The holidays are almost here, and for many families that means gathering in the kitchen to bake cookies, pies and a litany of other desserts. While losing your vision may mean you have to change how you bake, it does not mean you can’t do it. “Baking is really important for a lot of families over the holidays,” says Executive Director Denise Jess of the Council. “You can still bake after losing your vision. You just have to do things a little differently.”
If you’re getting out your flour, chocolate and cinnamon to prepare for holiday gatherings, here are some helpful tips to help you continue baking with vision loss.
Getting the Recipes
Many families have notecards and cookbooks filled with holiday baking recipes handed down from generation to generation. One option would be to upload your recipe into a recipe management app on your phone. Apps like Paprika are available for both iPhone and Android and are screen reader friendly, allowing you to hear your recipe read back to you as you bake. You or a family member will have to type the recipe into the app, as the in-app scanner will probably not be able to convert the handwriting into text reliably. This will allow you to easily search for any recipe you have saved into the app. Another option is to simply type your recipes into a Word document and use a screen reader to have the recipe read back to you.
You can also use a voice memo recorder to create an audio recording of your recipe that you can listen back to later. To go even more high-tech, the Penfriend audio labeler allows you to create audible labels that can be placed on your recipe cards. Simply record yourself or a friend reading your recipe, and place that label on the recipe card. When you’re ready to bake, tap the Penfriend onto the label and hear your recipe read back to you.
Get the Right Equipment
Successful baking requires having the right tools, and you may need to make some changes to what you use after losing your vision. First, it can be useful to declutter your kitchen and remove any equipment you don’t need. Having to search through a crowded drawer of utensils you never use is frustrating. A simplified and organized kitchen will make it easier to start baking.
For your flour and sugar, pour them into wide mouth containers to make scooping and leveling off easy. Having your different ingredient containers be different sizes can also help avoid accidentally grabbing the wrong ingredient. Nobody likes cookies with two cups of salt instead of sugar!
For measuring cups and spoons, the Sharper Vision Store has both braille measuring spoons and high contrast measuring cups. We recommend using the dry measuring cups for both your dry and wet ingredients, as it can be hard to tell exact measurements in a liquid measuring cup. Instead, use the dry measuring cup and place your finger on the lip to tell when the cup is full. When measuring by weight, a talking kitchen scale can tell you how much flour you need.
When it comes to knives, sharp is safe. A sharp knife means you don’t have to work as hard to cut through your ingredients, reducing the chances of accidentally cutting yourself. For added safety, the Finger Guard can protect your fingers while chopping. Finally, you’ll need a timer to make sure you don’t accidentally burn any treats. The Sharper Vision Store has several timers available to fit your needs, including large print timers for people with low vision, braille timers for those who’d like something more tactile, and talking timers to let you know audibly how much time your cookies have left in the oven. If you have an Alexa device or an iPhone, you can also ask them to set a timer.
Preparing Your Workspace
Making sure everything is organized and prepared before you start baking will make following the recipe easier. Take out all the equipment you need and prepare and measure all your ingredients before you start baking. Once you have everything you need, arrange them on your table or counter in the order you will be using them so you can simply grab the next ingredient you need.
Preparing your workspace also means taking steps to stay safe. When using the burners on your stovetop, start by using the back burners when possible. To check if the burner is on, hold your hand about two inches above the burner. Whether you’re using your burners or the oven, remember to always pay attention to what you are doing. It’s better to take an extra few seconds to get your cookies out of the oven than to burn yourself while pulling them out. Speaking of the oven, the Sharper Vision Store carries several oven mitts to help keep you from being burned, including the Ove Glove and the 17 inch oven mitt. And of course it’s always smart to keep an up-to-date fire extinguisher nearby any time you’re working in the kitchen.
Once you’ve read through your recipe, organized your equipment and ingredients, and prepared your workspace, it’s time to begin baking! If you’ve recently lost your vision, it’s important to start with something simple. No need to dive right in to Baked Alaska. Start with something easy like chocolate chip cookies to begin rebuilding your confidence.
“It’s important to pick something you enjoy baking, something that you basically have the recipe memorized for,” Denise says. “Simplify that process and use some of these tips, and don’t worry too much about perfection. It’s about enjoying the process and making something you and your family will enjoy.”
To get you in the baking mood, Access Technology Specialist Jim Denham has shared his own recipe that has been a hit with the Council staff for many years.
Pumpkin Bars Recipe
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Ingredients
Cake:
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
2 cup butter, softened
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
Directions
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
-Make cake:
- Beat pumpkin, sugar, oil, and eggs with an electric mixer in a medium bowl until well combined.
- Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Stir into pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Spread batter evenly into an ungreased 10×15-inch jelly roll pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until cake bounces back when gently pressed, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
-While the cake is cooling, make frosting:
- Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth; stir in vanilla.
- Add confectioners’ sugar a little at a time, beating until mixture is smooth.
- Spread frosting evenly on top of cooled cake. Cut into 24 squares.
