Ya’ll wanna see a semi-fail? I’m normally a pretty competent baker, but I haven’t baked for a few months and, apparently, I’ve gotten rusty. I’m only sharing this because I’ve had a bit too much wine tonight, and because I was amused by how this turned out.
Mistake #1 I decided to make something I’ve never made before. The two choices were a Battenburg Cake or a Pecan Praline Babka. The babka won.
Mistake #2 I started making the dough about the same time the spectacular thunder and lighning show decided to move through San Diego. I got distracted, very distracted. I added all the butter to the dough instead of only a portion of it. Oops… Not one to waste, and knowing I was working with a variation of a brioche dough I managed to salvage it into a respectable cinnamon raisin bread. Excellent toasted with peanut butter
But on to the Babka. The dough was a dream to work with.
Mistake #3 I got far to confident in my skills and abilities as a baker.
Mistake #4 and this was a big one. I couldn’t get the twist tight enough on the top part of the loaf.
Mistake #5 thinking that proofing and baking would hide my crappy twist job.
Mistake #6 oops…it collapsed while cooling. But, hey, the glaze will hide everything, right?
I give you the Little Old Lady Who Lives in a Shoe Babka. Looks like hell, tastes like heaven. Well, actually, it tastes like a giant bear claw, which in my book, is pretty good.
Paul Hollywood would tell me it was underbaked, and I would probably agree with him. Between the poor twist and slight underbaking, I think that is why it collapsed. Pero, ni modo, it still tastes good, and that pecan praline glaze is MONEY. I’d eat that straight out of the saucepan. You can’t ever go wrong with butter, heavy cream and brown sugar.
We all post our cooking hits, I figured it was time for a miss, or a partial miss.
