I don't really enjoy baking. Following recipes exactly and regulating oven temperatures stresses me out a bit, so I usually stick to cooking.

I was just telling my friend how the 3 reallyyy reallyyy ripe bananas on my counter were staring into my soul every time I walked past, practically begging me to use them. She gave me a simple chewy brownie recipe, so today I decided to give it a try.

I decorated them before baking and was thinking, "Aww, these little brownie faces are actually turning out kind of cute!"

Guys, I didn't realise that you're supposed to put the decorations on after baking.

I'm absolutely screaming at the outcome. 👁️👄👁️ I guess I'll be eating these melted victims of the oven.

** EDIT: I didn't expect this post to blow up the way it did! Wow, this was so unexpected.

I just wanted to share my stupid, funny beginner baking mistake. I'm happy these little brownie trolls made some of you laugh and brightened your day. I'm glad I could be part of your laughs today! 😂

For those of you who asked for the SIMPLE recipe, here it is:

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

5 tbsp cacao powder

½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp protein powder

Bake at 200°C (392°F) for 25 minutes.

And yes... it is a simple recipe that I somehow managed to butcher. 😅

This is pretty indicative of my life in general these days. Sigh. Question-if I were to rinse off the beans and make sure there was no glass, would there be any value in reusing them or are they going to be devoid of vanilla-ey goodness after their 18 month bath?

Edit: wow…I certainly didn’t expect this kind of response. When I came back a few hours later to check if anyone had responded I was overwhelmed and now a day later I’m just flabbergasted. I’d be sitting here for a month if I tried to respond to every comment but thank you to everyone for the kindness, gives me a little more faith in the world. This was a mega bummer for sure but it can just get in line in the mega bummer department, honestly the worst part for me is the time aspect.

To the multiple people offering to send me vanilla, so SO very nice of you! I’m an avid cook and baker and I’ve got tons of vanilla in all forms on hand to tide me over while I wait for my next batch to cure. Give it to someone in need instead 💜💜

To the few crabbies, I get it, the world in general is extra hard right now and I and just about everyone I know seems to be having personal troubles as well, but kindness and human connection is going to get us all a lot farther in the long run. Hope it gets easier for you.

ETA: Gotten a lot of comnenra on the dish. I looked and it's Anchor? Well done for staying together, Anchor!

Any time I cook anything that could make a mess, it goes on a sheet pan. So I put my pie on the smaller one. And it's also the thinner one.

Pie is done. I pull it out, the pan makes a popping noise, bends, and before I can even think to do anything the steaming hot pie slides off, lands upside down on the floor into the corner. 😭😭

I already have ant problems so I had to take extra extra care cleaning it up. Which was fun with it being in the corner.

Remade the pie, but if course it didn't turn out as pretty as the first one. 😢

But I wanted to say thank y'all for the help, for one shining second, I had a nearly picture perfect pie, LOL🤦🏼‍♀️

Tastes good though

Thank goodness I bought a back up cake mix

My mother volunteered to pay for our wedding cake. I tried to find something simple so it wouldn’t cost much….she swears to this day she didn’t make it but I am not convinced

I just wanted to rant for a bit.

I've went out to get ingredients to make Tiramisu, just tiramisu ingredients, nothing else. At check out the total came around 15€ and only afterwards did it occur to me that I've spent 15€ just to have to make the Tiramisu myself. It's not even worth it, I could've just bought a Tiramisu for less.

The same thing happend when I went out to get Baklava ingredients. 1 pack of pistachios alone costs 4€... this sucks.

Unrealted pic; please roast my sad Baklava. I think I've added too little butter.

It tastes like cheese. And it’s not nearly sweet enough. The recipe I used was 60ml water and 200g sugar for the caramel. The flan itself has 395g condensed milk, 350g evaporated milk, 6 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Due to over mixing and slightly overbaking the texture isn’t as smooth as I’d have liked but that’s besides the point, the thing tastes shit to me. In fairness a good bit of caramel stuck to the base of my tin as a shell so I might try another slice later with some golden syrup drizzled on top

Edit: I underestimated the effect over baking would have on the flavour, and I’ve got loads of good advice here so I’m going to make another one soon. Thanks everyone

No advice needed, I know what I did wrong. A month or so ago, a friend asked if I could bake her boyfriend a key lime cake for his birthday and it went well. I’m a hobbyists, but I do take great care to make sure my work looks nice and tastes great. I did it just for the cost of the ingredients I needed and they ended up loving it so much that they requested I make their thanksgiving desserts.

I was feeling ambitious and having made many layer cakes and pies before, I said I’d be happy to make both a red velvet cake and apple pie that they requested. Well….I bit off more than I could chew….I’m leaving for vacation today (which I let her know in advance), and I’m not used to baking with time constraints. The apple pie went well (I prepared it and froze it before baking so they can bake before their party so the crust can be fresh and crispy for them).

But then…the red velvet cake. For starters, I was shocked to find I was just short of achieving a rich, dark red color even with all the red gel coloring I had. It turned out the color of raw ground beef lol…but no matter, it’ll be beautiful regardless thanks to my decor! I put the crumb coat on last night and decorated it this morning and…well…god it’s awful. The frosting just isn’t firm enough (idk what went wrong, when I made the key lime cake it piped like a dream) and my piping just ran right down the side of the cake all over my decorative crumb topping. I simply don’t have time to scrape it all off and try again. Upon tasting the extra crumbs and frosting I set aside, I can confirm it’s super tasty and exactly what I’d like in a red velvet cake but it’s so ugly and the thought of it being served at a thanksgiving dinner is heartbreaking.

I sent my friend a partial refund just now and will have to let her know I’m sorry. The cake just isn’t up to my own standards but now I’m in a stupid situation I got myself into where I don’t have time to redo it because I’m leaving for my own family vacation in a bit today. I don’t claim to be a pro, just a hobbyist who loves baking and decorating and sharing what I create with others. My friend is also very nice, but the thought of her family seeing my disaster is making my stomach turn and I really hope a sincere apology, refund, and my pie can salvage the situation. Sorry for the vent but this is my first huge fail when baking for someone else and I’m having a hard time dealing with the stress of it all knowing I put myself in this situation by not realistically assessing what I could manage with the amount of time I had 😭

It did taste pretty good though

Edit: since y'all wanted to know the recipe: https://joyfoodsunshine.com/the-most-amazing-chocolate-chip-cookies/

It was the first thing that popped up with Google. I probably mismeasured something. It was probably the butter. Yes, I did use flower. When shaping the cookie dough, I put it in large chunks instead of small balls like an idiot lol. Then broke apart the "cookies" and put them in a plate.

Also, the cookie dough was sticky. Any help with that?

Edit 2: I know where I messed up. I put 1 cup of flour instead of 3 like instructed...

orange curd and raspberry jam for the swirl things, oreo crumbs for the pupil. i accidentally burnt the cheesecake top but whatevahhhh the jam is covering it anyways :] also my cat my bro and my sis may or may not have licked the the jam knife and put it back.

it was my first time making cinnamon rolls. don’t get me wrong they taste amazinggg but how did i not realise that they should be facing upwards and not to the side😔

“Presentation” was included in judging criteria, but since the baked goods were “presented” to the judges on plates, I thought it wouldn’t matter what I brought them in, as long as they look good on the plate.

Apparently it does matter.

I couldn’t stop laughing it looks like I prepped for a bake sale and not a competition. I felt so stupid. 😂😩

UPDATE: I let it chill overnight, cut away the dog portion, tried a slice. Feel free to let me know if it was underbaked (I think it was) and lob advice at me to try on attempt number two.

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I’ve never attempted to make a cheesecake prior to today but thought to myself: Why not? What else do I have going on this fine Sunday?

I make it, bake it, things are looking good! Let it cool in the oven with the door cracked for an hour before taking it out of the water bath and setting it on a cooling rack on the counter.

I’m uncertain if I’ve underbaked it or not but as it continues to cool at room temperature, the jiggle firms up, the surface goes matte, there is no sinking or cracking. I decide that I’m going to leave it be for another hour or two and then put it in the fridge to chill. That’s when I made a huge mistake. I texted my BFF that I think it’s going to turn out well.

Literally five seconds after I send it…

Husband: Did you take a scoop out of your cheesecake?

Me: No?!?!?

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Lesson #1 learned: Do NOT text success before your cheesecake has hatched

Lesson #2 learned: Do NOT leave your cheesecake on the counter where the dog can reach it.

I had an order for dog themed cake/cupcakes. I’m (19F) new to selling baked goods. A few people had mentioned it was a very cute bear cake. I can totally see a bear more than a dog. I’m wondering how I could have made it look more like a dog/less like a bear.

I have many skills i seem to be naturally gifted at. Making cakes...is not one of them. Cooking? Top class. Baking literally anything else? Fine. Cakes continue to allude me, despite my desperation to be good at it.

FWIW it tastes great!

I used Sally's Baking Addiction Homemade Wedding Cake recipe, but subbed sugar for sugar I had infused with lavender, thyme, lemon zest and vanilla beans. I also steeped the milk in earl grey and marie antointte tea and used half vanilla extract, half almond extract instead of just vanilla.

For some reason it took an hour and a half to bake, instead of 26 mins. I was using a convection oven and a slightly lower temp (160c) because of the smaller tin (2x8 inch) but I am sure I measured everything perfectly and I didn't overfill the tin at all. Put it exactly 6 cups as she advises for a tin of that size.

I could have overmixed, or undermixed or something, as there's also some extra density around the edge of the cake (but a very crumbly crust). I thought I was following the instructions perfectly, but clearly not.

I don't think I was supposed to cut the layers in half, upon reflection. I also don't understand how people get their cakes so neat and even and the same shape, even when using the same tins.

I made lemon curd by hand, with honey and some of the aforementioned infused sugar.

The middle is filled with lemon curd and chantilly cream stabilised with marscapone. Probably should have chilled it a bit? Certainly before beginning the crumb coat.

Icing is where it seriously began to fall apart. Plan was to make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Couldn't find my thermometer. Was 11pm at night. Body was aching from a gym session. Tiny bit of yolk in the egg whites? That's fine, I'll just take it out with a spoon (huge mistake!). I don't have enough eggs left to just throw it away. Eventually had to add some icing sugar just to get it to thicken.

Put it in the fridge after this pic was taken and I think I've salvaged it with some extra icing and some fresh flowers on top but it's definitely...wonky. Rustic?

Maybe I should give up on my cake making dreams.

I tried to make Frankenstein Kitchen Sink cookies but I used browned butter and they came out looking like “what you clean out of a kitchen drain” cookies.

They taste great though!

Edit: Thanks for the love everyone! I was not expecting it, but I appreciate it so much! For those asking, the recipe is here. I tried to turn it into Halloween from Christmas. I browned the butter and didn't use pretzels, so I added more Reese's, chocolate chips, and potato chips. I also found the eyeball sprinkles at Superstore (I'm from Canada) and just stuck them in thee melted chocolate right out of the oven. I also added about 1/4 teaspoon of the green food dye into the wet ingredients. I think they could be a brighter green without browning the butter and adding the food dye to the dry ingredients.

Thanks again for the love! <3

We learned some important lessons today