#friendswhobaketogetherstaytogether

So... For any of you who follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this hashtag crop up a fair bit. This is the tag for anyone joining in with a friendly baking challenge hosted by @spatuladesserts and @tothmoni. They started this incredible challenge last year, and we have developed such an amazing little community of bakers from around the world, I just felt that I needed to write about it; for that, and many other reasons.

The challenge took on a bit of a hiatus over the last couple of months, as after lockdown it just seemed that everyone was busy trying to get back into their normal routines; but I am absolutely thrilled that it is back, albeit monthly, and we have kicked it off with pie month. You can see my entry in this post here, or check it out on instagram, I highly recommend having a look at the hashtag to see what all the other wonderful bakers have created too.

Today I've decided to dedicate a blog post to this challenge; with it returning, it's reminded me of how much it helped me through lockdown. The weekly challenges really gave me something to focus on, when there wasn't much else going on, and the community feel and support from the other bakers was actually incredible. It's an amazing feeling to have a connection and personal baking experiences at the tip of your fingertips; one of the bakers has helped me try to master sourdough, another has answered my questions about Indian sweets... I cannot stress enough how lucky I feel to have each and every one of these people in my life.

So a massive thank you to both @spatuladesserts and @tothmoni for organising this, and bringing our amazing community of bakers together. (You should all definitely check out their feeds, as they are crazy talented).