Recovering from an amazing childhood

Hunter Pratt, Contributor | 

Growing up, if there was anything that I wanted to try I had an unlimited opportunity to do so. My mother, the most creative person I know, really pushed me to channel my creativity through crafting–but most notably–baking. I’m not sure exactly when the obsession started but I remember being 10 years-old with my fresh iPad Mini exploring YouTube and stumbling across a video on how to make French macarons. As soon as I saw the thumbnail I was immediately fascinated by these pink hamburger-looking desserts.

It wasn’t long after watching that video that I decided to get groceries with my mom where I could handpick all the ingredients I needed to put these macarons together. I would wake up at 6 a.m. on Saturday eager to get started on these desserts, excited to see what would come from them. But anyone who bakes can attest to how difficult French macarons are to perfect.

So the first time I made the dessert, it didn’t turn out at all like the YouTube video suggested. For some reason, that never deterred me from trying again, and again, and again, until I finally got it right.

“I’ll never forget the sound of the KitchenAid whisking egg whites for hours on end, likely causing a massive headache for my family. Nevertheless, I was having so much fun creating and trying different flavours to present to my classmates and family.”

This obsession with perfecting my macaron recipe quickly escalated into me baking any pastry my YouTube feed would suggest. From eclairs to danishes I had already taken this baking hobby way past the realm of the chocolate chip cookie. Every day, I would get home from school and go straight to the kitchen where I would try a new recipe to impress my family with. (Sidenote: when I say I was a chubby kid growing up, this is why.)

Anyway, it was when I began cake decorating that I really started to gain traction for my baking hobby. Any chance I got, I would bake a cake for any celebration in my community and I started to get paid for doing so.

It was the summer of 2014 when my mom asked me if I wanted to start selling my baking at farmer’s markets. Of course, I couldn’t say no to any opportunity to share my creations. Thus, began the start of the best three summers I’ve ever had.

My mom knew I couldn’t do all of the baking alone, so we asked my neighbour, Rikki, an extremely shy and polite girl from the grade above me. I heard rumours that she liked to bake as much as me so we got along fairly quickly over the shared passion and found shared interests in Gilmore Girls and RuPaul’s Drag Race.

I’ll never forget the first time she came over to have our first official ‘business meeting.’ Seeing her walk up the driveway, notebook in hand, she didn’t know it, but I was just as scared as she was to start this venture.

The first time we ever baked together, she quickly took her veil of shyness down as soon as I dropped a whole carton of eggs on the floor and we laughed while cleaning it up trying to get the shells off the floor before my mom would see and get mad at us.

We made a single batch of cookies the first time, sat down on the couch and praised ourselves for what we thought was hard work. To say we were humbled is an understatement, as the amount of product we actually had to bake led to some very long days in the +30 heat baking in a kitchen with no A/C. We called ourselves Sweet Treats By Hunter and Rikki.

Once you start selling at farmers markets, you learn pretty quickly about how to deal with people (maybe that’s why I’m in communications). Through our experiences at these markets, we gained a lot of supporters and customers who loved what we were selling. On the other hand, we also got the odd sexist comment on how we would make great future wives because we could bake. How weird for a little kid to get comments like that.

In the three summers of doing these markets, I didn’t know it, but my biggest enemy was puberty. When you start doing markets at 11 years old, everyone wants to support you because they think you are the cutest little button, but as soon as you grow a foot and learn how to put on makeup, those same customers that bought from you the summer before now see you in a different light. Soon, my fun little hobby would turn into something a bit more serious than fourteen-year-old me was ready for.

I’m not sure if it was the high demand of sales or because I got boobs, but I suddenly became disinterested in this high volume, high sugar route I was going down. I had changed from spending all of my time perfecting my tiramisu recipe to memorizing Twenty One Pilots lyrics.

“It was clear my priorities had changed. Eventually, I got tired of being asked to take cake orders and Sweet Treats By Hunter And Rikki fizzled out.”

Sometimes I get sad looking back at who I was when I was doing this all, but I have to remind myself that I was just a kid with a hyperfixation. As kids, we all go through phases we eventually grow out of, mine just happened to include a plethora of recipes and extravagant treats that I was adept at.

As I was well known for this hobby, my extended family would ask me for years if I had baked anything lately, when in reality, I hadn’t touched a baking bowl in years.

Although there was a lot of pressure to continue my baking venture, I compare it to any baking recipe done correctly; in order to become the most evolved version of yourself, you must be able to rise under the heat of people’s perceptions of you.

To some, I will still be known as the child baking prodigy (I like to coin this term). Nowadays, I am a go-to expert whenever my mom or my sisters have a question that is baking-related.

I still remember all of the terms, all of the pastries, all of the ups and downs when I messed up a recipe but most importantly, I remember the smiles on people’s faces when I’d bring them something I made, that was the best part.

Nowadays, whenever I see one of those pink hamburgers I am reminded of who I once was, a curious and always ambitious little girl. Those were the days that shaped who I am.

Hunter Pratt is a Contributor for The Reflector 2024-2025.