I have always enjoyed baking, especially when I am able to bake with my family. I loved teaching my sons, Eric and Brian, how to bake when they were young. Brian especially took an interest and before long, he wanted to try his hand at baking solo. My friend Barbara was coming over for dinner one evening and he wanted to make a cake to celebrate the occasion. I helped him select a recipe and then left him to his own devices.
When it was time for dessert that evening, Brian returned from the kitchen and emerged with his masterpiece. As he set the cake down on the table, Barbara and I exchanged knowing looks. Something was not quite right about this cake. I knew from the recipe that the cake was supposed to be about five inches thick, yet Brian’s cake was only about one-and-a-half inches thick.
We cut ourselves small, cautious slices and our first bite of the cake confirmed my suspicions. As I attempted to chew what tasted like chocolate-flavored rubber, I asked Brian how the baking went. He exclaimed, “Do you know how hard it is to pour Coke from a 3-liter bottle into a teaspoon?” Barbara and I immediately burst into laughter when we realized his mistake. No wonder the cake was so chewy. He read the recipe’s instructions for two teaspoons of “soda” as a soft drink instead of baking soda!
Since his first baking endeavor, Brian has come a long way. He is the editor-in-chief of Bake From Scratch and loves to bake in his spare time (he calls himself a weekend baker). He has improved his skills from simple cakes to complex pastries and I will now eat anything he bakes without hesitation. And most importantly, he has learned the difference between baking soda and soft drinks!
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Have you or your children ever had a humorous baking mishap?
