Stay at home orders has meant different things for different people. It has added stress for the working parents as they had to juggle office duties while trying to homeschool and entertain the kids. For the binge-watchers, with no parties and social events, it’s more of screen time. For the craft-o-holics, it was all about trying their hands at new hobbies.
Whether you spent the entire quarantine in your pajamas or you were one of those busy-bods who organised every minute of your quarantine schedule – there’s no escaping one universal trend. Yes, welcome to the world of quarantine baking.
More and more people have turned to bake during these stressful times as a stress-relief mechanism. Thanks to this trend, we witnessed some of the best creative baking trends of this year.
From Dalgona coffee to sourdough starters, how many of these quarantine baking trends have you tried?
1. Banana Bread
The unofficial dish of quarantine. This was one of the earliest baking trends during quarantines. It has dominated the #quarantinebaking trend on Insta for the last few months.
With lines nearly a mile long at super-markets, people didn’t want to go grocery shopping often. As a result, they hoarded on essentials. While other essentials have a shelf life of at least a few weeks, bananas need to be consumed within a few days. Why throw out overripe bananas when you can convert them into delicious banana bread within a few minutes?
Just a few ingredients, this is a super easy one-bowl dish that is super forgiving. Even if you aren’t an expert baker, there is no way that you can mess this up. Add nuts, choco-chips, or just have it plain without any extras. Banana bread makes for a yummy quarantine breakfast that everyone in the family will love.
2. Dalgona Coffee
With coffee shops closed, people missed their fancy coffee drinks. Enter Dalgona Coffee – the superstar coffee. A traditional Korean drink, Dalgona coffee, took over the world after it went absolutely viral in a TikTok video.
No fancy ingredients needed. Just muscle power (or you can use a hand blender), and you’ve got an elegant looking whipped coffee in minutes. You can have it either hot or cold, depending on your preferences.
3. Dumplings
As people are stuck at home around the world, there has been some serious creativity in the kitchen. For the first time ever, during the quarantine, people have made new foods that they haven’t tried before. And one of these is – dumplings.
From traditional Chinese dumplings to modern twists, people are making them in different forms. Chicken, paneer, veggie, and even sweet dumplings have graced social media feeds in the last few weeks.
4. Baking Bread
With local bakeries shut, people have started making loaves of bread at home, right from scratch. There is something so peaceful and relaxing about bread baking. You need to wait patiently for the yeast to work its magic, and then watch your loaf rise in the oven and not to forget the delicious aroma that fills the kitchen as your bread bakes.
Pav buns, sourdough bread, and exquisitely designed focaccia bread art were the famous bread styles making the rounds on Instagram.
5. IKEA Meatballs
In April, the popular brands too jumped on the bandwagon and released their secret corporate recipes. IKEA shared its iconic meatball recipe, and the internet went crazy. From Japan to India, everyone added their own twist to this recipe. There were plenty of chicken meatball recipes doing the rounds on Indian social media.
Besides IKEA, other brands too jumped in on the trend, and Arnott shared the recipe for their special Monte Carlo biscuits and the yummy buttery Scotch Finger.
6. Edible Cookie Dough
The ultimate comfort food. There is nothing as satisfying as dipping into a bowl of cookie dough and licking it by the spoon. During quarantine, it was all about baking simple dishes with minimal fuss. And, cookie dough ticks it perfectly.
People have been enjoying this sweet treat in the form of cookie dough balls. And, not just that, amateur bakers have been giving a healthy spin to this indulgent treat. Blending chickpeas with natural sweeteners like jaggery and cane sugar gives you a cookie dough that is not only yummy but also healthy. Do give it a try.
7. Others
Lemon bars, tiny pancakes, frittatas, churros, little pancake cereal bowls – were some of the other baking trends that were quite popular during the quarantine.
So, which of these foods have you made in your kitchen? Which would you give a try? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
