i've had 2 baking disasters in 2 days. and if i didn't really love to eat baked goods, i'd probably just give it up for good.
the first foul up was with a dessert i really had high hopes for. i attempted to make lamingtons and although they did end up tasting pretty good, they were a frustrating mess to make and were just plain ugly. for those who haven't encountered the lamington, it's basically cubes of pound cake dipped in chocolate icing and then covered in coconut. sounds great, right? as usual, i have only myself to blame for this baking flub. i mistakenly bought self rising flour (why does this product even exist?!?) and then foolishly substituted it for the standard flour and baking soda the recipe called for. "it should be fine..." yeah right! my second flub was some how missing the "refrigerate cake for a few hours to overnight before icing." the flour substitution resulted in a very (way too) fluffy pound cake. a pound cake that when cut into cubes fell apart easily and then when i attempted to cover it in chocolate icing, fell apart even more. additionally by the time i got to the 'covering them with coconut' step, the icing had dried and the coconut wasn't sticking. so here i am, surrounded by a mess covering every square inch of my kitchen, icing, pound cake crumbs and coconut everywhere, attempting to forcefully stick coconut to lambingtons that just aren't having it. at this point, i'm close to loosing my temper (did i mention that my lack of patience is probably at the root of my baking issues?) setting aesthetics aside, i did end up with a reasonable reproduction of the lamington and because we were hanging out with good friends that night (the kind that don't judge you for baking screw ups), we ate them anyway. the one consolation was that they did taste good.
"i think i'm loosing my mind" goof up number two: i totally mess up making my signature cookie. first i beat the sugar and butter together and observed: "it's not really getting fluffy like it should... whatever, pour the flour in!" a few steps later: "oh crap, i didn't add the eggs. that's why it wasn't fluffy." so i add the eggs late in the game and proceed to incorporate the rest of the ingredients (almost) and put scoops of dough onto the sheets and then into the oven. 2 minutes into baking, i realize "i forgot the oatmeal!" so i pull the melty cookie dough out of the oven, put it back into the mixing bowl, add the oatmeal and then re-scoop it back onto the sheets. i baked them anyway and although they were edible, they spread out way too much and tasted just a bit off. plus they took an extra 5 minutes to cook. jeeze!
i'm going to take a hiatus from baking for a while. who knows how bad things could get if i keep at it.
the first foul up was with a dessert i really had high hopes for. i attempted to make lamingtons and although they did end up tasting pretty good, they were a frustrating mess to make and were just plain ugly. for those who haven't encountered the lamington, it's basically cubes of pound cake dipped in chocolate icing and then covered in coconut. sounds great, right? as usual, i have only myself to blame for this baking flub. i mistakenly bought self rising flour (why does this product even exist?!?) and then foolishly substituted it for the standard flour and baking soda the recipe called for. "it should be fine..." yeah right! my second flub was some how missing the "refrigerate cake for a few hours to overnight before icing." the flour substitution resulted in a very (way too) fluffy pound cake. a pound cake that when cut into cubes fell apart easily and then when i attempted to cover it in chocolate icing, fell apart even more. additionally by the time i got to the 'covering them with coconut' step, the icing had dried and the coconut wasn't sticking. so here i am, surrounded by a mess covering every square inch of my kitchen, icing, pound cake crumbs and coconut everywhere, attempting to forcefully stick coconut to lambingtons that just aren't having it. at this point, i'm close to loosing my temper (did i mention that my lack of patience is probably at the root of my baking issues?) setting aesthetics aside, i did end up with a reasonable reproduction of the lamington and because we were hanging out with good friends that night (the kind that don't judge you for baking screw ups), we ate them anyway. the one consolation was that they did taste good.
"i think i'm loosing my mind" goof up number two: i totally mess up making my signature cookie. first i beat the sugar and butter together and observed: "it's not really getting fluffy like it should... whatever, pour the flour in!" a few steps later: "oh crap, i didn't add the eggs. that's why it wasn't fluffy." so i add the eggs late in the game and proceed to incorporate the rest of the ingredients (almost) and put scoops of dough onto the sheets and then into the oven. 2 minutes into baking, i realize "i forgot the oatmeal!" so i pull the melty cookie dough out of the oven, put it back into the mixing bowl, add the oatmeal and then re-scoop it back onto the sheets. i baked them anyway and although they were edible, they spread out way too much and tasted just a bit off. plus they took an extra 5 minutes to cook. jeeze!
i'm going to take a hiatus from baking for a while. who knows how bad things could get if i keep at it.
6 comments:
I've never heard of lamingtons. Thanks for the info.
I'm sorry you had such a bad day in the kitchen. If it makes you feel any better, I have those days, too.
Luckily, cookies are pretty forgiving, when you screw those up.
I don't know WHY self-rising flour exists!! It doesn't need to. I've never purchased it. My guess is that it's an old-timey sort of a thing.
Hahahaha! All my friends think I'm a great baker, and I am, but I've had so many disasters it's not even funny. OK, it's funny a little.
I've been making homemade marshmallows lately, but we had a disaster with them the other night. Live and learn!
(Jenny sent me, by the way.)
azucar, i love good mommy/bad mommy and the jet set. you're so hilarious. thanks for reading.
isn't jenny the best?
Heather, your cookie recipe inspired me, but your issues are contagious! I almost forgot the butter...fortunately I had only added a tiny bit of the flour. And then I almost forgot the pecans. 2 near misses but all is well.
I LOVE Lamingtons. (Jenny sent me.) I found the quickest way from a friend who ate these in Australia--Use plain cake mix. Then refrigerate it over night. Then dip them in thin icing, then roll in coconut, and for extra awesomeness, make a raspberry jam sandwich out of two of them. Killer.
At least you're honest. I only publish the winners.
Post a Comment