My Most Epic Baking Failure

Failure is part of learning; it always has been and it always will be. To learn a new skill, you must attempt it over and over, failure after failure, until you finally learn the skill. A skill that I take great pride in is my cooking and baking, but I haven’t always been so skillful at them. Today, I will share with you one of my most epic baking failures, and hopefully you’ll learn from it.

My most epic baking failures happened when I was making blueberry pancakes. I was doing meal prep, so I was going to make a big batch at once and save them for my weeks’ breakfasts. I’ll never forget what they tasted like, but not because they were delicious.

It was like any other pancake recipe. I was making a whole wheat version because I wanted them to be healthier, but that wasn’t the reason for their taste. Everything was going well with the dry ingredients, until it came time to add the leaving agent. I think you can imagine where this is going. It’s very bad to mix up baking soda and baking powder, and I’ll tell you why. Baking soda is very alkaline, and only bubbles up when you add something acidic, like buttermilk, lemon juice, or vinegar. It also aids in browning; it’s what gives pretzels their signature color. Baking powder on the other hand, is baking soda with a dry acid added to it, so it doesn’t need any extra ingredients. I somehow mixed the two of them up, adding three whole tablespoons of baking soda. I immediately noticed the mistake, but it was already too late. I added vinegar to the batter to try and neutralize the baking soda, but it didn’t help very much. I decided to make the pancakes anyway, because I didn’t want to waste food, so I went ahead and made them. When I tried the pancakes, they tasted just like a sweet pretzel, but not in a good way. They were quite brown, flat, and dense, probably because the baking soda didn’t rise all well as the baking powder would’ve. They were so bad I though about throwing them out, but I decided not to because I had already made them and didn’t really have time to make more, so I decided I would just eat them and try again next week. They weren’t unbearable to eat, but they weren’t good either.

Now whenever I bake something, I always make sure I don’t mix up baking soda with baking powder. I vividly remember the taste of those pancakes, and it immediately makes me focus on what I’m adding to the bowl. However, I am glad to say that I have learned a few things from that experience: baking soda works with an acidic ingredient, baking powder doesn’t need one, and baking soda can give things a very strong taste.