Check out my new article, “ Epic Fail: Life After a BakingDisaster.”
There have been MANY fails in my kitchen, not only with baking…but in cooking as well! While most people don’t get to encounter these fails, they are there…haunting my dreams at night. Depending on the severity of the fail, my usual instinct is to retry to recipe. More often than not, there will be two batches of some baked item on our counter; one that is prize winning delicious, and one that is a flop. Now when I am saying “flop” I mean there is something less than perfect about the recipe, but only minor tweaking is necessary to achieve desired results.
What does one do when something entirely fails though?
It has always been my philosophy to totally avoid a particular failed recipe for quite a while, normally setting that recipe on the shelf for months (sometimes years) before there is another attempt. I have found lately that there have been more fails than successes with the low-carb baking that has been attempted.
The low-carb diet really isn’t conducive to enjoying baked goods; however, there are many wonderful recipes out there now that are aimed at the low-carb lifestyle. I personally have found that the synthetic ingredients needed for these treats are expensive, somewhat difficult to locate in a rural area, and somewhat hinky towards my digestive system. Although I have had difficulty partaking in the low-carb items, B-Real truly enjoys being able to have baked treats that don’t add large numbers to the scale each week. So for him, I continue to attempt delicious low-carb treats!
One nemesis of late has been the “Peanut Butter Brownie” recipe from one of our low-carb cookbooks. Several attempts have been made, each time an EPIC failure arises! The first attempt consisted of a severely undercooked middle, with dust bunny dry edges. Other attempts since have been just as unsuccessful. The latest attempt has confirmed (between both of us) that it’s time to move on! While I am not one to give up on a recipe, it has become abundantly clear that delicious low-carb peanut butter brownies are NOT in our future. While the brownies cooked more evenly, the middle was still more “fudgey” than the edges, the chocolate portion was very light in color and had a more cake-like texture, and the overall taste was “synthetic” and instantly turned the stomach after eating.
How does one recover from such an “epic fail”?
Dust yourself off, and try something else! I tend to switch gears & go for a “tried & try” recipe, bringing about some good baking karma. It can be very discouraging when you have tried a particular recipe numerous times, and each time it turns awry! I had a 10 minute vent session to B-Real about synthetic products and what they could be doing to a person’s guts (I was really on my soap box for a hot minute). I trudged along though and tried a recipe for some Low-Carb Pecan Sandies…long story short…not a home-run either. B-Real promised to eat them, but the texture was very grainy/sandy and when baked they oozed some buttery grease. BLECH! I keep holding onto the fact that the Low-Carb Tortillas that I have been making are AMAZING!! The tortillas taste more like flat bread, and there is WAY more flavor in those bad boys than are in regular corn or flour tortillas!
While not everything I have made the past couple days were a fail, it is hard to recover from those kind of blows to my ego. I guess I will have to try again another day.
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend everyone! :)
Cheers,
Jess
Nutshell Farms
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