Baking HITS and MISSES

Last week I was in the mood to bake. This isn’t anything new. I love baking. Pies, cakes, cookies, whatever – I love it all (the eating too, of course). Usually, I am pretty good at it too.

I decided on that particular day last week that I was in the mood for pie, but wasn’t particularly in the mood to make a double crust affair. I found a recipe titled “Impossible Coconut Pie” in one of my old cookbooks. It was super easy to make. All the ingredients were mixed in one big bowl, then poured into a cake pan to bake. During the baking process, the pie was supposed to separate into three distinct layers (crust, filling, and coconut topping).

It was not what I’d call a success.

Hubby, who will rarely turn away dessert had the following to say, “If that pie were on Facebook, I would deny its friend request.”

My Dad always says, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” That is what I’ve now written in the margin of the cookbook where that “Impossible” pie recipe is located. I won’t be trying that one again.

Over the weekend a Facebook friend (and amazing baker, and fellow blogger), posted a blurb about a cake she’d made. It sounded fabulous, so I asked for the recipe. I did something wrong…who knows what? The ending result tasted amazing (really and truly amazing), but it wouldn’t hold up like it should, and sort of collapsed all over my cake carrier and onto the table around it. I take full responsibility for the problem. I’ve been known to make wacko mistakes in the kitchen (and in life) when I’m pregnant. Baby brain drain, and all that. The picture below was supposed to be a triple layer 8 inch cake.

This time Hubby had only good things to say about my latest baking adventure, in spite of the cake’s oddball appearance. I scooped up weird looking hunks of cake onto our plates, and we both ate them happily. It was truly yummy, and I’ll definitely be trying that recipe again. It deserves to be attempted as many times as it takes to get it right.

The coconut pie?  Not so much.