c/baking-fails-and-wins

Old method vs new: my pie crusts used to be hockey pucks

I used to cut my butter into pea sized pieces for pie crust and my crust always came out tough... Then I tried grating frozen butter on a box grater last month and it changed everything. The dough comes together in half the time and the layers are actually flaky now. Has anyone else switched to grating frozen butter or do you stick with the old way?

My grandma's pound cake recipe finally worked after she told me to stop overmixing

I've been trying to make my grandma's pound cake for about 6 months now and it always came out dense and tough. Last week I called her on the phone and she asked how long I was mixing the batter. I said around 3 minutes. She laughed and told me to stop after 30 seconds max. Turns out I was developing too much gluten the whole time. I tried her way on Sunday and it came out super light and fluffy for the first time. Has anyone else had a family recipe fail because of one small step you were doing wrong?

That choice between butter and shortening for pie crust finally clicked for me

I spent years flipping back and forth between all-butter and all-shortening pie doughs. Finally sat down last month and did a side-by-side test with 4 pies for Thanksgiving. The butter crusts tasted better but shrunk like crazy, while the shortening ones held shape but left that greasy film on my tongue. Ended up going with a half-and-half mix that gave me the flavor and the structure. Has anyone else landed on a specific ratio they swear by?

My sourdough went from dense bricks to airy loaves after 3 months of daily feeding

I kept getting hockey pucks until I started discarding less and feeding at the same time every morning, now the crumb is actually open. Has anyone else nailed their loaf after adjusting their discard ratio?

Took me 6 tries to get my sourdough starter to actually double in size

Kept feeding it the wrong ratio of water to flour, kept getting a bubbly puddle instead of a real rise. Finally figured out it needed a 1:1:1 feeding and now it actually works, has anyone else dealt with a dud starter for way too long?

Last Saturday was a total baking nightmare with 3 failed loaves in a row

I had the worst baking day of my life last Saturday. Tried to make sourdough and my starter was totally dead even though I fed it the night before. Then I attempted a chocolate cake and forgot to add the eggs until after it was in the oven lol. Finally I went for some simple sugar cookies and the dough was so sticky I couldn't even roll it out. I wasted like 8 hours and probably $15 on ingredients that all ended up in the trash. Has anyone else had a day where absolutely nothing worked in the kitchen?

That moment I overheard a bakery owner say sourdough starters are overrated...

I was picking up a birthday cake last Saturday and heard the owner tell a customer she uses commercial yeast in everything because starters are inconsistent. It made me rethink my whole sourdough obsession for the last 2 years. Has anyone else found their bread actually turns out better without the starter fuss?

Am I the only one who blew $60 on a fancy silicone baking mat set?

I bought a three-pack of those non-stick silicone mats from a big brand last month, thinking they'd save me on parchment paper forever. First batch of sugar cookies came out fine, but the next one left a weird greasy film on the bottoms that tasted like plastic. I'm back to using my old metal sheet pans with parchment paper from the dollar store. Has anyone else had that happen with silicone mats or did I just get a bad batch?

Pro tip: A wet tea towel over my rising dough saved my Saturday

I had a batch of cinnamon rolls rising last weekend and the air in my kitchen was way too dry. The dough kept forming a crust on top after about 20 minutes. I remembered an old trick my grandmother used and draped a damp tea towel over the bowl. It kept the moisture in perfectly and the rolls doubled in size in just under an hour. The final bake was softer and fluffier than anything I've made in months. Has anyone else tried this trick with bread or other doughs?

A pastry chef told me my pie dough was tough because of too much water

I always added extra to make it easier to roll, but she said that develops gluten and makes it shrink. Dropped the water by 2 tablespoons and kept the dough colder, now my crusts actually stay flaky instead of turning into leather. Any other tweaks that make a big difference?

My buttercream split while frosting cupcakes at my sister's baby shower last Saturday

I was in her cramped kitchen in Phoenix trying to pipe rosettes on 48 cupcakes when my buttercream suddenly looked like scrambled eggs, probably because the butter was too cold from the fridge. I read online that microwaving 10 seconds and whipping on high could save it, so I tried that and it came back together after about 3 minutes of mixing. Has anyone else had their frosting go grainy and fixed it with just a heat gun or bowl of warm water?

PSA: My sourdough starter exploded after 4 days of neglect

Left my starter on the counter while I went to Denver for work. Came back to glass shards and sticky goo everywhere. Fermentation got way too active in the warm weather. Now I'm wondering if sealing mason jars for starters is even smart. Anyone else have a jar blow up on them?

I finally figured out what went wrong with my croissants after 8 tries

So I've been trying to make croissants from scratch since last December. My first 7 batches came out like flat greasy pancakes. Last week I was watching a baking show at 2am and realized I was skipping the rest period between folding the butter in. I was rushing it. The butter kept breaking through the dough because it wasn't cold enough between turns. Finally took my time, stuck the dough in the fridge for a full 30 minutes between each fold, and they actually puffed up. Not perfect but way better. Anyone else ever miss some tiny step for months and then feel dumb when you spot it?

Found out why my bread kept collapsing after 3 years of trying

I was at a baking class in Austin last month and the instructor pointed out I was adding the salt when I mixed the flour and water. Apparently salt kills yeast activity if it touches directly, so my dough never rose right. Anyone else make that mistake for way too long?

Burned my first sourdough so bad the smoke alarm went off in 3 rooms

I was at my friend's place last Saturday trying to bake a loaf from her starter she gave me. She told me to watch the temp and rotate the pan halfway through but I got distracted by her cats knocking stuff over. After 35 minutes the kitchen looked like a fog machine and her neighbor knocked to ask if everything was okay. She just laughed and said she burned her first 5 loaves before she got the hang of it. Has anyone else had a baking fail that turned into a good story later?

My mother in law told me my pie crust was too tough and I finally stopped being stubborn about using cold butter

She was right, after 8 years of making pie crust with room temperature butter I switched to freezing it and grating it in and now I actually get compliments instead of people chewing politely.

My first sourdough starter actually lived after 10 days

I started it last Tuesday with just flour and water from my tap here in Austin. For the first five days it smelled like old gym socks and I was sure it was dead. Then on day six it finally got those little bubbles and started doubling in size every 12 hours. I baked my first loaf with it yesterday and the crust was way better than my old yeast bread. Anyone have tips for keeping it going strong without feeding it twice a day?

Just read that a lot of home bakers get their oven temp wrong by 25 degrees or more

I was reading an old baking blog, 'The Tough Cookie', and they said something like 80% of home ovens run hot or cold. I checked mine with a thermometer I got for five bucks and sure enough, it was off by almost 30 degrees. It explains so much. For years, my cakes were a bit dry on the edges or my cookies spread too thin, and I just blamed my mixing. Now I'm wondering if a lot of our 'fails' are just from our tools being off. But then, is it really a win if you need a special gadget to get it right? Shouldn't a basic oven just work? What's the biggest oven fail you've had that turned out to be the oven's fault, not yours?

Bought a $35 digital scale for baking and it fixed my cookie problem

My sourdough starter died after I left town for a weekend and my friend forgot to feed it.

My attempt at a 3-tier wedding cake for a friend in Portland turned into a total disaster.

I tried a new Swiss meringue buttercream recipe, but my kitchen was way too warm and the whole thing just slid off the layers. The worst part was the bottom tier cracked in half when I tried to move it. Has anyone else had a big project just fall apart at the last minute, and how did you fix it?

My sourdough starter used to live in a jar on the fridge and I'd forget about it for a week.

After it exploded and covered my kitchen ceiling in Portland with sticky goo last month, I moved it to a clear plastic tub with a loose lid on the counter. What's the weirdest place your starter has ended up?

My entire batch of macarons cracked because I rushed the resting time

I was trying to get them done for a party in just two hours, so I only let them sit for 20 minutes before baking. The tops looked like a dried-up riverbed. Anyone have a foolproof trick for knowing when the skin is set right?

My chocolate chip cookies went from pucks to perfect after I switched to browned butter

For years, I just melted the sticks in the microwave and my cookies always spread into flat, sad discs. Then, about three months ago, I saw a video from a baker in Portland who swore by browning 2 sticks of butter first and letting it cool. The nutty flavor is amazing, and now my cookies have that perfect chewy middle with crisp edges. Has anyone else made a simple switch that totally fixed a classic recipe?

Shoutout to the baker who told me to weigh my flour instead of scooping it

I finally bought a $20 scale after my last three batches of cookies came out like hockey pucks, and this weekend's batch was perfectly chewy, so has anyone else had a simple tool change make that big a difference?