What's the activity that you are most scared of doing?
For me, it's probably baking. It comes a close second to my top fear/hate which are job interviews and speaking in front of a lot of strangers (both tied in first place).
Both of the things I mentioned earlier, I've already attempted to overcome several times. Well, I came out alive on all attempts but I couldn't really say I've totally overcome them.
But I am perfectly okay with the idea that at several points in my lifetime, I've tried once, twice and even thrice to win myself over those two.
BAKING on the otherhand is something that I haven't really tried my hand at. Well, I don't count that first attempt I did during high school because that probably was the reason I'm so scared to try baking come adulthood.
I love watching THE FOOD NETWORK though and yes, I will not deny the fact that I've always been in love at Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson's creations.I did dream to make them myself at some point. But I guess, I dreamt freely because I knew there's really no way I will ever challenge myself to try making one of those mouthwatering homemade baked desserts.
THAT however changes this year. Because my husband, who is just as masochistic as me, agreed to buy a gas oven for our household. We've had the oven for about 2 months now but I've never really gotten around to trying to whip out even just a simple muffin or a cookie recipe. Not till last week. It's the husband's birthday and I thought, it's just the perfect day for me to take the plunge into the world of baking. But that impulsive plunge turned out to be just as I feared -- my first break into the baking world was A TOTAL FAILURE.
I was on a break at work because Ate Inday is not back yet. I planned for a perfect day for me and Maia after she comes home from school. We wanted to do something special for the husband's birthday. I suggested baking calamansi muffin (which was actually something that he's been requesting for us to make) and boy was she delighted with the idea of me and her baking a goody for Daddy? Of course, she was! She's been asking for it since we had that baking playdate with Aki.
But guess what I did? I burned half of the muffins. I was extremely heartbroken. But unlike the other two fears that I mentioned, I had this strong feeling that I can make a strong comeback. If only I can find out the reason behind my burning the muffins when I've followed the recipe to the letter.
Well, turned out there's something that I didn't follow. And that was to read the OVEN MANUAL. It said there to use either the top or 2nd rack to bake cakes and cuppies and muffins. Guess which tray I used? THE BOTTOM! No wonder 15 minutes I charred half of them.
So yesterday, I prepared my ingredients and got myself ready to comeback with a vengeance.
How was it? IT TURNED OUT REALLY GREAT!!! Yay! I felt like I won the lotto when the muffins came out of the oven perfectly baked and sporting a nice yellowish color. It didn't look anywhere close to the Calamansi Muffins that Real Coffee makes in Boracay but hey, to my taste testers (aka Tibs and Maia) it tasted exactly the same.
And as an added bonus, I also tried making a double chocolate chip loaf cake with the remaining ingredients that I have on hand and that turned out pretty well too. My co-workers liked it so much. I'm just so, so happy!
So I guess, it pays to challenge your fear and push yourself to overcome it.
This might seem petty, shallow, trivial to some but my baking success last Sunday was like a triple dose of happy pills for me. Now, I'm more excited than ever to try other baking recipes.
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