IN RECENT WEEKS, as the covid-19 virus has spread around the world, shoppers have grown ever more accustomed to seeing empty shelves in supermarkets. Gripped by the fear that suppliers will eventually run out of household essentials (highly unlikely), some people have been buying as many items as they can find. Toilet paper, cleaning products and dried foods have disappeared from stores especially quickly.

Baking enthusiasts have noticed that ingredients for their craft have become scarce, too. According to Nielsen, a market-research company, sales in France of flour surged by 160% year-over-year in March, ranking it among emergency essentials such as rice (160%), pasta (200%) and soap (220%). The firm has not released comparable figures for flour elsewhere. However, several journalists (and amateur boulangers) for The Economist have reported difficulties in procuring the wherewithal for homemade cakes and buns.

Data from Google confirm that, as people around the world have spent more time loafing about at home, interest in DIY baking has been on the rise. By the start of April, global searches for “yeast” (in English and its foreign translations) had bubbled up by 300% compared with the first week of March. “Brioche” has seen a similar increase—albeit from a lower base. “Cookies” and “cake”, which have always been popular for parents with little helpers, have grown by 83% and 58% respectively.

Showing off creations can be tricky in a time of social distancing. Luckily for proud bakers, there is a technological solution. On Instagram, a photo-sharing app, the number of photos tagged with “#homebake” increased by nearly 40% in the latter half of March. Users appear to be hungry for more: both likes and shares of such photos have more than doubled.