The Cellar - View Single Post - To those who have served or are currently serving...dinner

Sundae · 01-27-2009, 10:50 AM

Just made Spiced Apple Cake as a treat. Low fat recipe I haven't tried before, but I read through the ingredients (only had to buy apples) and the method and it looked just fine to me.

All was going great! Everything as it should!

Until...

Well you see I read the description a while back. And after all it is called Spiced Apple Cake. I checked I had the right sized tin, weighed everything carefully, couldn't see how anything could go wrong. In hindsight I should have rechecked the description, which says that this is a "biscuit style" cake. Then again, maybe the person who wrote the recipe should have advised you to ROLL the two layers out. Roll them out, cut them to size, place in tin.

Nope. I "spread" or in reality squash "less than a half" of the dough - and it is a dough, think cookies, although it is not called that, it is called a mixture - into the tin. Then add the layer of pureed apple. Now... oh. Add the rest to the top and smooth out gently. But I can't! It's sticky dough, not cake mix. It doesn't smooth out, especially on a fluid layer of apple. Had I really understood the recipe, of course I would have rolled it out and cut it to size and placed gently on top. But I was following a damned recipe! It's the reason people buy low fat recipe books!

I have cut the screaming and swearing out of this. But I do feel let down, and yet personally responsible. The worst of both worlds. Mostly, I laugh at culinary disasters. And if it's someone else's I can always find something to praise and to salvage. But this time I'm afriad self pity and pathos have kicked in. I peeled six cooking apples, all excited, thinking my parents would be really impressed with me. I rubbed in the marge (something I hate doing) and got gunk under my nails. And if ONLY it had made it clear it was a rolled out dough, not a spreadable one... ah well. Sure more experienced cooks would have got that immediately (self pity again - arrrgh).

Like every single other recipe from this book, it requires amendments before trying it again. I just don't think I can be arsed. I'll stick to brown rice with beans and low fat yoghurts in future. This is the nail in the coffin of enjoying cooking

My only consolation - the house smells gorgeous. Apples and spice and baking.
There's that at least

01-27-2009, 10:50 AM	#148
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Just made Spiced Apple Cake as a treat. Low fat recipe I haven't tried before, but I read through the ingredients (only had to buy apples) and the method and it looked just fine to me. All was going great! Everything as it should! Until... Well you see I read the description a while back. And after all it is called Spiced Apple Cake. I checked I had the right sized tin, weighed everything carefully, couldn't see how anything could go wrong. In hindsight I should have rechecked the description, which says that this is a "biscuit style" cake. Then again, maybe the person who wrote the recipe should have advised you to ROLL the two layers out. Roll them out, cut them to size, place in tin. Nope. I "spread" or in reality squash "less than a half" of the dough - and it is a dough, think cookies, although it is not called that, it is called a mixture - into the tin. Then add the layer of pureed apple. Now... oh. Add the rest to the top and smooth out gently. But I can't! It's sticky dough, not cake mix. It doesn't smooth out, especially on a fluid layer of apple. Had I really understood the recipe, of course I would have rolled it out and cut it to size and placed gently on top. But I was following a damned recipe! It's the reason people buy low fat recipe books! I have cut the screaming and swearing out of this. But I do feel let down, and yet personally responsible. The worst of both worlds. Mostly, I laugh at culinary disasters. And if it's someone else's I can always find something to praise and to salvage. But this time I'm afriad self pity and pathos have kicked in. I peeled six cooking apples, all excited, thinking my parents would be really impressed with me. I rubbed in the marge (something I hate doing) and got gunk under my nails. And if ONLY it had made it clear it was a rolled out dough, not a spreadable one... ah well. Sure more experienced cooks would have got that immediately (self pity again - arrrgh). Like every single other recipe from this book, it requires amendments before trying it again. I just don't think I can be arsed. I'll stick to brown rice with beans and low fat yoghurts in future. This is the nail in the coffin of enjoying cooking My only consolation - the house smells gorgeous. Apples and spice and baking. There's that at least Last edited by Sundae; 01-27-2009 at 11:03 AM.