My husband was deployed for six months last year and in that time I developed a delicious carrot cake recipe. I had not made him carrot cake in the past, so I decided to whip out my grater, bag 'o' carrots, and my mixer and begin the long and tedious process.
*Okay...so it's not that crazy of a recipe. I just hate spending fifteen minutes grating carrots. I bring it on myself, though. I am too cheap to buy a food processor...*
I mixed all my ingredients and was about to pour the batter into the pans when I realized I was missing an ingredient. CARROTS. I felt so silly making a carrot cake yet forgetting to put in the carrots. Silly Jenna.
I am stringent about checking my sweets I bake in the oven. I pricked the cakes a couple of times while baking and I came to the sad conclusion this go round: These carrot cakes were going to turn out just like the ones in the past. The center is jiggly and not quite done yet the outside is a sturdy shade of brown, leaning on the point of crisping/burning. I exaggerate when I say burning. Still, the center is not done when the outside CLEARLY is. Frustrated, I took the cakes out of the oven and let them cool.
I went about my chores. I did laundry and scowled at my cakes when I passed through the kitchen. While wiping the counters and putting away dishes, I grumbled to them.
After a few hours of huffing and puffing, I returned to my cakes to see the damage. The center was done but the outside was a bit crispy and dry. UGH! NOT AGAIN. Another failure. I suppose I should blame the recipe and not user error? Even when I was in Kansas out of the high altitude of Colorado I still had this problem. I use a 350 degree oven. I could lower the temperature I suppose. I just hate to bake cakes for a long long time, as I like my cakes moist and not dried out.
I made enough cream cheese frosting to make up for the dry crusty edges. HA! Take that, over baked carrot cake.
It took me years to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I found that if I pay more attention to the prep and mixing steps, my cookie will turn out exceedingly better than if I just throw everything together last minute. I always let my butter sit at room temperature. I don't microwave it anymore. Doing so alters the texture and the way the cookie comes together. I despise flat crunchy cookies. I must have soft and chewy cookies.
I find that if I pay more attention while baking instead of just eyeballing ingredients or skimping on one thing and compensating with another, my treats come out better. Of course, this is common sense. All the same it was something I had to learn from experience.
I've had my fair share of failed cheesecakes as well. I admit that I overbaked my cheesecakes for two and a half years before realizing that I didn't have to bake my cakes for a full hour and then take them out of the oven. I find that if I let my cakes cook for forty minutes and then if I leave them in the heat of the oven (which is turned off at that point) to completely cool, the consistency is far better than if I take it out after an hour of baking. These little things help tremendously. I also never use a water bath. Never have. If I feel bored, I'll fill a pan of water and put it on the rack below the cheesecake to add a bit of moisture to the oven.
Speaking of the oven--- I must buy cleaner. When I bake cheesecakes, butter seems to leak out of the bottom. I place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the springform pan and clasp the ring around it. I do not cut a piece to fit, I just put the whole rectangle on there. Still. Butter leaks out but I will not compromise my crust for that small failure. I usually bake my cakes on one of my baking stones to distribute heat and catch that wily leaky butter.
I hope to try some new recipes in the next few months with the restaurant:
doughnuts
pies
eclairs
spun sugar
roasted almonds
I'd love to master doughnuts as well as pies. It seems like when I make pies something goes wrong, whether the crust is not done all the way to the center or the pie is too wet and liquidly. I tire of failing at pies. I usually have to bake bread or a cheesecake at this point to bring up my self baking esteem.
Something that cheers me up is the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. Oh man, do I love to read that book. Actually, I just got to the point where I read it instead of just looking at the pictures and dissecting how she created the cupcake. I favor ones that are whimsical (ones shaped like a monkey or a honeybee) yet have an appreciation for unique blends of flavors and ideas, such as sweet potato cakes or mint filled brownie cakes.
So many wonderful recipes in that book! I have so many cook books yet don't use them. I don't keep many ingredients in my house but a few specific spices (garlic, onion, paprika, chives, cinnamon, vanilla beans). I hate to have to go buy fifteen ingredients that I will only use once in this specific dish. Perhaps someone should create a spice sharing forum.
Through baking failures, I get up and try my hand at baking again. I suppose this is how the pro's do it?!
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