It's hard to ruin butter and sugar. That is one of the things I like most about baking. The result of your efforts may not be beautiful - in fact, it may look like something the cat hoarked up - but unless you did something really stupid like switch up the quantities of salt and sugar, it's probably edible. Maybe even delicious.
My initial forays into baking without parental adult supervision were conducted back in Sydney. I tried a couple things while at the Darley Street house, but it wasn't really an ideal place for baking. I always had to start by washing everything I intended to use, and that could take a while because some of the stuff was invariably encrusted with five-day-old curry and sitting in a pool of wine. Then once I'd gotten everything cleaned up and was in the midst of mixing the wet ingredients with the dry, someone would walk in and be brought to an immediate standstill by the inch of flour that covered every available surface. "Holy hell," they would shriek. "What happened here?"
When I moved into that closet on Glen Street and all of a sudden had an oven I could start without having to turn on the gas and manually light the flame (by sticking my arm all the way in to the back), I was ecstatic. I baked lots of things in that closet.
Here in Wien, I am fortunate to have a friend who likes experimenting with baked goods as much as I do. As a born and raised Canadian, Mich has a healthy respect for butter, flour, and sugar. And by healthy respect I mean a vast tolerance and openness to eating whatever comes out of that oven, no matter the quality.
The list of delectables that Mich and I have churned out is long and ever-growing. We're getting really good at converting between units of measure and remembering to leave the butter out to soften, and we're excellent at finding substitutes for ingredients that aren't sold in Austria. We have not yet produced anything inedible, though in some cases we've given it our best effort. Twice we've had to put things back in the oven after they'd been taken out to cool. One more go at nanaimo bars, we think, and we'll have them so that the bottom layer stays attached to the top. Our Malteser cake, a two-layer chocolate cake covered in Maltesers (because why not), was brilliant. Our cranberry white chocolate chip cookies were also brilliant, which was fortunate, since the chocolate chips had to be purchased in England. Last weekend we made slutty brownies, which comprise a layer of chocolate chip cookie, followed by a layer of Oreos, followed by a layer of brownie. It tasted pretty much like you think it would (i.e. I could eat slutty brownies at every meal for the next six months).
When I moved into that closet on Glen Street and all of a sudden had an oven I could start without having to turn on the gas and manually light the flame (by sticking my arm all the way in to the back), I was ecstatic. I baked lots of things in that closet.
Here in Wien, I am fortunate to have a friend who likes experimenting with baked goods as much as I do. As a born and raised Canadian, Mich has a healthy respect for butter, flour, and sugar. And by healthy respect I mean a vast tolerance and openness to eating whatever comes out of that oven, no matter the quality.
The list of delectables that Mich and I have churned out is long and ever-growing. We're getting really good at converting between units of measure and remembering to leave the butter out to soften, and we're excellent at finding substitutes for ingredients that aren't sold in Austria. We have not yet produced anything inedible, though in some cases we've given it our best effort. Twice we've had to put things back in the oven after they'd been taken out to cool. One more go at nanaimo bars, we think, and we'll have them so that the bottom layer stays attached to the top. Our Malteser cake, a two-layer chocolate cake covered in Maltesers (because why not), was brilliant. Our cranberry white chocolate chip cookies were also brilliant, which was fortunate, since the chocolate chips had to be purchased in England. Last weekend we made slutty brownies, which comprise a layer of chocolate chip cookie, followed by a layer of Oreos, followed by a layer of brownie. It tasted pretty much like you think it would (i.e. I could eat slutty brownies at every meal for the next six months).
Our next practice session will be in a week's time. The target: red velvet cupcakes that are cooked all the way through. That is my birthday request. Wish us luck.