Bake Away Your Boredom

As first term gets into the swing of things and the workload starts to grow, many of you girlies will no doubt be in need of some good procrastination.  If you want to tear yourself away from the sofa and those endless cosmo internet tabs, why not venture into the kitchen where you can rustle up something a little more inventive. Baking is not to be reserved for special occasions, and can be the perfect distraction from that long assignment.

One of the things that sets baking apart from ‘vine addiction’, is that it has three parts; the preparation, the cooking, and the eating. The baking time allows you to return to your work for a while (preventing later onset of guilt), to then be rewarded with the consumption of whatever goodies you have made (that is if the mixture has made it to the oven).  Not only have you created the perfect indulgence to drown your essay sorrows, but have also done more than lose a few hours to YouTube. If you are going to procrastinate you may as well be productive about it.

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Baking can also be an excuse to gossip with the girls and cut a cake over a well deserved cuppa. Get your fellow collegiates to chip in on some ingredients and you can go crazy on cake decorations….or just bake an extra big brownie.

If you are still unconvinced that cupcakes and cookies will serve as an assignment alternative, a birdie told me that carrot cake is great brain food. Why not test out this theory and dig out your  old carrots, you never know it could contribute to one of your 5 a day?!

There is nothing quite so satisfying as a home-made cake (except possibly home-made bread) and it is sure to help dispel any blues.  Bake enough and you can even keep some sealed away for future snacks – though this might prove difficult with a pack of hungry students around.  If you share the costs, buy supermarket basics, and make the most of what you have, there’s no reason it should be an expensive endeavour. You can always buy enough for next time as it’s often cheaper in bulk.

For those of you counting the calories, you can try using low-fat ingredients, follow up your cake consumption with a trip to the wonderful Sports Village, or just bake for your flatmates and neighbours instead.

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York is great for societies so it should come as no surprise that there is a UoY Baking Soc, and the more college specific Langwith Baking Society.  They both encourage baking at all levels and are great way to socialise and of course – eat cake. Langwith has just hosted its very own Bake Off for RAG and is sure to have similar events in the future.

As long as you avoid setting your student house on fire, baking can be a very therapeutic activity – nothing calms the nerves more than the smell of freshly baked cake. So stealing the words of Marie Antoinette: “Let them eat cake!”.


Here are some quick and easy recipe recommendations:

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Chewy Choc Chip Cookies


125g soft butter
1 mug soft brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g chocolate chips (white, milk, or dark)

1 ½ mugs self-raising flour

Oven: 200°C/Gas 6

Mix the butter and sugar together and beat well.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix in.

Throw in the chocolate chips.

Next add flour and mix again (baking = lots of mixing). The mixture will be quite stiff.

Tip onto a floured surface and roll into a long sausage shape. Then break/cut into approx. 16 portions all roughly (no need for a ruler) 1.5 cm thick & 6cm across.

Place them spaced out (well) onto a greased baking tray. Finally put in the oven and bake for 10-12 mins. 
They don’t need to brown lots because you want them nice and chewy, just cook until crisp on the outside. Leave to cool.

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Banana & Chocolate Cake 
(it contains fruit so it must be good for you right?)
(great if you have some bananas lying around feeling unloved and past their prime)

3 mugs self-raising flour

1 mug sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ mugs milk

¾ mug vegetable oil

100-200g chocolate

2-3 squashed bananas

Oven: 200°C/Gas 6

Mix the flour and sugar. 
Add the eggs, milk and oil, and stir. 
Add the chocolate chips/chunks and squashed bananas and mix in. Don’t overmix.

Put in greased or lined cake/muffin tins. Bake for about 20-25 mins.

They should be light brown and springy. Check with a fork to see if cooked properly on the inside.


N.B. For the Gluten intolerant – don’t worry these taste just the same with Doves Farm Gluten Free Self Raising White Flour, I’ve tried!

• assignments
• baking
• procrastination
• students