Coronavirus has impacted our lives drastically. Everyone is afraid to socialize, go out or go shopping. We were confined to our homes, thinking of what to do every single day. We all know baking is a stress buster although everyone took this therapy too seriously. Half of the population has become enthusiastic bakers. This has everyone running around grabbing that last bag of flour available. The shelves emptied and stocks finished. Quarantine baking became synonymous to meditating for people generally but for us who do this professionally is our prime source of income. We don’t have the privilege to just bake for busting stress! Although it is mandatory to stock up, for bakers it was a bit nerve-wracking to see the products out of stock in the markets. From flour, icing sugar to fresh – cream which is still scarce in the markets, it is annoying to perfectionists who don’t like to use substandard ingredients in their recipes. However, people found home-based patisserie safer, more hygienic and dependable as only the baker handles all operation. For people who wanted a professionally finished product, resorting to home bakers was the only option. Although, delivering the product was a slight bother as the movement of traffic was restricted. Orders started pouring in on festivals, birthdays etc as the restrictions were eased. Customers who were previously sceptical about the prices didn’t ask twice as they couldn’t get bakery from the ‘comparatively cheaper’ store this time. Talk about appreciation for skilled home bakers!

“Sanah Jeelani” is Human Resource Management and Psychology Graduate from Middlesex University Dubai. She is a home baker and runs a baking venture known as Ziggy’s Cupcakes.

SOURCE: "Sanah Jeelani"