c/baking-fails-and-wins

My first batch of macarons vs my tenth batch is embarrassing

I made my first macarons about 6 months ago and they came out as sad little flat discs with no feet. Yesterday I tried again and actually got perfect ruffled feet and a smooth top. The only thing I changed was letting the batter rest for a full 45 minutes after piping instead of just 15 like I did before. Has anyone else had a specific timing trick that made or broke their bake?

Vent: My sourdough starter died after 6 months of work

I overheard my neighbor saying she feeds her starter every single day without fail, and I thought I could get away with once a week. After 6 months of nurturing that jar, it got moldy last Tuesday because I skipped two feedings in a row. Has anyone else lost a starter from just being lazy or do you all have some secret trick to keep it alive longer?

My mom's comment about my sourdough starter finally clicked

I was visiting my mom last weekend and she said my bread tasted 'rushed' which stung because I spent 3 hours on it. She meant my starter wasn't mature enough, I've only been feeding it for 2 weeks. Has anyone else had a family member just nail the problem with one blunt sentence?

That little old lady at the county fair taught me the trick for perfect meringue

I was at the Baker County Fair last fall and this woman named Margaret who must have been 80 years old walked up to my booth where I was struggling with a runny meringue. She told me I needed to wipe down my bowl with lemon juice first to get rid of any grease, even a tiny bit will wreck it. I tried it on my next batch at home and it came out so stiff and glossy it held peaks for 3 days. Has anyone else got a weird little tip like that from a random stranger?

The day I stopped fighting with pie crust and tried the vodka trick

I used to get so frustrated with dry, cracking pie dough that stuck to everything. Every recipe said add ice water a tablespoon at a time, but I always ended up adding too much and getting a tough crust. Then I read about substituting half the water with vodka on a random blog post. Vodka evaporates in the oven, so you get a tender, flaky crust without the gluten forming too much. I tried it last weekend for a Thanksgiving practice pie at my place in Denver and it rolled out like a dream. Has anyone else had luck with this method or tried something weirder like vinegar?

My grandma's bread recipe finally clicked after 8 tries

She told me to 'listen for the dough to sigh' and I thought she was losing it. Last Sunday I actually heard it make this soft little exhale sound and the loaf came out perfect for once. Anyone else have a weird family trick that actually works?

My mom told me my pie crust was tough as a brick, so I stopped overworking the dough and started using ice water

She said it right after Thanksgiving dinner last year, and I switched to handling the dough as little as possible with a pastry cutter, has anyone else had someone's blunt feedback actually fix their baking?

Unpopular opinion: sourdough discard recipes are overrated

I keep seeing people act like sourdough discard is some magical ingredient that makes everything better. I tried it in 3 different pancake batches last month and they all came out dense and gummy compared to just using fresh flour and buttermilk. Anyone else find discard just adds extra work for wimpy results?

Vent: My sourdough starter exploded on day 4 and I almost quit

I live in a tiny apartment in Toronto and had my starter on the kitchen counter. On day 4, I came home from work and found the jar lid had popped off. There was fermented goo all over my counter, my cookbooks, and a little bit on the ceiling somehow. I was so mad I almost threw the whole thing in the trash. But my neighbor who bakes told me to just scrape it back into a clean jar and feed it like normal. I did that, and somehow it worked. The bread came out okay after a week. Has anyone else had a starter go rogue like that?

My sourdough starter finally doubled in 4 hours instead of 8

After 3 weeks of feeding it daily and getting pretty much nothing, I switched to bottled spring water instead of tap last Wednesday and boom - it doubled in size by lunch. Has anyone else had tap water mess with their starter like that?

Hit my 100th loaf of sourdough today and it was a total accident

I wasn't even counting but I keep the starter feeding dates in my calendar and realized I'm at 100 bakes since March. Has anyone else hit a random milestone with their baking that just snuck up on them?

Accidentally hit 50 consecutive days of baking bread this morning

I started baking a loaf every day back in February just to use up my starter, and somehow I didn't realize until yesterday that I'd gone 50 days straight without skipping. My kitchen counter has a permanent layer of flour dust and my coworkers are starting to avoid the break room. Has anyone else accidentally turned a little habit into a full blown routine and not noticed until way later?

Finally got my sourdough starter to double in size after 3 weeks of feeding it every day

I was about to give up on this starter I named Doughbie after it sat flat for like 18 days straight in my tiny apartment kitchen in Portland. Then I realized my tap water had too much chlorine so I switched to bottled water and boom it doubled overnight. Anybody else have a random fix that saved their starter from the trash?

Why does nobody talk about using cake flour for cookies?

I used to swear by all-purpose flour for everything. Then last month I tried a batch of chocolate chip cookies with cake flour on a whim and they came out so soft and tender I couldn't believe it. The texture was completely different, like bakery style but way easier. Has anyone else had luck swapping flours on standard recipes like this?

Puff pastry meltdown at 2AM changed my mind about frozen dough

I was making beef wellington for a New Year's party and my homemade pastry turned into a greasy puddle in the oven. After that disaster at 11pm, I grabbed a frozen sheet from the store and it came out perfectly flaky, so now I just keep a backup box in the freezer.

Grandma's old cookie trick finally clicked for me

I was flipping through a spiral notebook my grandma left me and found a page where she wrote 'add a pinch of salt to the sugar before creaming.' I always skipped that step because I figured salt is salt and you add it later. Tried it last Sunday with a batch of chocolate chip cookies and they came out way more balanced, not just sweet. Anyone else got a faded recipe note that turned out to be the secret?

Finally got my sourdough starter to double in 4 hours flat

The day I realized I was overmixing my muffin batter for 10 years

I've been baking muffins since I was a kid and always thought a super smooth batter meant a perfect muffin. But they kept coming out tough and pointy on top. Then my neighbor Sue, who bakes for the farmers market every weekend, watched me mix a batch and just said 'stop right there.' She pointed out I was beating the flour into submission. After 12 years of baking I finally learned you only mix until the dry stuff is just wet. The lumps are your friend. Made a batch of blueberry muffins that night using her method and they were soft and dome shaped for the first time ever. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been doing a basic step wrong for years?

My aunt told me my pie crust was tough as leather - she was right

She pulled me aside after Thanksgiving dinner last year and said my crust was overworked. I was kneading that dough forever trying to get it smooth. Now I stop mixing as soon as the flour is barely combined and my pies at the county fair in Des Moines actually won second place this summer. Anyone else get a blunt family member who ended up helping them improve?

My sister finally told me I was overmixing my muffins and it clicked

She watched me one morning and said 'you're beating that batter like it owes you money' and I kinda laughed but then I thought about it. I used to mix until there were zero lumps, which took like 30 seconds of stirring. Now I stop after maybe 10 folds even if there's a few dry patches. My blueberry muffins went from dense little hockey pucks to actually fluffy and tender. I also learned not to use a mixer at all for muffins, just a wooden spoon. Funny how one comment from someone who barely bakes changed my whole process. Has anyone else had a relative call them out on a bad habit and it actually helped?

TIL my butter temperature was sabotaging my croissants for 8 months straight

I kept getting flat, greasy layers no matter what I did and finally realized my butter was too cold going into the dough. Has anyone else spent way too long chasing a simple temp issue like this?

That time a bakery owner told me my pie crust was too "pretty"

I spent like 2 years perfecting this lattice top on my apple pies, all neat and symmetrical. Last summer I brought one to a little shop in Portland, Maine, and the owner, a lady named Carol, just laughed and said it looked like a machine made it, not a person. She told me to stop being so fussy and leave the edges a little rough, let some filling bubble out. I tried her advice on my next 3 pies and I swear they tasted better and looked more homemade, has anyone else gotten feedback that totally flipped their approach?

Thought a silicone baking mat was just a gimmick, but I was dead wrong

Burned through three batches of cookies on parchment last week because they kept sliding around, finally caved and grabbed one for $12 at Target. Now my macarons actually come out with feet instead of flat discs, who else had that moment where they realized the hype was real?

Hit 100 perfect sourdough loaves today. Never thought I'd get there.

I started tracking my bakes after my 10th disaster loaf last March. Today I pulled #100 out of the oven and it had the best ear I've ever gotten. How do you guys track your progress or milestones in baking?

Warning: I ruined 3 batches of bread before I realized my salt was expired

Last month I kept wondering why my sourdough wasn't rising right. The flavor was flat too. I blamed my starter, the flour, even the weather. After tossing 3 loaves worth of dough I finally looked at the salt container. The expiration date was from 2021! Apparently old salt can clump and not dissolve properly, so it messes with gluten development and yeast activity. I grabbed a fresh box of Morton's and boom, my next loaf came out perfect. Has anyone else had an ingredient screw up your bake without realizing it?