Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Baking and perseverance

For everyone who has ever felt intimidated by all the pretty pictures of baked goods you see all over the internet - this is for you.

sunken pie crust
{sunken pie crust}

This pie crust looked absolutely beautiful after I fluted the edges and carefully tucked it in the freezer, but it somehow collapsed into itself during the baking bit, leaving me with a very flaky and delicious pie crust that is capable of holding 1/8 inch of filling, max.

Thinking maybe I had set the oven temperature too low, I went ahead and stuck another one in there.

sunken pie crusts 1 + 2
{sunken pie crusts 1 + 2}

Nope, clearly not the temperature. Decided it must be the fancy European butter I used, which is such a dream in croissants and free form tarts, but which appears to be too creamy to form a sturdy pie crust. Chalked it up to a learning experience and stuck another pie crust (sans European butter) in the oven.

Got distracted by the little terrier and ignored the timer when it went off. Only realized that it was for the oven when I smelled something burning. Third failure of the morning. Frustration sets in, much gnashing of teeth. Circe, a pie crust connoisseur, refuses to eat even the non-burned parts of the pie crust, clearly feeling it is beneath her terrier dignity. I can't blame her.

burned pie crust
{burned pie crust}

Started to panic, thinking that a birthday pie was not going to emerge from the kitchen at all. Stuck another pie crust in the freezer to firm up and baked a lemon-yogurt cake as a back up plan. Half expected something disastrous to happen to said cake. Considered trying to find a bakery open on the 4th of July that might have a cake decorated with something other than an American flag.

By some miracle, both the cake and the fourth pie emerged unscathed.

lemon cake
{lemon cake + lemon pie}

While they cooled, I caramelized a pile of onions with a bit of rosemary and then spread the mixture in my collapsed crusts, adding a bit of aged white cheddar to the top. Voila! An (only somewhat unsightly) onion tart.

improvised tart
{improvised tart}

The burned crust had to be thrown away, of course. There are limits to what you can salvage. 

Oh, and I also burned myself on the oven, adding to a rather spectacular array of baking induced arm scars. Some days are just like this.

P.S. - The lemon cake recipe is actually just Deb's lime yogurt cake, but with lemon juice and zest instead of lime. I didn't have blackberries to make the sauce, so I cut the cake in half once it cooled and spread a generous layer of boysenberry jam in the middle. Pretty tasty and not overly sweet - the kind of cake you could almost justify eating for breakfast. The lemon pie recipe is coming soon.

35 comments:

  1. I find failures (although your end products certainly don't qualify as failures) just as inspiring as masterpieces. I'm impressed with how many attempts you gave it. I would have become a cranky mess and given up long before I had four crusts and a cake :)

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  2. to me, you are still a domestic goddess....your onion tart looks positively luscious and the lemon cake & pie? heaven!

    xo,
    sylvie of silver lining

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  3. it all still looks good to me! your baking failures would be my miracles! :)

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  4. i have SO been there and i'm really impressed with your perseverance. it's also nice to see that even someone that's intimidatingly gifted in the kitchen occasionally can make mistakes. glad to hear they both turned out well in the end!

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  5. Thanks for your honesty! It's refreshing; I read so many tales of baking perfection that it makes me nervous. Your frankness and perseverance are admirable!

    I had a similar experience using "fancy" European butter in a chocolate cake, which made the batter so wet that it simmered in the oven instead of baking. Oops?

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  6. We learn from our failures right :) You're admirable for even attempting baking in this nasty heat!

    Yummmm....onion tart :)

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  7. Wow - your perseverance is greater than mine! Well done!

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  8. what a disaster*! i know i would have given up much more easily than you did; your perseverance is an inspiration.

    *i speak from personal experience.

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  9. I am genuinely impressed with your perseverance over kitchen fails. Looks like things turned out lovely in the end. I have a collection of those oven burns too. :) Battle scars.

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  10. I love this post. I often too easily assume it comes right first time for people when I see only their finished result. I've thrown away so many batches of baked goods over the years and felt horrible for wasting those precious ingredients. It's nice to have this reminder to "try again, fail again, fail better...", as Beckett would say.

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  11. i used european butter when i made cherry pie in a jar for my son's birthday, which from the outside looked beautiful. we gave some away (better to share) and the next day when i tore into one i was mortified when i noticed the filling had sunk to 1/4 of the jar! i was baffled, wondering what i did wrong. after i read your experience, i realize that maybe it was the butter after all!!! p.s. your onion tart looks lovely!

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  12. Thanks for sharing the bad with the good in the kitchen. Everyone always says they have disasters in the kitchen but I have a hard time believing it sometimes...pictures help. And that's good to know about the butter.

    I must say I'm impressed with the number of pie pans it looks like you have. I'm on the hunt for a really good deep dish one. If you have any recommendations I am all ears.

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  13. How clever to turn the slightly "off" crusts into onion tarts! Yum!

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  14. Thanks for sharing your failures!

    After a long day of preserving and baking and prepping last weekend I was maknig my final dish- sweet absil ice cream. I ended up with watery sweet basil scrambled eggs.

    I called it a day.

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  15. oh dear....you are a stronger person than me as i would went for the cake much earlier. kudos for you! :)

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  16. you're making my mouth water!!!!!

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  17. thanks for sharing your kitchen troubles! things like that happen to me so often and i always found it quite embarrassing. you're a strong person for making four pie crusts!

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  18. Taste is more important than looks anyway :)

    You have a really pretty blog, I found you through "Ruth Writes" blog & I'm a new follower :)

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  19. i'm a horrible cook/baker and i tend to think that everyone who is good at it is perfect all the time.... thanks for the reality check....but all the your things still look so amazing a delicious, even when they don't turn out perfectly!! and....i'm sorry you burned your arm!!
    all the best
    michelle

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  20. I STILL think it looks pretty!!!

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  21. Wonderful post! I've so been there and I think I'd be crying by the point of the burnt crust (or at least whining very loudly).

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  22. I, too, appreciate the real-life story behind yesterday's beautiful photo. : ) The onion tart was a brilliant move.

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  23. Oh, you guys are so sweet to share your own kitchen troubles here! Baking can be very rewarding and also very frustrating.

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  24. I still haven't dared to make pie crust - I'm ridiculously afraid of overmixing and ending up with tough dough - but maybe I should just try it. Any tips for making an herbed crust? (Of course I have to complicate it before mastering the basics.)

    Caramelized onion tart topped with cheese sounds amazing.

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  25. Now, if that were me, I would've made it through 2 ruined pie crusts, crumbled them up, and thrown them away, then ran to the nearest gourmet-ish supermarket while crying hysterically. You literally took lemons and made onion-cheese tarts (and lemon pie/cake).

    *bows down to the master*

    Actually, I would've sliced the crust up and made the filling as a dip and called it "pie fondue" probably, 'cuz I'd be lazy and too distraught to drive.

    Again, this is why you are more awesome than I. ;D

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  26. wow, I'm impressed at your commitment to that pie! I need to have more of a can-do attitude when it comes to my baking failures. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again!

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  27. I just checked out the recipe for the lemon yogurt cake and it looks great! I definitely want to try that one. I'm terrible when it comes to baking but this one actually looks easy enough for me!

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  28. Your onion tart looks FAB-U-LOUS! I'd eat it in a heartbeat!

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  29. I'd eat all of this stuff anyways!! It could be the weather- I don't know where you are, but the humidity here in Toronto is so brutual there are many things that wouldn't quite work in my non-AC kitchen right now.

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  30. Did you line your pie crust with parchment or aluminum foil and fill it with pie weights, beans, rice, etc. before blind baking it? A crust will pretty much always do this during blind baking if it's not filled with something to help it hold its shape.

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  31. @ stephanie - all my pie plates come from the thrift store! I just keep an eye out and they frequently have them for a dollar or two.

    @ Amy Kelly - I did use pie weights in the second collapsed crust, to no avail. I'm a little spoiled, because my pie crust recipe doesn't require any sort of weights to hold a beautiful shape during blind baking. I just prick the crust all over the bottom and let it go. I do freeze the crust overnight, and then pop it directly in the oven from the freezer and this is generally all it needs to hold it's shape.

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  32. terrier dignity, incidentally, will be my band's concept album - you know, the one all the real fans say is their favorite.

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  33. what do you mean "*almost* justify" for breakfast? ... that cake is totally fair game (especially with a dollop of greek yogurt).

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  34. My problem with crusts is the same...they shrink! I have decided that I'll keep going until I get it right. I do like your fix...caramelized onions are my favorite.

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