Making What You Love: The Importance of Personal Connection to Your Bake

Iain's honest admission—"I actually don't like my cheesecake. I don't really like cardamom and orange"—reveals a fundamental mistake in competition baking and cooking generally. He chose flavors he thought would impress judges rather than combinations he genuinely enjoyed. This creates multiple problems. First, you cannot effectively adjust seasoning or balance flavors in something you don't like eating. How do you know if the cardamom is too strong or the orange too subtle if you dislike the combination inherently? Second, your lack of enthusiasm shows in subtle ways—less refinement, less iteration, less instinctive correction during the process. Third, if you succeed with flavors you dislike, you've created something you cannot celebrate or share with joy. The best bakers make things they love, then execute them to impress. Personal connection to flavors drives the passion that produces excellence. If you love cardamom but not with orange, pair it with something you do love—perhaps chocolate, coffee, or pear. Authenticity in flavor preference creates authenticity in final results. Cook what you would want to eat, then make it so good others want to eat it too.