I am not amazing at it, and I cannot claim to make 'the best ____ you have ever had' (although for awhile I was convinced nothing could beat my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with pecans and cranberries-- as they have been branded as 'amazing' by more than a few). But I will confidently say, I can bake well. However, my baking skills are not the most consistent, and it does vary depending on the oven I am using and the country I am in (brands of baking soda, brands of flour, availability of ingredients etc). But mostly, the oven is the biggest variable in how good or bad something turns out.
That said, there are some baked goods that I know can withstand any oven. And these are baked goods that I have tried to make with my mom's small counter top electric oven and they came out decent. Most of the time, it is the savory baked goods that are most robust.
I am talking about lasagna, quiches, scalloped potatoes, and similar foods. Pies and tarts, savory or sweet tend to come out fine as well. It is the cookies and the macarons, things that need to be heated very quickly (and evenly) and taken out within the margin of a minute that tend to suffer.
So when I saw that Aldi (the local grocery store that sells things for half the price of other grocery stores) had a toaster oven on sale for $20, I was beyond excited. My apartment is 'fully furnished' but being a student apartment, they skimped out on the oven, and the microwave is not a convection. (I am not sure that I even trust a convection microwave, but then I have never tried).
As I was walking back lugging my groceries and toaster oven propped on my shopping cart, I gleefully imagined the things I would be able to bake first. Mini spinach and smoked salmon quiches! Little pizzas! Mini apple pies! Egg tarts! And maybe just maybe, if I could muster up the courage, some kind of (mini) cookies.
So I got home, put away my groceries and got the toaster oven ready. I knew what I would try it first with. I had made some cheesy quinoa cakes which I had pan fried yesterday, but could also be baked.
I plug in the toaster oven, and start to heat it up to 200C. Meanwhile I pulled out the quinoa cakes and arranged them on the baking tray.
Within seconds, I could see smoke coming out of the sides of the toaster oven. In sheer calm collected panic, I turned off the power, unplugged the cord, pulled on oven mitts and the toaster oven out into the balcony-- smoking like an old Metro bus as Lili would say.
And as I finish my plate of pan fried quinoa cakes I know now perhaps, such dreams are not meant to be just yet. Or maybe, I should stop being such a skin flint and get a more reputable brand of toaster oven.
We shall see.
That said, there are some baked goods that I know can withstand any oven. And these are baked goods that I have tried to make with my mom's small counter top electric oven and they came out decent. Most of the time, it is the savory baked goods that are most robust.
I am talking about lasagna, quiches, scalloped potatoes, and similar foods. Pies and tarts, savory or sweet tend to come out fine as well. It is the cookies and the macarons, things that need to be heated very quickly (and evenly) and taken out within the margin of a minute that tend to suffer.
So when I saw that Aldi (the local grocery store that sells things for half the price of other grocery stores) had a toaster oven on sale for $20, I was beyond excited. My apartment is 'fully furnished' but being a student apartment, they skimped out on the oven, and the microwave is not a convection. (I am not sure that I even trust a convection microwave, but then I have never tried).
As I was walking back lugging my groceries and toaster oven propped on my shopping cart, I gleefully imagined the things I would be able to bake first. Mini spinach and smoked salmon quiches! Little pizzas! Mini apple pies! Egg tarts! And maybe just maybe, if I could muster up the courage, some kind of (mini) cookies.
So I got home, put away my groceries and got the toaster oven ready. I knew what I would try it first with. I had made some cheesy quinoa cakes which I had pan fried yesterday, but could also be baked.
I plug in the toaster oven, and start to heat it up to 200C. Meanwhile I pulled out the quinoa cakes and arranged them on the baking tray.
Within seconds, I could see smoke coming out of the sides of the toaster oven. In sheer calm collected panic, I turned off the power, unplugged the cord, pulled on oven mitts and the toaster oven out into the balcony-- smoking like an old Metro bus as Lili would say.
And as I finish my plate of pan fried quinoa cakes I know now perhaps, such dreams are not meant to be just yet. Or maybe, I should stop being such a skin flint and get a more reputable brand of toaster oven.
We shall see.
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