Who: Kristin Botzet, senior

Activity: With a childhood filled with baked goods and multiple experiences baking cakes, cookies and other types of treats, senior Kristen Botzet shares information about her homemade delicacies.

How did you start baking?
My mom has always baked, and when I was too young to bake on my own, I would help her. I would always get excited when I was younger to help because I wanted to eat what we baked. I think that I’ve continued to bake because I love how rewarding it is.

Do your mom and sister influence your baking?
Yes, definitely. My family has always baked, and as a professional pastry chef  at Yum! Kitchen and Bakery my mom has made a big impact on my love for baking, and my sister has as well. Whenever I spend time with my sister we always cook and bake — it’s our thing. We appreciate good, homemade food, and so I guess growing up I’ve learned to place an importance on it.

What is your favorite part about baking?
Baking is my stress reliever. When school and life get stressful, I bake. It challenges me, and I love the sense of satisfaction I get when I’ve created something that is visually appealing and also tastes good. It’s my creative outlet. I get to create something on my own and be rewarded when I’m done.

How do you improve your baking?
I mainly learn from my mistakes. Since I’ve grown up baking, I’m always looking to improve by trying new recipes that require more difficult techniques such as frosting techniques and getting the right consistency, as well as recognizing flaws in the recipes and changing them accordingly.

Do you see baking as part of your future?
I will always bake with my family and for fun, but other than a part-time job during college I don’t see myself going anywhere with it as a career.

What is your favorite food to bake?
I’ve made a blue ombre cake before. It was four layers that went from dark blue on the bottom to a white top with frosting that was also ombre. But I enjoy baking anything. I especially like to bake cakes, but really anything that sounds good to eat at the moment.

Where do you find your recipes?
We have a lot of family recipes we’ve used for years and I also find a lot of recipes on blogs. I really like the blog sweetapolita.com and I use Pinterest to find recipes for my “baking” board. I look all over for good, reliable recipes to try out at home.

Who do you usually bake for?
My family and myself mostly, but I really like bringing things I baked to school. I think people today don’t make baked goods enough at home and don’t see the benefits of homemade sweets, so I share at school so people recognize how much better things you make yourself really are. Recently, I have received commissions from my friends to bake them birthday cakes, which I think is a fun thing to do.