Backup Plan #2 25 Feb 2012
I’ve decided that, should my first ambitions not reach fruition, I’m going to dedicate my life to baking. Of course, my main goal in life is to attain a PhD in chemistry and land a position as a professor at a university, and I’m currently on track to do that: I’m graduating with a B.S. in chemistry this May, and this fall, I will start my graduate studies. I always say that my backup plan, in case this all doesn’t work out, is to become a hermit in the mountains and write poems about quantum mechanics. I’m not sure if I’m joking about that or not, but whether or not I am, perhaps another backup plan should be waiting, just in case. And so baking it is.
Last week when I made red velvet cupcakes, my friend Richard introduced me to a cooking blog called Annie’s Eats. After my Valentine’s Day experiment in the kitchen, I became hooked. Annie has so many recipes for all kinds of food, from sweets to soups to main entrees. Luckily, I had some excuses to continue to bake this week. Two of my very good friends had their birthdays this week (One is today, actually. Happy birthday, Pat!), so I got to try some of her other recipes. When I asked, Pat told me that his favorite baked good is brownies, and Don, my other friend, told me that he doesn’t discriminate among baked goods. However, he specifically mentioned black-bottom cupcakes and banana nut bread1.
Annie had recipes for all of them! Since her red velvet cupcakes seemed to be a hit and Richard raved about her, I was excited to stick with her baking expertise and follow her recipes for Black Bottom Cupcakes, Banana Bread (modified only with the addition of chopped pecans!), and Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies. This was such a good decision. Unlike with the red velvet cupcakes, I actually got to try all of the things I baked this week… and they were all so yummy! Annie totally gets the seal of approval from me, which basically means… thumbs up at you, girl! I’m usually skeptical of recipes I find online, especially since a lot tend to get mixed reviews, but Annie seems to be consistently good across the board. I definitely trust her on the baking end of the spectrum, and I’m looking forward to the next time I have an excuse to bake something new! (Or maybe I don’t need one!)
Although my adventures in baking were successful, each journey certainly had its own little obstacles to overcome. As much as I’ve always enjoyed to bake2, I haven’t tried to make a big variety of things, so I wouldn’t say I’m “skilled” at it. Every time I cook it’s a new learning experience, especially with making something I’ve never tried or even heard of before!3. For one, I evidently don’t know how to chop baking chocolate, because I wound up stabbing it until it broke into pieces. (Um, cutting normally didn’t seem to work.) Second, I already knew that my oven runs hot, so I had to be careful with the baking times I chose. The banana bread was good in an hour, which was within the suggested time, but I definitely wished I had checked on the brownies sooner. The bottoms got a little burnt, and they were probably done before 30 minutes, when I tested them for doneness. However, everything was still tasty, and the next time I bake these things, I’ll do it better!
- The banana nut bread seemed quite fitting for me to make because I had once eaten a slice of it that he got from another friend. I was having a particularly difficult time with convincing myself to eat one day when I was struggling with a return of eating-disordered thoughts, and, after previously failing to get me to eat something, he offered me the slice of banana bread. Not wanting to make him sad, I agreed to eat it. He then told me that he doesn’t part with baked goods easily. [↩]
- Since I was little, I loved to help my parents bake, and since I was old enough to do it by myself, I’ve still always enjoyed it. I just didn’t do it all that often. [↩]
- I had no idea what black bottom cupcakes when Don mentioned them. Basically, they have chocolate bases and chocolate-cheesecake-like tops. [↩]