A Little Baking Frustration

March 21, 2015 by still a dreamer

You know … I was once quite the baker. That was back when I had the time, and was able to bake – and cook – with some sort of regularity. (I even have a little recipe box to prove it!) But how frustrating is it to finally set aside the time to bake, and have what you were going to bake be a disaster!

I know – this isn’t the first time I’ve spilled some baking tears on this blog, but I also know that those of you who do bake share my frustration when you spend the time with such a gorgeous end product in mind and it comes out wrong, or not at all. (Insert huge sigh here.)

So there you see the photo. That wasn’t what I was planning on making. At all. What I’d planned on making was Hamantaschen, those wonderful little triangular pastries with delicious fillings of fruit, poppyseed or almond. And I had the recipe that I had made them from in the past. I went online and checked some recipes to see that my older one was in the range of what was still being done and all looked good. (By the way, if you want to see what beautiful Hamantaschen look like, their history, and how to make them, take a peek here. This is where I’ll be getting my next recipe from.)

So this morning early, I prepped my pastry dough so it would have at least 3 hours to chill and went about my other chores. Long story short, the dough was terribly crumbly, and was not pulling together any better with some ice water. I’d rolled out 1/4 of it and saw that this was not going to work; there’d never even be enough dough to make what the recipe said. So I made some cinnamon and sugar strips, (above), just to have something come from my efforts.

I brought out the next quarter of the dough and knew I was just wasting my time, and sadly, I chucked it. Half of it still sits in the fridge, why, I’m not sure, but there won’t be any Hamantaschen coming out of this kitchen today. And I wonder … could using organic ingredients make a difference? Are the ingredients used today sufficiently different from those on hand when I originally made that recipe to have this result?

Or … (insert very deep sigh here) … have I lost my touch? I won’t accept that, maybe just a little out of practice. That recipe has followed the too-crumbly dough into the great beyond, and when I next feel Hamantaschen-ish, I’ll check the recipe linked to above. Such is life.

p.s. This is not at all what I’ve been wanting to post about, but there you have it …

Posted in food, Home Stuff, Life | Tagged Baking, cookies, Hamantaschen, pastry, Purim | 19 Comments

19 Responses

on March 21, 2015 at 5:49 pm hafong

Your triangles look delicious to me, even without fillings. They would make good snacks. I enjoyed the story behind Hamataschen and might even try the chocolate cream cheese one. Thanks for story and recipes.

Lily

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- on March 22, 2015 at 11:59 am still a dreamer
  
  Thank you, Lily, for your comforting words. They’ve drowned out the invectives I hurled at a couple of innocent index cards yesterday. 🙂 The chocolate cream cheese ones sound delicious, don’t they? Meanwhile, I have 3 cans of specially purchased pastry filling – raspberry, apricot and almond – to inspire some other venture. Jeanne
  
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on March 23, 2015 at 9:49 am still a dreamer

“As for your cookies, I have seen many Food Network TV competitions among professional bakers who have had to throw away their cupcake batter or dough because they were not right for whatever reason. So, I do not believe you have lost your touch.” – via e-mail

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- on March 23, 2015 at 9:50 am still a dreamer
  
  Thanks for another comforting thought. I actually have seen that, too. I am, no doubt, stumbling over that perfection block again. 🙂
  
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on March 24, 2015 at 9:53 pm Cynthia Reyes

You are in good company, Jeanne. Or maybe that’s bad company. I bet that if you’ve really lost your touch, it’s all because you follow my blog. But no matter what you do, you’ll never be as bad a baker as I, so don’t even try, okay? (Big smile)

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- on March 25, 2015 at 10:01 am still a dreamer
  
  Thanks, Cynthia. I think it’s kind of like riding a bicycle – I’d be pretty wobbly at first, and then my entire unconscious memory of riding bikes would kick in and I’d be zipping along. If I got back into baking – or even into serious cooking – I suspect things would be turning out A-OK in no time. So maybe … if you baked more often you’d be a happier baker as well! 🙂 (Worth a try, right?)
  
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  - on March 25, 2015 at 10:03 am Cynthia Reyes
    
    Easy for you to say…. (smile)
    
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    - on March 25, 2015 at 10:33 am still a dreamer
      
      I absolutely believe you can bake, Cynthia. It’s most likely your believing you can’t that stands in your way. I realize that I have learned many little “tricks of the trade” along the way as I used to cook and bake with my Mom, and from there I learned a lot on my own because I always enjoyed it so much. Perhaps you would have your most success baking things that you grew up with and have a real taste and feel for.
      
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      - on March 28, 2015 at 9:11 pm Cynthia Reyes
        
        Well, I’m back to cooking, so there may be something to what you say. The difference is that I was once an okay cook. No-one died from my cooking; but I was never even an okay baker. Who knows what the future may bring, though, eh?
        
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      - on March 30, 2015 at 9:59 am still a dreamer
        
        “No-one died from my cooking.” Cynthia! Shame on you! 🙂 I bet you’re a fine cook and the more you cook, the better you get – you’ve had a major “distraction”, shall we say, from cooking – and I’m sure you cook just fine. And if you put your mind to baking, I still have every faith that you will do the same there.
        
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      - on March 30, 2015 at 1:19 pm Cynthia Reyes
        
        Thank you, dear Jeanne, for this vote of confidence. It is much appreciated. I’m wishing you a lovely week.
        
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      - on March 30, 2015 at 1:24 pm still a dreamer
        
        Thanks and same to you! Maybe we’ll even see a bit of green this week!
        
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      - on March 30, 2015 at 4:49 pm Cynthia Reyes
        
        Yessss!
        
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on March 28, 2015 at 1:16 am writersideup

Oh, I feel for you, Jeanne! I’m NOT a baker, but with diet changes, I’m forced to become one to a degree. I’ve so far failed FOUR times in making gluten-free bread. The first turned out bad, I think because of some substitutions and wrong measurements somehow. The second was the volume measurements being wrong by the recipe giver. I bought a scale to weigh and redid it. Accidentally, while setting the timer on the oven, I shut it off so the loaf died. The fourth time I still don’t know why. Followed it all to a “T” and it still didn’t bake through. Hours of time and money spent. If I can get a truly good recipe, I may have to buy a bread making machine! lol

And these little goodies that failed you (so sorry they did!), we called them “Bishop’s hats” 🙂

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- on March 30, 2015 at 9:55 am still a dreamer
  
  Donna, I feel your pain! If it failed 4 times, I’d say that really is not the recipe for you. What a disappointment. And yes, the money poured down the drain in the effort, as well. Have you looked at sites online for gluten-free baking? There must be plenty. When I linked to that Hamantaschen, (Bishop’s Hats :o), site, I read all the reviews and they were glowing, so I’ll follow her recipe in the future. Perhaps if you go that online route, or invest in one good gluten-free cookbook on Amazon or B&N? – can’t beat the online book prices and the reviews are usually helpful.
  Better luck to you – and me – the next round!
  
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  - on March 30, 2015 at 6:03 pm writersideup
    
    Jeanne, it was online that I found the recipes! lol Through pinterest and then on YouTube. If we see each other at the conference and we remember, I’ll explain it to you then. Don’t want to get into it typing lol I have to keep trying and may end up investing in a bread machine! What aggravates me is I wasted $24 buying a pullman pan I didn’t end up needing! *sigh*
    
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    - on March 30, 2015 at 6:11 pm still a dreamer
      
      Oh, well, that’s depressing! OK, then maybe invest in a good book! 😛 My guess is you can find use for the pullman pan again.
      Hopefully, we’ll cross paths at the Conference, but we’re all running about so – hey, maybe there’s a possible children’s book story in this!
      
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on April 1, 2015 at 7:43 pm 47whitebuffalo

Jeanne, I hear your baking woe all too well.
One thing I have noticed is that some basic ingredients have had subtle changes–let’s talk soy creeping into everywhere it doesn’t belong for one–even shortening which doesn’t behave like it used to.
Your pastries sound like something I’m planning on making soon. If mine come out well I’ll share it with you. It too is an old family recipe–‘Klotchkey’-which are NOT all made the same.
I’ve had oven woes of late and that creates certain nightmares as well. New things require some problem solving all the time.

I wish the people who make bread would quit with all their fillers and substitutes–all it does is make mush of everything. LOL.

Hello! Thanks for dropping by for the Library funding issue post–most appreciated.
It’s spring–sort of.
Kaw! Kaw!

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- on April 2, 2015 at 6:59 pm still a dreamer
  
  If you make your pastries, I want photos! 🙂 This weekend I’m making a cheesecake – a simple but elegant one, and this, I know, will come out fine. (She says confidently.)
  But yeah, there are lots of things that can go wrong with baking and I’m glad to hear you say some things have changed even subtly – might account for some of the odd experiences.
  Always happy to stop by when I have time –
  Oh – library – the big annual library sale is coming up in my neck of the woods. I have no business going. But ….
  
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