I’ve been getting into baking shows. There is relief in seeing that people can get on a set, melt chocolate safely, and turn a challenge into a decadent experience for the judges and the audience.
As a result, I got it in my head to try some baking. Part of it is to deal with the changed circumstances about being at home, and with the rising death toll. The other part is that I wanted to see if learning from others’ mistakes on Nailed It or watching how kids can shape macaroons with ease would prove inspiring. How hard could it be?
On Memorial Day, I decided to be bold. When I wasn’t doing catchup work for my day job, I was measuring out chocolate chips and separating eggs. It took about half an hour to prepare the batter, another half hour for the oven to heat up, and ten minutes to bake. My mom tried a bite, tried to say it was good, and spit it out. In all honesty, I would have preferred if she hadn’t lied that it was delicious.
It was a glorious failure. The chocolate was rich and creamy, the batter tasty, but the cakes were less than cooperative. They fell and were undercooked. I’ve learned that coarse salt does not mix well into the batter, and you can do too much stirring. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my souffle. It was gooey and chocolatey. Perhaps the butter had gone rancid since Mom tossed out sticks from that batch.
Sometimes you have to try things beyond your comfort zone to figure out a way to get out of your head. You need to know what you can do, especially when chocolate is involved.
