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Baking Disasters

8/26/2011

5 Comments

 
So I've been baking for a little while now.  Ok, probably more than a little while if you count the years since college graduation (in which I began making fancy desserts) and the times during college (in which I survived by living off of chocolate chip cookies - and had the dress size to prove it) and the time before that, when my mom taught me the proper technique basics (separating wet and dry, not over mixing, not using melted butter or - the horror! - margarine).  Which probably means that, at this point, major kitchen disasters are one of those distant memories.  Yes, every time I walk into the kitchen it should be a serene, Zen-like experience where everything comes out clean and beautiful and perfect.  Just like all those blogs around the internet with the most perfect looking baked goods you've ever seen in your life, all photographed in a fairy-nymph forest, awash in natural lighting.  

Well, should is probably the optimal word here.  Because sometimes (and definitely more than I would like) things go terribly wrong.  Sometimes I'm very tired when I start to bake.  Sometimes I do things like misread the directions and cream the butter and eggs without adding the sugar first. Sometimes I have to throw out a half a pound's worth of butter and two eggs because I didn't just listen to the inner voice that told me, "well that's an odd technique."  Sometimes I add too much batter to the cupcake pan and they overflow in my tiny oven.  Sometimes I make cheesecake and the water bath leaks into the fortress of  aluminum foil that I surrounded it with, which, like most walls, didn't do a darn thing in protecting my precious (and very expensive) cheesecake from outside, water invaders. 

Sometimes, even now, disasters happen in the kitchen. 

And here's the thing:  life's like that.  Sometimes you're tired and things go wrong.  Sometimes in the middle of it all, you can't possible imagine how things will ever be ok again - how they will ever work out.  But then you keep going.  You improvise.  You start over again on some things and salvage others.  You take notes about what you did wrong.  Then you go to bed and wake up the next morning and survey the damage.  And usually, almost always, everything is fine. The cupcakes - which taste delicious - get a little frosting ban-aid, the cheesecake, it turns out, isn't destroyed.  The butter and eggs were a small sacrifice.  You figured a few things out and grew a bit from it all; you realize, of course, that things are going to be just fine.

Generally speaking, baking is a reprieve for me; a time when I'm in control and comfortable - when I can feed myself and others.  Despite the fact that I poured boiling water over my cheesecake just before putting it in (note:  boiling tea kettles spurt water) and having the water leak through the aluminum foil from the water bath, the desserts I'm working on for my brother's birthday survived with minimal damage.  And so did I. 

The cheesecake and cupcakes I have been working on are not done yet, so check back for pictures and a review some time after Saturday.  Also, the cupcakes actually came out perfect this time around, but they have overflowed in the past.  Oops! Live and learn.
5 Comments
Teresa link
8/26/2011 01:16:49 pm

Does sleep change perspective? And that is a LOT of cream cheese!

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Katie link
8/26/2011 01:31:37 pm

Don't you remember the NOVA on dreams? Some scientists believe that sleeping allows you to process your thoughts and make better decisions. So yes, being well-rested and having sleep can help change your perspective!

Also, it was a LOT of cream cheese.

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Candice Suter link
8/26/2011 01:34:32 pm

Hahaha! I'm with your Mom. How many points is that! But it does sound really good. Love the comparison between baking and life. You are sooo right.

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Michelle
8/27/2011 01:18:39 am

Omg. I'm in Cotonou right now, because I'm just about to start training for stage. And I'm baking all this stuff for a bake sale that we're doing with the stagiers. I've spent all day getting the ingredients, and most everything has gone wrong. i was tired and added the eggs to the butter and sugar before i creamed it. my timer didn't work, and everything came out dry. i'm naturally in a state of extreme depression. but then i go on the internet to katie rose's website. and on the other side of the world, she is doing EXACTLY what i am.
I love you, and i miss you SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much.
happy baking darling.

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Katie link
8/27/2011 04:49:50 am

Candice: Thank you! And the cheesecake is zero. Trust me.

Shelly: !!!!!! I'm sorry to feel so happy during your time of baking hardship, but I CANNOT BELIEVE that you are having such shockingly similar experiences right now! We must be held up in some universal baking vortex in the time/space continuum. That, or we have a psychic connection. Or maybe it's just coincidence (doubtful). I hope your bake sell rocks those Beninese faces off, despite kitchen disasters.

I love you, too and find it doubtful that ANYONE misses you more than I do. Happy stage-baking! -K

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    Katie

    Baker. Traveler. Writer.

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