For any of you who have baked something and completely failed can I get a "what what!"...pleasssseeee....
Because... that was me last night. I mentioned in the last post how I was excited to try some new baking recipes this week, so Kathrine, our friend Mason, and I all got to work last night.
Since I am on a healthy kick right now, my first attempt was to cook a Cinnamon Coconut Coffee Bread. It was made with a bunch of decent yummy ingredients such as carob powder (a healthy form of coco powder), coconut flour, coconut oil, eggs, and etc... and everything was going smoothly until I blended the dry ingredients with the wet ingrediants. The recipe said whisk until there are no clumps. So naturally, I got the Kitchenaid Blender, put the whisker on it and "whisked" the two together.
It was then, I realized whisking from a machine and by hand meant two very different things and can have two very different results. What I ended whisking up with not some light and fluffy dough-like substance that I hoped for. Rather, my "dough" was the consistency of play-dough. It was at that point, I knew this was going to be awful. I yelled loudly for my mom to make her come fix it or tell me what to do but at that point all she said is there is no going back. You have to just push forward and move on. So we put it in the oven with hopes for a miracle. Kinda like Shadrach, Meeshach and Abendago from the Bible only when my precious object was thrown into the fiery furnace, not only did it not raise one millimeter as bread should do, it burnt to the crisp. There were definitely no angels in my oven last night. Dang it.
Are you ready to see a picture? Feel free to laugh hysterically only after your sympathize with me for two seconds as did Kat, Mason, and my Mom tried to until they all busted out laughing. My Mom afterwards proclaimed: "And this is why we just don't try and back healthy deserts. It is an oxymoron. It doesn't work." I accepted this and moved on.
Here is the damage....
Kat and I tried adding some cream to soak it in...nope. We both though the actual flavor still had potential but after taking a bite and have bread still stuck in our throats five minutes later...we faced the fact. It was TERRIBLE. We then thought we could maybe throw it on the ground and see if it would bounce. We were too embarrassed to try knowing that it actually probably would.
So there ya have it. My built up excitement of finally baking something all completely demolished.
However, Kat and I didn't want to give up yet on baking. And one thing I always wanted to cook were Red Velvet Whoopie Pies. And those we did bake after the disastrous cake and they turned out perfect according to Whoopie Pie standards. The recipe we used was from Sweet Peas Kitchen. Here are the photos from our (thank goodness) successful attempt #2.
See!! Both Mason and Kathrine look happy and they match the pies!! Ha. I took it as a sign. And if I had a picture of my face, you would be seeing a big smile too!They turned out pretty cute and I have a couple of other awesome ideas to try out with them to make them taste even better and look better. Kat and I could only share one because they were so rich. So I am going to try and come up with some alternatives that make them lighter and less rich. But wouldn't these be perfect for Razorback games, Christmas time and just dye the filling green, and also, of course, Valentine's Day.
Summary of the baking session lessons:
1. Always read instructions twice before you begin and multiple times during the process.
2. Always look to see if something needs to be softened like butter or cream cheese...microwaving it can totally ruin the texture of the dessert. You usually have to let it soften by room temperature for best results.
3.Always use salted butter unless specified for unsalted. (sweet cream doesn't make a difference)
4.Whisk by hand unless it tells you to use a machine! (Very important)
5. Don't try and make desserts healthy. It just doesn't work and its waste of money spent on expensive ingredients.
6. Make fun of yourself when you fail miserably.
7. Have friends and family there for moral support, just in case.
Happy Monday!!
Since I am on a healthy kick right now, my first attempt was to cook a Cinnamon Coconut Coffee Bread. It was made with a bunch of decent yummy ingredients such as carob powder (a healthy form of coco powder), coconut flour, coconut oil, eggs, and etc... and everything was going smoothly until I blended the dry ingredients with the wet ingrediants. The recipe said whisk until there are no clumps. So naturally, I got the Kitchenaid Blender, put the whisker on it and "whisked" the two together.
It was then, I realized whisking from a machine and by hand meant two very different things and can have two very different results. What I ended whisking up with not some light and fluffy dough-like substance that I hoped for. Rather, my "dough" was the consistency of play-dough. It was at that point, I knew this was going to be awful. I yelled loudly for my mom to make her come fix it or tell me what to do but at that point all she said is there is no going back. You have to just push forward and move on. So we put it in the oven with hopes for a miracle. Kinda like Shadrach, Meeshach and Abendago from the Bible only when my precious object was thrown into the fiery furnace, not only did it not raise one millimeter as bread should do, it burnt to the crisp. There were definitely no angels in my oven last night. Dang it.
Are you ready to see a picture? Feel free to laugh hysterically only after your sympathize with me for two seconds as did Kat, Mason, and my Mom tried to until they all busted out laughing. My Mom afterwards proclaimed: "And this is why we just don't try and back healthy deserts. It is an oxymoron. It doesn't work." I accepted this and moved on.
Here is the damage....
Kat and I tried adding some cream to soak it in...nope. We both though the actual flavor still had potential but after taking a bite and have bread still stuck in our throats five minutes later...we faced the fact. It was TERRIBLE. We then thought we could maybe throw it on the ground and see if it would bounce. We were too embarrassed to try knowing that it actually probably would.
So there ya have it. My built up excitement of finally baking something all completely demolished.
However, Kat and I didn't want to give up yet on baking. And one thing I always wanted to cook were Red Velvet Whoopie Pies. And those we did bake after the disastrous cake and they turned out perfect according to Whoopie Pie standards. The recipe we used was from Sweet Peas Kitchen. Here are the photos from our (thank goodness) successful attempt #2.
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| Pre-Food Coloring |
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| Post Food Coloring- looks like blood. So appetizing, I know. |
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| Kathrine and Mason making the perfect circles for the sandwich. Thanks guys! |
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| Freshly baked! They turned out perfect! Whew! |
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| Kathrine's perfectly constructed Red Velvet Whoopie Pie with the Cream Cheese Filling for us to share! |
See!! Both Mason and Kathrine look happy and they match the pies!! Ha. I took it as a sign. And if I had a picture of my face, you would be seeing a big smile too!They turned out pretty cute and I have a couple of other awesome ideas to try out with them to make them taste even better and look better. Kat and I could only share one because they were so rich. So I am going to try and come up with some alternatives that make them lighter and less rich. But wouldn't these be perfect for Razorback games, Christmas time and just dye the filling green, and also, of course, Valentine's Day.
Summary of the baking session lessons:
1. Always read instructions twice before you begin and multiple times during the process.
2. Always look to see if something needs to be softened like butter or cream cheese...microwaving it can totally ruin the texture of the dessert. You usually have to let it soften by room temperature for best results.
3.Always use salted butter unless specified for unsalted. (sweet cream doesn't make a difference)
4.Whisk by hand unless it tells you to use a machine! (Very important)
5. Don't try and make desserts healthy. It just doesn't work and its waste of money spent on expensive ingredients.
6. Make fun of yourself when you fail miserably.
7. Have friends and family there for moral support, just in case.
Happy Monday!!
I just have to say: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
ReplyDeleteOkay, now that that is out I can tell you that I made 3 batches of cupcakes (like 80 cupcakes) for this dessert thing tonight. I was so proud of how they all turned out. And then this morning I tried to make the frosting... TRIED. Ugh. It would not mix up how it was supposed to and it just looked terrible (super runny). And it was SO sweet. I, too, called my mom (on the phone though) and she tried to help. I ended up having to buy store-bought frosting because I didn't have time to go buy all new supplies and start over! Ha!
And I like the "don't try and make healthy desserts" thing... I was considering it but now I changed my mind. So thank you for stopping me before I made a terrible decision!!!
Love you!
Ashleigh