When Cooking Goes wrong!

When Cooking Goes wrong!

So not every cooking adventure turns out as a culinary masterpiece, sometimes

they are just disasters. Well about two weeks ago everything from the ingredients or idea

I had turned into a failure. Even though it was a tasty failure, it was a failure none the

less. So my goal on Labor Day weekend was to cook some Jambalaya, cornbread, and

the Chocolate-Cherry cupcakes that I wanted to cook all summer. I figured with Labor

Day signaling the end of summer for many, I thought it would be fitting to finally create

this meal. Also, two of my Good Friends allowed me to use their kitchen. So I made a

checklist to make sure I had everything. I knew I was good on the Jambalaya because I

was using the Base mix from Harry and David just wanted to add meat and some extra

items. I checked to make sure I was good on eggs and Milk for the Cornbread. I made

sure I had the Chocolate Cake and Cherry stuff to make the Chocolate Cherry cupcake. I

still haven’t made Chocolate Cake from scratch but that will be my Birthday treat to me.

After getting off from work I went to my aunt’s house to get the tomatoes,

chicken, and sausage. So you may wonder why I going to my aunt’s house for some of

the ingredients. Well I have unique circumstances and it works to my benefit to store

food at my aunts since I am usually over there it’s easier for me to cook while over

there. So I go to here Freezer and start searching for my Italian Chicken sausages. After

5 minutes, I ask my Aunt “Where are the sausages I brought over last week?” are her

response “If they are not in the freezer, well then we ate them”. The chicken Sausages

were gone, plus they were unhappy because they were spicy. (They are Italian Chicken

sausages; they are seasoned but not spicy.) Ok, so I shift gears and search for my Veggie

Crumbles, I was like “I can make a vegetarian Jambalaya with Vegetable stock instead.”

Well I couldn’t find the veggie crumbles either. This was beginning to look like an epic

fail.

So I headed to my friends house to make some tortellini pasta salad, cornbread

still and the Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes. Everything was going along smooth. Pre-heated

the oven mixed the cornbread together added some Charred- Grilled Pineapple relish.

Next I, started cooking and began with the pasta. While going through my friend’s pantry

I found Cherry syrup which I thought would make the Cupcakes pop! I couldn’t find any

red wine vinegar or any vinegar for that matter; for the vinaigrette for the pasta salad. I

asked both of my friends, and they responded they didn’t have any vinegar. (I feel this

was an epic fail on my part) o_O? No vinegar. So the tortellini was just that tortellini.

My timer for the cornbread dinged. I went over to pull out the corn bread to find out it

didn’t quite bake. I felt like that was weird, until I looked into the egg carton and saw all

the eggs I brought were still in the carton. Yes I had baked cornbread with no eggs…

.

Let’s just say it was nothing short of wet non-congealing type pudding. So I decided

something that may make all people question if I should even write about cooking and

baking. I poured the baked corn sloop into a clean bowl added two eggs and mixed than

re-baked it. Hence the creation of twice-baked cornbread. (I mean if you can twice bake

a baked Potato than why not cornbread.) (There are several reasons why you should

not do that but I am not getting into them today.) So the only thing that appeared to be

a success was the Chocolate- Cherry cupcakes/Cake. I was too lazy to make 2 dozen

cupcakes so I made 12 cupcakes and 8x8 square cake. The recipe is below, I used a cake

mix that was on Target Clearance section for $.88 cents. Also my icing totally failed so

I ended up with Vanilla-Spiced Butter cream Glaze. But everyone who ate the cupcakes

seem to love them (one of my co-workers ate three of them). So all’s well that tasted

Good and was moist.

Chocolate-Cherry Cupcakes (p.s. these are not from scratch)

• 1 box of Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Fudge Chocolate Cake Mix
• 2 Tablespoons of Harry and David Cherry Conserves
• 1 teaspoon of Cherry Syrup
• ¾ cup of Vanilla Milk
• ¾ cup butter
• A splash of Vanilla extract
• 3 Eggs

Follow the directions as listed on the box. Substitute the water for the Milk. Mix for at

least 10 minutes adding in air as you go. Oxygen will help with certain chemical rations

but it’s the Hydrogen that helps with creating the bonds in the reaction.

Add the batter to each cupcake liners. Than add an extra cherry to the center.

Place in the Oven and bake for 25 minutes on 350*F. Or as the box directs you to bake.

Take out the oven and allow cooling for at least 15-20 minutes. I usually forget I have

cupcakes are cooling.

Vanilla-Spiced Butter cream Glaze.

● 2 cup confectioners' sugar

● 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

● 1 tablespoon Vanilla Milk

● 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon- sugar or (nutmeg-sugar mix)

● A splash of vanilla extract

Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Than pour over the cupcakes and cake. It will absorb into the

cake or maybe becoming an icing like topping. For me it looked like a glaze more than an

Icing.

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