Turkish baking

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In recent years both mental health and culinary experts have come round to the idea that baking could very well be helpful in relieving the symptoms of anxiety and depression by combining the physical and projection aspects of the traditional occupational therapies. Kneading a batch of bread dough for 10/15 minutes will sure take away a lot of frustration and negative feeling, the weighing of the ingredients, the repetitive motions and the feeling of being in control could help keep calm and level up unruly anxiety feelings, decorating a cake, making beautiful artistic creations can mirror the feelings of projection people might experience when painting or writing.
And obviously let’s not forget that at the end we get to indulge in some great home bakes which would definitely put a smile on anyone’s face and share our creations with family and friends reclaiming those great positive feelings of nurturing and making someone else happy.
Getting into baking
So how easy is it to get baking? Is it really stress-free? Does Chef Gordon Ramsey or the people working for him look calm and at peace? I think, like anything else, baking can be as easy and stress-free as we want it to be.

If a beginner and not sure, the temperamental nature of pastry and the “ought to be perfect chemical formulas” that we call recipes can be quite daunting and can defeat the whole purpose of the activity if they cause stress. Equally, a rigidly structured and well planned challenge, as hard as it may be, requires focus and non-defeatist attitude and it could be a way of channelling all the negative energy into the chosen “baking-quest”. The great news is there are recipes that are easy and flexible, others that are more challenging and exact – it is important that you set the pace and tone of your own activity.
As for almost everything, there’s help out there. Every spring we all catapult ourselves to the nearest and favourite garden centres and DIY stores to pack up our cars with everything we need to make our homes and gardens summer-ready, we listen to the helpful staff and usually successfully follow their suggestions and advice. Baking doesn’t have to be any different. Baking equipment is readily available almost everywhere, so much so that all major supermarkets even have their own range of cooking ware.
Specialist baking and cooking stores are also spread across the country; nationwide chain Lakeland could be the perfect starting point, not only they supply everything needed for baking and cooking, but also provide cooking books and helpful advice that only a specialist store can often offer
Nutrition and baking
Here at mental healthy we cover extensively the mental health benefits of certain foods and ingredients. Particular attention is given to the benefits of unrefined products such as sugar and flour. Home baking gives you the power to control what to include in a cake or bread, whether swapping white flour for wholemeal, butter and dairy for vegetable oils etc., making it healthier and sometimes more suitable for your physical and emotional needs. Please see our recipe below for Apple and Raisin Cake as a great easy place to start – with the added mental and physical health benefits!
You may also like to try our Alternative Christmas Cake
Hand versus Machine
How to get perfect bakes but keep the physical and therapeutic effects of baking
From a culinary point of view, mixing batters and bread dough with an electric mixer will give better results and in a shorter timeframe. However, in doing so, we give up the physical motions that help release stress and negative/excessive energy. We also loose the feel for the ingredients and their resistance and behaviour when manipulated which can be very therapeutic in itself.
We obviously all want good and tasty results in the kitchen, all the therapeutic effects of baking will instantly vanish if at the very end we don’t get a half decent product!
The key could be combining the two methods: in bread making for example try and use the mixer for the first 5 minutes until the dough is formed and the machine has worked it enough to give a good result at the end, then just turn the dough onto a clean surface and beat all the frustrations out of it for the next 5 minutes.

We can apply the same method when mixing cake batters, electric mixers are very useful especially when mixing eggs and sugar, after that we can use hand whisks and spoons to incorporate all the other ingredients.
Sometimes recipes will also include the type and size of cake tin you need to use and it’s preferable to follow these directions or, if you are using a different one, it’s worth to think about how the different size and material of the tin will affect the cake. For example a mixture that’s meant for a shallow tin will cook differently in a deep one and a thin and flimsy tin will allow the heat to reach the mixture too quickly allowing the base and sides of the cake to dry out and eventually burn, the below links take you to our recommended products we have been able to review during the research into this article.
The key is to get tins that are sturdy and made out of such materials that do not warp at higher temperatures and prolonged oven times, and with a heavy and solid base that should ensure an even distribution of the heat.  A quick and easy test to recognise a good tin is the weight, sturdiness to the touch and usually the price, good tins are usually more expensive but they tend to last longer and give better results – please see reviews below.

herapeutic effects of baking will instantly vanish if at the very end we don’t get a half decent product!
The key could be combining the two methods: in bread making for example try and use the mixer for the first 5 minutes until the dough is formed and the machine has worked it enough to give a good result at the end, then just turn the dough onto a clean surface and beat all the frustrations out of it for the next 5 minutes.

We can apply the same method when mixing cake batters, electric mixers are very useful especially when mixing eggs and sugar, after that we can use hand whisks and spoons to incorporate all the other ingredients.
Sometimes recipes will also include the type and size of cake tin you need to use and it’s preferable to follow these directions or, if you are using a different one, it’s worth to think about how the different size and material of the tin will affect the cake. For example a mixture that’s meant for a shallow tin will cook differently in a deep one and a thin and flimsy tin will allow the heat to reach the mixture too quickly allowing the base and sides of the cake to dry out and eventually burn, the below links take you to our recommended products we have been able to review during the research into this article.
The key is to get tins that are sturdy and made out of such materials that do not warp at higher temperatures and prolonged oven times, and with a heavy and solid base that should ensure an even distribution of the heat.  A quick and easy test to recognise a good tin is the weight, sturdiness to the touch and usually the price, good tins are usually more expensive but they tend to last longer and give better results – please see reviews below.