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!
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
7 thoughts on “Beginning: I Don’t Bake”
Don’t give up after just one try! It could have been the recipe, but like any skill, it takes time and practice to learn.
Thanks, Kate! Unfortunately this was only the latest in a long string of baking mishaps this year. I even took a baking class, but it didn’t help. However, your encouragement makes me think I should keep giving it a try. Maybe I need to go as simple as possible and build my baking confidence from there!
Oh don’t give up yet. Didn’t you just have lots of fun at a cupcake class? Baking isn’t genetics, it’s chemistry. And why assume it was you? Were your ingredients the freshest? Was your oven actually the right temp? (most are off, get an oven thermometer and check so you can adjust) Maybe the recipe was wrong. For darned near failsafe pumpkin pie, follow the recipe on the Libby’s pumpkin purée can. Buy frozen or refrigerated crust to start.
Check out the HUGE book Baking Illustrated by Cook’s Illustrated. Fascinating, filled with recipes AND details of all the trials, failures and tweaks it took them to reach THE recipe. It also explains and teaches the why behind the what and gives technique tips. I gave mine away or I’d send it to you.
Had to reply, your post bugged me all the way to work. If you don’t care about baking much or just don’t want to, then sure, put the idea aside. Not like you don’t have plenty to do in your spare time. 🙂 But it sounds like this is something you’ve wanted, so maybe don’t throw in the towel just yet. What would you advise if a student cane to you with a similar situation?
Oh dear! It bugged you all the way to work?? I really wrote it more as a humorous piece. My failed attempts in baking are really quite funny – as you can tell from the photograph! I did have fun at that cupcake baking class but we didn’t bake the cupcakes. Mostly they told us exactly what to do when and we spent most of our time frosting – which was actually a lot of fun! I also realized that I don’t like the “exactness” of baking. It doesn’t feel good to me. I like cooking – how creative you can get by adding a bit of this and a bit of that on the fly. It’s more my style.
Very good question on how I would advise a student. And if a student came to me with this kind of issue – they were trying to get good at something they really didn’t like doing – I’d advise them to spend their time on doing something they love, which for me is straight-up cooking. 🙂
Thanks so much for your insightful comment and questions – as usual. And hope this reply makes you better!
Don’t give up after just one try! It could have been the recipe, but like any skill, it takes time and practice to learn.
Keep at it and you’ll get there!
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Thanks, Kate! Unfortunately this was only the latest in a long string of baking mishaps this year. I even took a baking class, but it didn’t help. However, your encouragement makes me think I should keep giving it a try. Maybe I need to go as simple as possible and build my baking confidence from there!
LikeLike
Oh don’t give up yet. Didn’t you just have lots of fun at a cupcake class? Baking isn’t genetics, it’s chemistry. And why assume it was you? Were your ingredients the freshest? Was your oven actually the right temp? (most are off, get an oven thermometer and check so you can adjust) Maybe the recipe was wrong. For darned near failsafe pumpkin pie, follow the recipe on the Libby’s pumpkin purée can. Buy frozen or refrigerated crust to start.
Check out the HUGE book Baking Illustrated by Cook’s Illustrated. Fascinating, filled with recipes AND details of all the trials, failures and tweaks it took them to reach THE recipe. It also explains and teaches the why behind the what and gives technique tips. I gave mine away or I’d send it to you.
Had to reply, your post bugged me all the way to work. If you don’t care about baking much or just don’t want to, then sure, put the idea aside. Not like you don’t have plenty to do in your spare time. 🙂 But it sounds like this is something you’ve wanted, so maybe don’t throw in the towel just yet. What would you advise if a student cane to you with a similar situation?
Best wishes on this Monday
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Oh dear! It bugged you all the way to work?? I really wrote it more as a humorous piece. My failed attempts in baking are really quite funny – as you can tell from the photograph! I did have fun at that cupcake baking class but we didn’t bake the cupcakes. Mostly they told us exactly what to do when and we spent most of our time frosting – which was actually a lot of fun! I also realized that I don’t like the “exactness” of baking. It doesn’t feel good to me. I like cooking – how creative you can get by adding a bit of this and a bit of that on the fly. It’s more my style.
Very good question on how I would advise a student. And if a student came to me with this kind of issue – they were trying to get good at something they really didn’t like doing – I’d advise them to spend their time on doing something they love, which for me is straight-up cooking. 🙂
Thanks so much for your insightful comment and questions – as usual. And hope this reply makes you better!
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