Temporary Loss of Groove

I've been gone a while, its true.  I had high hopes of not slacking on my commitment to delivering some sort of recipe every little once in a while, but I've let that one go in a major way.  The fact of the matter is, well, I've lost my groove.

The cake you saw in the previous post just passed the border into the realm of success.  If you believe it, I nearly tossed it and made box-mix cupcakes instead.  Yes, I nearly did.

Since then, I attempted to make Sophistimom's Cherry Panettone (with other dried fruits like sultanas and cranberries because my relationship with candied zest is tart at best) and they dried out in a major way.  My mom told me they were supposed to be that way.  I'm still not so sure about that one.

I did Whole Food Market's Carrot-Walnut Cookies (except I used almonds instead because walnut are not my favourites).  Those turned out great for the oven but, as time went by, they got moist again.  Not a deal breaker, but my kitchen is a little on the warm side and, after a week of baking, they started to grow again and needed to be tossed.

Feeling more than a little bit defeated, I fell back on the tried and true.  I baked up Baking Bite's Lemon Poppyseed Mini Muffins (yum! ^_^) and, feeling a little bit better after that, I baked a batch of Smart Cookies (Alton Brown's The Chewy - baked previously - with Smarties substituted for chocolate chips! ^_~)

All of these haphazard events in the kitchen and I got to thinking about what I know about baking.  I mean, what I really know about the topic.  Turns out that I figure I know nearly almost absolutely nothing!  Not a shock really,  since most of my fav. recipes have been found by trial by fire sort of deal.  Nearly literally.  Well, with the exception of the open flame.

So!  As a student, what is the one thing I know how to do to get knowledge?  Use the bibs.  I got myself down to the library and am now sitting pretty with a copy of 'Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft'.

Courtesy of Amazon.com (There is also a link above in the text!)

Written by the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America, silly you!), the first five chapters are all about laying some ground rules.  Looks to cover just about everything from the mix to the bowls, so we'll see just how much of this knowledge my brain can soak up and how much of it is going to come through experimentation.  Either way, this should be pretty sweet.

My original plan was to sit down, read, and then bake a few recipes from each chapter as I go through the book.  The problem that arises is that the recipes are provided in weights and not cups.  Weight can be a little touch and go depending on the ingredient so I'm going to read through those first five informative chapters and then make the call on whether to bake or not.

To bake or not to bake?  The true question to ask is 'To bake now or later'?

Keep smiling and stay safe with the oven!


p.s. The 'About Me' page is proving tricky.  Plus, I'm trying to talk my sister into taking my picture.  I think its going to require a batch of Chai Snickerdoodles.  Coercion con cookies?  Yes.  Definitely, yes.