To Be Or Not To Be

There are certain requirements to be a good baker. As far as I know, I'm far of that, yet. I do bake a lot of things. But I'm barely at a novice stage. And face it, there are lots of techniques that I have to learn before I can be a good baker. 

It's more like challenges to go through before going to the next stage. I like to put it into things that I can bake with success. So far, all that I baked were fairly easy. Nothing so fancy whatsoever. Simple cupcakes with buttercream frosting can be done by anyone with ease. As long as they follow the recipe, it's hard to mess it up. Unless, they couldn't tell the difference between salt and sugar...

I have never really try to bake something different. Or more consuming in time and effort. All the time, I opt for the easiest and fastest. Much as I hate to admit, patience is really not my virtue. I think that's where I need to change. Why is that so? 

Well, take a rolled cake as an example. A soft cake filled with sweet cream and jam. Sounds easy right? I thought so too. But the truth is much harder. I confess, that was one cake I'm so frustrated making it I even refused when my sister asked me to bake it again. Perhaps I did it wrong, the cake doesn't turn up the way it should be. Though I followed the steps to the letter, the outcome was a disaster! I believe it's the technique I failed to master. There are many steps to follow. I might have messed up some of them.

What ever could have gone wrong? Let see. Maybe I got the yolk mix a little with the whites. Or the whites weren't beaten well enough. OR maybe I deflated the meringue too much during the folding? That's what I can think of. I've come to a conclusion that; the more delicate a cake is, the more effort you have to put into making it!  

And it all comes back to the technique and of course... lots of trial. Once I master the technique, you bet I'm going to post it here!