Baking is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon with a nice reward at the end. But sometimes people like me are too impatient to wait the proper amount of time for their cake and cookies, and it ruins everything.
Spontaneous baking has some of the same problems; say it’s 11 at night and you are in desperate need of some chocolate chip cookies. By the grace of the baking gods you have all the ingredients that you need, but alas the butter is not pre-softened. You have three options: 1, take a nap and wait for it to soften; or 2, microwave it; and 3, use it cold.
Regrettably I have done all of these things, and I recommend option 1. Option 2 sounds fine until you microwave it too much and it gets soupy in the middle. Option 3 sounds OK until your cookies come out hard and flat. So take some deep breaths or a coffee and wait for it to soften, you won’t regret it!
My impatience has also gotten the best of me when I wanted to make a new chocolate cake recipe with marshmallow frosting. It came out beautifully and didn’t even stick to the pan; and by some miracle I had the frosting made and the kitchen cleaned by the time that sucker got out of the oven. Except my super dishwashing efficiency shot me in the foot.
Because did I wait for the cake to completely cool before I frosted it? No of course not! I frosted it anyway and this happened (see picture). I ended up eating it out of a bowl, which by the way, was still delicious. But luckily I was making this cake for myself and not for someone’s birthday or a party; that would have been embarrassing and disappointing.
Next time you decide you need cookies in the middle of the night or can’t wait to see your finished experiment, take a walk, call your grandmother, or watch a movie. Waiting may save you some serious failures, even if they are still delicious.
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