Tuesday

Baking FAIL

I'm generally a good cook. I don't necessarily need a recipe and if I see something on TV or in a restaurant I can imitate it pretty well. However, baking isn't my forte - unless it comes from a box or has very precise instructions.

For example, I once tried to make a meringue of sorts and was busily beating my egg whites to a frothy texture. The recipe said to use cream of tartar to "stabilize the egg" and give it a better, firmer texture (that's what she said). I didn't have any so I thought "cream of tartar, tartar sauce; po-tay-to po-tah-to".

FAIL

The other day I saw a recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese. I was in the mood for something warm and comforting - like grilled cheese and tomato soup or mom's meatloaf or dad's chili. I went down to the store and bought all the required ingredients that I didn't already (think) I had at home.

The recipe for the sauce is basically melted butter, add flour and brown it, throw some evaporated milk, a ton of sharp cheddar, swiss etc., some mustard powder, salt and nutmeg. Sounds delicious, no? So here I am slaving away (not caring that the recipe apparently feeds an army).

The sauce tasted awesome, but there was something off about it that I just couldn't put my finger on. I threw the pasta in, mixed it all up and put it in the oven after topping it with some homemade bread crumbs (parmesan, crumbled bread and butter).

After it was done baking I helped myself to a bowl, trying to think of what the ingredient was that tasted a bit strange. Suddenly I realized that I had mixed up my container of flour for my container of...icing sugar.

GIANT FAIL

22 comments:

Hope said...

I'm so much worse than that.... SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH WORSE.

I'm literally not allowed anywhere NEAR a kitchen for ANY kind of cooking.

Mermanda said...

How dissapointing! To be craving delicious mac and cheese and end up with that? Sad face.

Anonymous said...

Hahaha. Just the other day Kris made pancakes. He likes to eat them like crepes, so he butters them, sprinkles a bit of sugar, then rolls them up. As he was sprinkling the "sugar" on his first one it occurred to me he was sprinkling it from one of our big glass jars. I was trying to figure out why that didn't seem right to me, and realized just as he was taking a big bite that we don't keep our sugar in those jars, we keep the salt in them. I thought it was pretty funny. =P Even funnier when Kris didn't want to ruin the pancake so he washed it (yes, in water) and sprinkled sugar on it and ate it anyway.

BeckEye said...

I can make cereal. And toast. That's pretty much it. So, you're Rachael Ray as far as I'm concerned.

d said...

I REGULARLY mistake baking powder for baking soda. I once made a cake that tasted like fish. Not good.

slopmaster said...

oh man, to start all that and go thru it and wait for it to finish then FAIL. THat would really suck.

Essentially Me said...

HA! I love your tartar mix-up ... I totally would've thought the same thing but I think what would've stopped me is thinking that tartar sauce goes with fish and meringue doesn't.

Did the pasta taste good at least?? Maybe you should write your recipe book of disasters gone right!

Happy Holidays!

Chele said...

oh man, tartar sauce meringue...that just sounds wrong.

I have mistiaken salt and sugar...not fun when baking cake

Unknown said...

Oh gross! That's unfortunate!

Lyla Lou said...

You know...even though this was titled 'Baking FAIL', it still made me crave some mac and cheese.

Happy Holidays!!!

Anonymous said...

hahah, these are the reasons why i adore you.

Lip Smacker said...

Oh my heck, this is the best post ever! You and I should stay OUT of the kitchen, I always think I can improve things with my own "flair" but indeed, FAIL! LOL! Merry Christmas!!!

Stilettos and Nostalgia said...

Ouch. At least it's your ingredients and not your methods! Ingredients can be corrected, whereas skill is pretty much a genetic trait.

We should trade recipes - I've got a few good ones (yes yes I know, San gets domestic on you - *tear*)

paperback reader said...

More sugar can't possibly mean less good.

Deidre said...

Aww - I've never had any such cooking blunders - my mom once forgot to put the cheese in cheese queche - which was disappointing!

its a lessen well learned, not all white powdery substances are the same! :-)

MuseSwings said...

I came by way of *Insert*s blog. Bummer about the mac and cheese - that's one reason I just buy it in the box. I've had several cooking disasters, but your tartar thingie....wow! You win! Great blog - I'll stop by again soon.

Anonymous said...

I stumbled on your blog, and I gotta say: You're awesome. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant and craving crazy shit, but the idea of eating that mac & cheese with the icing sugar? Sounded yummalicious to me!

Anonymous said...

HAHA lmao that's hilarious!

Anonymous said...

Hahahahaha that's hilarious! I'm also like that- fantastic cook, horrible baker. My oven has exploded so many times that now whenever I'm baking, I check it every 5 minutes to make sure I don't set off any alarms.

Sarah Elizabeth said...

oh. ew. did you eat the rest?

words...words...words... said...

This is hilarious, and anyone that cooks has made similar mistakes. My old roommate once made a recipe that called for a clove of garlic. She thought that the whole head of garlic was one clove. That dish was REALLY garlicky.

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

Oh that's funny!!

Fabulously Broke in the City

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