Thursday, November 18, 2010

I do not follow directions

As my mum would verify, I have never been fond of (or good at) following directions.  It is something I (well, mainly others) have struggled with my entire life.  The way this effects me most now, is in the kitchen.  I have never been much for following a recipe.  I use them as inspiration and then make my own when I am in the kitchen.  This makes baking difficult.

There have been a few things that I can bake well, consistently.  Cheesecakes, muffins, and I recently developed a quality chocolate cake recipe.  Basically, I cook based on flavor.  I always have a testing spoon in my hand tasting everything as I go.  Baking does not work like this.  It is not always something you can taste as you go.

Apple crisp is something I have always loved.  It reminds me of being a kid and playing in the snow in my home state of Maine.  It is not just the taste but the smell of fresh local apples baking on the oven with gobs of cinnamon and sugar.

I have never been able to master the crisp.  The apple mixture I can knock out of the park, with many varieties but the crisp is too much baking.  I never get it right.


Not perfect so no recipe to share but I am getting there.  Damn that crumble topping!

4 comments:

Jes said...

Getting the butter-flour-sugar ratio right on a crisp is hard! I'm with you on that one. Took me a long time doing it every day at the bakery to figure it out (always more flour than you think). Your crisp does look yummy though!

Zoa said...

My mom rocks at apple crisp, vegan or otherwise. I don't know what her secret is. Something to do with pie crust, I'd imagine, since she can make an awesome crust with anything she has available. It's psychic, is my opinion.

Catherine Weber said...

My favorite crisp recipe is 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 stick of butter/margarine. Cut the butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly, that's it!

Hannah said...

The best recipes take many tries to get just right- Trust me on this one! When you finally do nail it, the sucess will be even sweeter than if it had been a quick fix, too. :)