One of my favorite treats on a Saturday morning is a slice of cranberry walnut loaf. I get it from the Pennsylvania Dutch Market in Cockeysville, Maryland. It’s truly something to experience. So, I had a big idea: “I’m going to try to make this.”
Do you ever get these kinds of notions?
I know a little bit about baking. At least, enough to do a l’il something. So, I gathered my flour, sugar, eggs, cranberries, and baking powder. I also used a smidge of salt and a few drops of orange juice. I forgot about the walnuts so it was just a simple cranberry loaf.
With all ingredients assembled and mixed, the cranberry loaf experiment was under way. It was looking quite scrumptious as I checked on it during the baking process. But then it happened. My impatience got the best of me. I stuck the knife in it to check if it would come out clean.
It came out only ‘sort of’ clean.
The phrase ‘sort of,’ as my Grammarly program indicates, are unconfident words. And it was right since I doubted whether the cranberry loaf was cooked thoroughly. So, I let it bake for a little bit longer.
I checked it again. It was long past the recommended 40 minute cooking time. But the knife was still coming out with a little bit of cake moistness..
I let it go for a little bit longer, but same story. This time I convinced myself that it was fine because it looked good on the outside. So I added my confection sugar and butter frosting and then cut into it. I had rushed it. It wasn’t completely done on the inside as the knife was trying to tell me before my patience ran out.
This cranberry loaf was good. I ate it, but it wasn’t the creation I wanted to share with others.
So round two begins…another day and another effort.
This time I decided to take it easy on myself.using cake mix with some old-fashioned doctoring. Determined not to repeat the earlier dilemma, this time I overcompensated. I overcooked it. It wasn’t a beautiful brown like the prior one, and for some reason, the cranberries didn’t pop to the surface. So, you guessed It…another solo cake for me, myself, and I.
I told someone I would try to make the cranberry loaf. I also promised to give them one. Unfortunately, there was a gap in the time for delivering the goods. I told them what was happening and they assured me that I didn’t have to make it.
I replied, “I will not be defeated.”
It’s the third time, now. I was neither optimistic; nor overly anxious. I gathered my cake mix, cranberries, orange juice, oil, sugar, milk, eggs, and let it rip. I poured the batter in the loaf pan and “Que sera, sera.” was the general sentiment.
Were the odds stacked against me? Sure, but maybe I had nowhere else to go but up.
Yes, I had failed twice; nevertheless, I decided to do the best I could, and that would be that. I made a few tiny bundt cakes for tasting but I couldn’t be certain from those. Baking is very precise, so size and time matter as much as the ingredients.
At first, I didn’t hear much about the loaf, and that was okay. After all, baking and cooking can be a sensitive affair. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised when I got a sterling report back about how delicious the cranberry loaf was. But it took two failures to get there. This is not a humble brag. It’s just a story to encourage your experimentation in the kitchen.
Fail up! It will be okay.
You may not succeed on the first try. It can take a few efforts to get in the ballpark of what you’re trying to achieve. Take breaks and don’t be deterred. After all, cooking fails can be fun and they can ultimately show you best practices for your next cooking expeditions.
Multi Cultural Cooking Network 