the Madness & Mortar of Any Baked Sunday

After much a do about baking, I held my first baking event, Any Baked Sunday. The events ethos goes back to the days of why I set up this blog, "to share recipes, venues and conversation around food" and of course the best company.

The turn out was fantastic and I was so impressed by those who rang my door bell. The whole experience had its super lows and super highs and the duration of preparation lasted 3 days. Any Baked Sunday was the first for everything.

I baked Chocolate Cheesecake, Coconut Macaroon Tart and Apple Tart Tatin. The latter two I had never made before. This fact did not stop me, and I was determined to make all three as if they were my routinely baked items - the home cooked feeling and taste was the ultimate goal coming straight from the oven. And of course, a minor detail, to be honest and as true to the recipes which meant the three treats had to be made from scratch with no cheating, short cuts or deviations. Which meant...

I had to make the sweet shortcrust pastry for the Coconut Tart and the puff pastry for the Tart Tatin myself!

I was excited to do this and knew it would be no mean feat. Friday at 8pm, I decided to prepare the pastries, knowing that they needed the hours in the fridge before use. Friday midnight, I was near mental breakdown and in tears for not understanding what went wrong with my preparation of the puff pastry. It turned into a big butter goop where the detrempe did not stick, and became a slippy greasy web of goo with the melted butter squeegeeing out from the unhinged folds. I went to shower and went to bed.

Saturday 6pm, it was time to head first into baking my favourite and most enjoyed, Chocolate Cheesecake. No problem, this will be the pick me up that will carry my confidence into tackling that puff pastry once more. That or I would need to make a quick dash for City Super - the only supermarket in Hong Kong to supply ready made puff pastry. But that thought was far too depressing. I think even more depressing than my prior Friday midnight madness.

But lo and behold! As Saturday night wore on, my preparations came together. Chocolate Cheecake baked. Sweet shortcrust pastry baked and ready for the filling the following day. Puff pastry... done! I managed to make my first puff pastry and I thoroughly reveled in the fact I succeeded and actually enjoyed the rolling, folding, turning, refrigerating, rolling, folding, turning, refrigerating, rolling... well you get the point. After three hours it was ready for my first Any Baked Sunday.

the Depressed Muffin

My muffins are depressed. No, literally. They do not rise and when they do they sink deep into the epitomy of bad baking. Therefore, I am depressed. Over the course of a year (or so) I have tried my muffin making skills on three different recipes and out of each three I have experimented with different combinations trying to take advantage of any alteration that may give rise to the ultimate muffin. I have continued this in hope (the very faintest but trustworthy hope) that one day I will open my oven door and find my beauties have grown!

I want muffins that are light, airy, tasty and big. No. Humungous. I want those muffins you find in coffee shops that you cannot finish. The ones that are outrageously expensive you have to share it with your friend just to justify the price but also the portion. Why can't I have a big muffin? Well I can if I go buy one but why can't I bake a big muffin?

My baking world has shrunk and it has become a dark, lonely, dead end road. A road that doesn't even have a decent bakery on the corner. If someone is out there who thinks they can guide me towards an oven light that has an answer.... please... please... show me the muffin way! I am sending an SOS.