of efficiency. This would be sourdough bread which requires several proofings and final rising. He also likes the multi step millionaire's shortbread which is layers of shortbread baked and then topped with homemade caramel and melted chocolate. There's a window of time between the shortbread cooling off and making the caramel that allows for studying and chores.Surprisingly professional bakers are also procrastibakers.Erin Gardner, a pro decorator  in New Hampshire bakes recipes that require no thinking such as cookies, brownies and scones. This down time also allows her to get creative with chocolate flowers and stacking cake layers in
new ways.

Procrastibaking is a fun way to blow off chores and create a yummy bake. It's a great way to recharge the batteries too, and retackle a difficult job or study for an intense exam.  The reward is more than a slice of cake or a cookie - it's regaining one's sanity.