PrintHoliday failures
So what have you screwed up so far this year? I have made 4 batches of fudge that will probably go in the trash, a batch of sugar cookies that are edible but won't be given away, and Danish kringle which turned out ok except most of the almond filling oozed out during the baking process. I'm giving one of the kringles to a friend, the other will probably be gone by the time I get home.
Anyone else having a tough time in the kitchen this year? Please tell me I'm not alone. The only treat I've made and deemed gift-worthy was pretzel bark, and that barely counts as 'baking'!
I'm on the verge of giving out Hickory Farms baskets instead of attempting anything else so please share your disasters with me so I feel better. And maybe, just maybe, I'll try to make those damn buttermilk cookies for my husband.
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10 Comments:
Oh, don't despair! There are so many factors at play here. Is your oven at the right temperature? When you set it to 350 is it actually on 350? Oven calibration is so important. How about baking soda and powder? New or possibly lost their potency?
I made mixes this year as I do nearly every year. I made Neiman Marcus Cooky Mix, Fudgy Brownie Mix, Pound Cake Mix and Date Bread Mix. Scone Mix will happen later this week and I'm doing Balsamic Vin and Olive oil bottles to give away.
Hang in there! Don't let the baking gremlins get you!!
chiff0nade at 11:48AM on 12/17/07
Very good talk topic! Peanut brittle that I didn't bring to the right temperature (no candy thermometer that day:( ), so have been eating it with a spoon...tastes wonderful, tho' Wanting to try TummyTreasures toffee but have a long, long history of failing miserably with toffee.
I need a new candy thermometer to show up in my Christmas stocking!
JEP at 3:40PM on 12/17/07
For my holiday party, I tried to make thumbprint cookies but they ended up looking like fried eggs with raspberry jam yolks! I'm sticking to what I know- anything BUT baking!
LiveToEat at 3:53PM on 12/17/07
@Livetoeat...please, please try Russian Tea Cakes also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes. These are fool proof. Do you have a food processor? Can you grind nuts? If you said yes, you can make these cookies. True, they're best mixed with a KitchenAid after grinding the nuts but any mixer that can mix cooky dough will do. They're very adaptable - you can use hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, whatever you like. They're baked, they get rolled in powdered sugar and you're in Heaven.
I made fudge in Colorado and you want to talk about frustrating! It takes FOREVER for anything to reach temperature at 7K feet.
chiff0nade at 4:23PM on 12/17/07
Ugh, I've had too many disasters to count this year. It's been terribly frustrating- I'm afraid I may be over-confident in my abilities maybe. I've ruined two batches of almond toffee, one old fashioned fudge, one cookie, and one maple-walnut fudge. The worst disaster was the old-fashioned fudge (blech!). The surprising one was the maple-walnut fudge. That one is a tried and true, but just didn't work right for me this year. But I remain undaunted and continue with my cooking and baking frenzy.
JEP, you really should try the toffee. ;-)
ErikaWaz at 9:59AM on 12/18/07
UPDATE: The lowly pretzel bark was a raging success with the recipient- my dearly beloved massage therapist. Her husband loved it. I was thrilled! I used Callebut chocolate for the first time- it has incredible texture and flavor so it my new go-to chocolate.
I forgot to mention the caramels- fabulous flavor and color but they were hard as a brick bat. Can't imagine the dentist bills I would incur had I distributed it. Someone would have eventually lost a filling if not an entire tooth!
@chiff0nade: thanks for the encouraging words! I think the problem with the cookies is that I made them too small so they were a bit drier/crispier than I like. The baking soda is a possibility because the box I have has been open a while and I have no idea what the expiration date is....
OMG- thumbprint cookies that resemble fried eggs...hilarious description! I feel your pain LIVETOEAT and apologize for finding humor in your failure...sort of.... :)
Oh Erika, where have we gone wrong with our fudge? Perhaps there is a clandestine, national conspiracy against fudge this year. Someone sneaks into our kitchens and sabotages our efforts....yeah, let's go with that explanation! I'm glad you are undaunted- you've inspired me to keep going!
AuntJone at 10:25AM on 12/18/07
I am an avid jam maker...
Had a lot of tart cherries and rhubarb frozen, for a jam extravaganza for X-mas presents. Made it this past weekend while snowed in...
It's runny. Didn't want to use sure jell....
Still tastes fabulous.
Still giving it away.
Elizabelle at 11:25AM on 12/18/07
This goes back a lot of years.....
My mother, who is a good serviceable cook (but not gourmet by any means and she is the first to admit it) used to try making something different every year for Xmas dessert. She had some real winners - the black forest cake being a standout - but she had some dogs too. The family favourite on the latter list would be the year she attempted to make baba au rhum. They arrived at the table looking like nothing more than testicles in sauce. Literally (and my sis and I were in our early teens, so this of course was HILARIOUS). And the taste. Well, let`s just say after two bites each, we collapsed in laughter - tears pouring down our faces, we dumped the remains in the garbage and pigged out on fudge and cookies.
Maureen at 11:53AM on 12/18/07
@AuntJone... I think the problem with the cookies is that I made them too small so they were a bit drier/crispier than I like.
People sometimes try to squeeze a zillion cookies out of a batch. It's not the Loaves and Fishes...LOL. Whenever anyone makes gingerbread cookies they don't like because the extremities break off or burn, my first question is: How thin did you roll them?
@Maureen...They arrived at the table looking like nothing more than testicles in sauce.
OMG. I am SO glad my boss wasn't around to hear me LOL! What a precious memory!
chiff0nade at 10:02AM on 12/19/07
I giggled when I read this post. You're sooooo not alone!
I was making the whipped shortbread I have made for the past few years, with much success, despite being a novice. I mixed together the butter, icing sugar and cornstarch, and then the phone rang. It was an important call, and when I got off 25 minutes later, I just put the cookies on the tray, put the cherry pieces on top and put them in the oven. I looked in 20 minutes later and there was a goopy puddle in my cookie sheet. I said with disdain "Something went horribly wrong!" Then my husband tasted the batter that was left in the bowl and said "Did you add the flour?" I had not added the flour. Doh! The funnier part of this story is that a week later I was visiting my aunt, who has been making these cookies for many years, and she did the exact same thing! She forgot the flour too! It made me feel better, and we got a giggle out of our mutual boo-boo! We both had success with subsequent batches, thank goodness! If at first you don't success, I suppose.
psychsarah at 11:59AM on 12/19/07