Apparently, I cannot bake AND talk at the same time.
Oh, it's true, I say. And I kind of knew this already. But not really. I mean, I'm aware of the fact that if I'm talking to my husband while I'm cooking dinner, I normally end up pausing to rehash my last few steps and make sure I did indeed add the correct spice, or boil for the proper amount of time. But with dinner, if I make a little mistake like forgetting an ingredient, I can throw the omission in, mix really well, and everything turns out fine.
Baking is totally different. TOTALLY.
I was making a chocolate cake last week for my husband's team at work (they were celebrating a birthday, and normally, along with that comes a request that I make them a cake). Chocolate was the desired delicacy, so I broke out my recipe for the 3-layer prize-winning best-chocolate-cake-in-the-world. (Did I mention that I had just been hanging on to this recipe and had not actually ever used it?)
So, I was knee-deep in baking supplies in the kitchen, and I was having a grand ol' time. Everything was blending perfectly, it was starting to smell very chocolatey and delicious, and I was thinking about just how amazing I was... (Okay, just kidding on the last part, but I was pretty happy with how everything was turning out.)
Oh, and did I mention that, due to my gluten allergy, the majority of what I create in the kitchen has to be taste-tested by my husband? He doesn't mind a bit! But that's how I cook in my kitchen - by my sense of smell and sight and my husband's sense of taste! It's worked out pretty well so far!
As I scooped the batter into my three round cake pans that I had already greased and floured, I remember thinking, "Wow! This batter is SO thick - I wonder what the consistency of this cake will be? It's definitely WAY thicker than any cake I've ever made. I hope it doesn't turn out dry..." I shrugged my shoulders and placed the pans in the preheated oven. Time to clean up.
But, before that, for some reason, I checked the recipe one last time. And then I proceeded to kick myself.
I had completely missed the part about adding 1.5 cups of boiling water to the cake batter.
Well...crap. Crap crap crap crap crap.
Out came the pans. Into the microwave went 1.5 cups of water. I scraped all of the batter out of each one (yeah...including the greasing and flouring - there was no other way to do it!). Once all the batter was back in the bowl (thank goodness I hadn't handed it over to my husband yet - he LOVES a bowl of leftover cake batter!) I washed, dried, greased and floured the pans all over again. I dumped the boiling water into the bowl along with the batter, mixed well and back into the pans it went. Then back into the oven went the pans. Again.
At that point I made a new rule: don't talk to me while I'm baking, and if I start talking while I'm baking, tell me to shut up. (I was less than amused at the way my husband's eyes lit up at the "tell me to shut up" part...I had to take a moment to clarify LOL)
The cake turned out fine, everyone loved it, blah blah blah. What disturbs me is that I am normally pretty good at multitasking, but apparently NOT when it comes to baking!
I guess my project of watching "Cake Boss" on Netflix hasn't helped me the way I thought it would. Perhaps it's time to watch "The Next Great Baker" and learn a thing or two!
Oh, and here's the cake =)
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