Baking 101: The Recipe

I don’t know about you, but there is something about baking that always makes everything better.  It gives me a better outlook and somehow just sets things to rights.  I love it! Except when it goes wrong, and then it just makes everything seem worse. Do you get what I am saying.  So, the reason I decided to write this series is because I recently wasn’t feeling the best and figured I would bake something. I looked in the fridge for inspirations, saw some left over yogurt and wanted to use it up.  I found a lovely recipe for a lemon orange cake and decided to go for it.  Pretty easy recipe!  Instead of a therapeutic baking session, I had a baking disaster.

Why you might ask… well because I forgot the most important step!  Here are my best tips for Baking Success!

1. Always read the whole recipe every time, all the way through.  It will help you be familiar with the ingredients, time and any special techniques involved. Nothing is worse then making something that needs to be ready in 1 hour only to realize it also needs to rest for one hour before you cook it for an hour.  Ask me how I know.
2. Always prepare and lay out all of the ingredients needed before you start.  Believe me, the last thing you want to be going is running around trying to get 1 cup of butter with the sugar you melted on the stove for your caramel starts to burn on the stove. Or even worse… you have no butter at all. It just ends in sadness.
3. Do you have prep bowls? I highly recommend you get a set or two to help you stay organized in the kitchen.  Check the OXO Good Grips 4-Piece Glass Prep Bowl Set.
4. Always prepare and lay out all of the equipment needed before you start.  On no!! You need to whisk in that crucial ingredient in a matter of seconds but you don’t know what happen to the whisk?! Great… now you get to start that lovely recipe you were making all over again because the time has past and your sauce is lumpy.
5. Don’t give up!  Everyone makes mistakes.  Just ask me, it is why I am writing this.  Baking is a kind of science but it doesn’t need to be scary!  You just need to prepare and make sure that you have a game plan to tackle that recipe before you start.  Maybe its a little too advanced or maybe it takes too long.  It is better to find out before you start!  You can do it!  Good Luck!

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So what did I do that started this journey?  Well remember my lemon yogurt cake? I popped it in the oven and realized 10 minutes into baking that I forgot the oil.  I quickly searched the internet for “What happens when you forget the oil in cake?” the answer is if you realize soon enough you can take it out and just add it in real quick and be safe.  Or if your like me, congratulations you just make a chewy bread brick that maybe your family will kindly eat and say has a good flavor.  It did taste good, but it was very dense and chewy (not the good chewy, the bad chewy like tough chewy) because the oil in the recipe is what makes the cake nice and moist. Oh well, no problem.  The next time I have extra yogurt I will redeem myself.  Until then LEMON YOGURT CAKE!

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