I have tried my hand at baking. Dessert is my favorite course of any meal. I once read that the body needs something sweet at the end of every meal to know it’s time to stop eating and start digesting. That’s all the motivation I need to give a hearty “Yes!” every time a waiter asks if I’d like to see the dessert menu. And since I’m on a confessional kick I’ll also tell you that yes, I have had dessert for dinner and no, I am not ashamed of that.
I have fantasies of impressing my friends with sugary baked goodness, inviting me to dinner parties purely because they just cannot get enough of my baking skills. In these fantasies, my friends often say things like, “Oh, Christa, can you please bring that incredible double chocolate souffle that everyone raved about last time. I’m having dreams about it!” Of course, this never happens because I never bring dessert to a dinner party unless I buy it or it’s fruit.
In my year of new beginnings, I decided that this was going to be the year I learned how to bake. Witness exhibit A above – my attempt to make a recipe entitled “Easy Pumpkin Pie”. Easy for Recipes.com to say. The evidence speaks for itself. Have you ever seen a pumpkin pie with a dome? Despite my painstaking attention to detail, measuring every single ingredient to supreme accuracy, and following all of the instructions down to the letter, I must admit that no, I can’t bake. That new beginning has been put to bed.
Looking at my “Easy Pumpkin Pie” I was a bit sad. Why can’t I bake?! Why is this skill that I want so much eluding me? In the process, I broke a glass bowl (Whoops! that one wasn’t meant to melt butter in a microwave) and spent more money on ingredients than I would have spent buying a picture perfect, tummy satisfying pie from my local Whole Foods.So I did what any self-respecting girl with a little tear in her eye and a propensity for sweets would do – I got out a fork and ate the pie filling. It was delicious, or at least edible.
(And then I started thinking about how this burned pie might lead to some creative spark in my writing. I came up with the idea for a collection of essays with titles like: I Burned the Pie, and Other Confessions of a Modern American Girl and I Don’t Bake, Other Things You Should Know Before You Fall in Love With Me, or We Won’t Be Eating Cake, and Other Helpful Hints for My Husband To-Be. What do you think?)
I cook well, but when it comes to baking I didn’t get the genes for it. I will continue to be marveled by those who can somehow whip up the perfect dessert with barely a speck of flour on their faces. From now on, I’ll happily buy my dessert and fully understand the value of its price. Crumbs, here I come!
Christa Avampato 