One of my favorite TV shows is Nailed It. I love this show because it shows the fun of failing at baking. It seems like a low pressure show, where everyone is able to mess up without any large consequences.
Today, I felt like I was on Nailed It.
I tried a new recipe today; I tried to make funnel cake. The key word is tried. I was gifted a funnel cake maker for a White Elephant, and I was really excited to make something new and different.
There was a pitcher, metal ring, and a packet of funnel cake mix in the box. I borrowed a pan from my friend, and put the ring in the pan. I poured oil into the pan, and it was supposed to fill halfway up the metal ring. However, the metal ring did not trap the oil, so a lot of extra oil spilled out and filled up the rest of the pan. I used a lot more oil than expected, but I figured that that was normal, so I continued on.
I heated the oil for a while, and mixed the cake mix with water. The directions said to pour some of the batter into the pan, and then cook it and take it out of the pan. Then I was supposed to repeat the steps again (4-6 more times) until the batter ran out. However, I failed to read that part of the directions, and I poured all of the funnel cake into the pan the first time. It took a lot longer than 30 seconds to puff up and brown, and I knew there was a problem. There was way too much mix in the pan, and the oil did not cover all of the mix, so the top did not fry.
I flipped it over, but in the process of flipping had to take the metal ring out because it could not flip otherwise. It ended up a huge mess of funnel cake spread throughout a pan of boiling oil. I left it in for a while, and eventually gave up and just took it out of the pan. I poured it onto a plate. The cake, drenched in oil, tasted……….horrible.
I could not bring myself to ask my friends to try my funnel cake, it was a huge oily mess that was not thoroughly cooked. I had to throw it out. But, I learned a very valuable lesson: read the directions before you cook.
Unfortunately, this weekend was yet another no baking weekend for me. So, I decided to look at the psychological benefits of baking. I found an interesting article from the Huffington Post about baking for others, and its benefits. I’ve noticed that when I’m stressed out, I can bake and share it with others to cope with whatever is stressing me out. Baking reminds me of the people that I care about and how I can give them something to show appreciation.
The first benefit that the article cited was that baking is a creative outlet for people. I completely agree, because I enjoy decorating cupcakes and cookies. And when I have a finished product, I feel proud of my work and I think that it helps to have created something. Being creative is productive and helps create a stress relief for those doing the work. Especially since I have not been dancing recently, it is nice that I have a way to let my creativity flow.
Baking is also a form of communication. Similar to what I mentioned earlier, when I can communicate to my friends that I appreciate them through giving them baked goods, that makes me feel good and it helps show them that I care. This article explains that in many ways, food is an expression of love, and I completely agree with that.
Baking is a form of meditation and mindfulness, both of which help increase happiness and reduce stress. Baking requires a lot of attention; it’s easy to be consumed by the act of mindfulness in the present moment, and that helps reduce stress. Baking helps balance the small moments, of measuring things or following a step-by-step process with the bigger picture, which is the ultimate baked good.
If you give your baked goods to others, that can help increase one’s well being. It helps people feel that they’ve benefitted other people and done something good for the world. And, baking to some extent can be a sacrifice made for someone else (sacrificing your time and ingredients to make food for others), and this selfless act helps someone feel really good about themselves.
Although baking has all of these benefits, if it stressing the baker out, then the baker should consider another way to provide appreciation for their friend. Baking is not for everyone, and it’s important to recognize when it’s not for you.
Unfortunately, this weekend (and week) I did not have enough free time to bake. So, I decided to look up baking tips that I can use the next time I am able to bake. I usually only follow the recipe and learn from my mistakes, so hopefully I’ll learn something interesting and helpful.
Below were my favorite tips:
- Use room temperature ingredients (I always try to use room temperature butter, but I never thought about room temperature eggs or other ingredients) and make sure that ingredients that are hot go with other hot ingredients, and cold ingredients go with other cold ingredients.
- Generously butter and flour your pan (I always worry that I have too much butter/flour, but next time that I make a cake or something with a greased pan, I will be sure to add a lot more than I usually do)
- Use salt (My dad used to tell me whenever I would bake to not forget the salt. It always helps make the other flavors, like vanilla, pop.)
- Rotate your pan halfway through in the oven (I never did this, but my cousin did it this summer when we would bake zucchini bread together. Our zucchini bread came out very even, so I’m going to try to see if this helps my cookies and cupcakes bake more evenly.)
- Freeze your cookies before baking them for a fluffier cookie (I’ve never tried this but I will the next time I make cookies)
- Don’t open the oven door before the timer goes off (I always try to avoid this because the heat escapes and it disrupts the baking)
- Cream butter and sugar until your butter is fluffy and your sugar is broken down (I will try to cream for more time, about 3-5 minutes, to make sure my butter is fluffy)
- Don’t overfill the pan you’re baking in, fill it no more than 2/3 the pan (I’ve accidentally overfilled pans before, and my muffins or cupcakes or cakes or whatever have overflowed and created a mess)
- To chill faster, put in freezer. 20 minutes in the freezer has the same effect as one hour in the fridge (I will use this tip the next time I make cookies and decide to cool my dough first)
- Don’t sift, the flour is already sifted (I really dislike sifting, so I’m glad that it is not necessary)
Sources:
https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/make-baked-good-better
https://www.aspicyperspective.com/100-best-baking-tips-and-tricks/
https://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/bake/best-baking-tips-ever-published/
This past Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday! (Although now, mid-week, it feels like months ago). To celebrate the Super Bowl, I decided that I was going to bake. Sunday was also my friend Josie’s birthday. She asked for funfetti cupcakes, but unfortunately when I went to the store I could only find vanilla cupcakes.
The Super Bowl was less than ideal. Although I am already not a big football fan, I was especially not interested in such a low scoring game. I also was not the biggest fan of the halftime show, so I thought that it would be good to share something positive with my floor (especially with people who hated the Patriots) after the game.
I have not made homemade icing since being at school, so I thought that when I made cupcakes it would be a great chance for me to make my favorite icing. Although I like store-bought icing, I think homemade simply cannot be beat. Luckily, I had butter in my fridge from my promiscuous brownies, so I left it out during the day so that it would be soft by the time that I decided to make my icing.
I made my cupcakes from the box, which used Betty Crocker’s vanilla cupcake mix, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, 1 1/4 cup water. I usually mix the eggs first, then alternatively add the wet ingredients and mix so that I can evenly mix it. The cupcakes turned out great, they cooked in less time than the recipe called for, so I recommend to anyone baking that they set their oven timer for a couple minutes before the time on the recipe, so they don’t burn their baked goods.
My icing recipe is very simple. I use the whole box of Domino Confectioners Sugar, 1/2 cup of softened butter, 3-4 tablespoons of milk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I was recently given vanilla extract from Mexico, and I think that it really improved my icing. I also recommend mixing the butter first (and making sure that it is as soft as possible; I think that soft butter makes icing more fluffy).
I baked the cupcakes right after the game ended. Unfortunately, most people watching the game in the lounge had left at that point, but many people were coming from Super Bowl parties that took place elsewhere, so I still had friends to give my cupcakes to.
After I finished giving my cupcakes out, I discovered a problem: I had too much icing! (In all honesty, too much icing is way better than not enough icing) So, I put all of my icing in a mason jar, and gave it to a good friend who lives in the building (and likes jars of icing!)
I heated the oil for a while, and mixed the cake mix with water. The directions said to pour some of the batter into the pan, and then cook it and take it out of the pan. Then I was supposed to repeat the steps again (4-6 more times) until the batter ran out. However, I failed to read that part of the directions, and I poured all of the funnel cake into the pan the first time. It took a lot longer than 30 seconds to puff up and brown, and I knew there was a problem. There was way too much mix in the pan, and the oil did not cover all of the mix, so the top did not fry. 
