My latest food experiment
So many times I’ve heard or read a statement that goes something like this: baking is a science, so you should follow the recipe. And when I’m making a more complicated dessert like pain au chocolat or a cookie that needs to be rolled out like sugar cookies, I do follow the recipe. (Note: sometimes this doesn’t work either. See chocolate pie with bananas.)
But when I’m making just regular ole’ drop cookies? That’s when I like to experiment.
My latest inspiration is Asian flavors – candied ginger, five spice powder, and sesame oil – which I recently tried to add to an oatmeal cookie. Of course, I also added chocolate for fun. And I came very close to throwing in some chopped sage, just because I had it lying around. (Luckily, I edited myself. Sage tastes like evergreens to me, and would have completely thrown off the taste of the cookies. I don’t know what I was thinking!)
I definitely haven’t achieved the perfect Asian-flavored cookie yet so this isn’t my best experiment. But I also didn’t throw the cookies away – I had one this morning, actually – so it’s not my worst experiment either. And I can always tinker with the recipe again until I get it right.
What are your best (or worst) food experiments? I’d love to hear about them!
Tofu with tomatoes… absolutely disgusting …
@karlac: Good to know! I made these tofu roll-ups (tofu “cheese” in pasta) once with a tomato sauce, and I liked them. But the tofu was also flavored with herbs, etc. I wonder if that made a difference.
I recently tried to improvise a pie filling with granola bars and strawberries. While it did taste pretty good, the look of it was a purple disaster!
@Christi: At least it tasted good! I love granola bars and strawberries – you can’t go too wrong with that combination.
I tried to make a chocolate chip dip recently and it was disastrous. The whipped cream separated and the dip ended up looking like cottage cheese. Worst part was that I brought it to a party! Embarrassing.
dairyless broccoli soup. most disgusting thing ever. i even posted about how horrible it was. http://bit.ly/ccZx4X <—icky! don't ever do it.
@Sara: Who would have thought a dip with chocolate chips could be bad? Guess I’ll stick to eating them plain. Thanks for sharing!
@Baking Barrister: Good to know, thanks! It’s too bad this soup didn’t work because it looks very pretty.
I think my worst experiment is anything with garam masala spice or chinese five spice. Whatever these land in end up bad. I did make up a batch of tomato marmalade last week with a tad too much black pepper. Still thinking about this one:whether I like it or whether to bin it.
@Cate: I can tell you that Chinese Five Spice doesn’t work too well in cookies. (But I’m still going to experiment to see if I can make it work!) Also, I’d probably still eat the tomato marmalade, just like I’m still eating my Five Spice cookies.