Wednesday How Tos: Oops!

Ever find your way working through a recipe and then realize that you made a big mistake?

Oops! I was supposed to preheat the oven!

Oops! The flour was supposed to be added in batches!

Oops!… You get the picture.

Aside from learning to read a recipe from beginning to end, there are ways to save even recipes that seem ruined.

1. I was supposed to preheat the oven.

First of all, don’t just say “oh well,” and throw the thing into a cold oven. Depending on what you’re making, there are different ways to handle this.

If you’re dealing with meat other than poultry, don’t worry about it. Keep it covered outside the oven until the correct temperature is reached.

For poultry, cover the pan and put the entire thing back in the fridge until it’s ready to be cooked.

For baked goods, you should try to keep them outside the fridge to make sure the baking powder stays active. Just make sure you fluff up the batter a bit (not too much… you don’t want to activate too much gluten in the flour) with a whisk or wooden spoon before pouring into the baking dish and baking.)

2. The flour was supposed to be added in batches.

Flour is supposed to be added in batches with most baked goods so that it doesn’t clump and so that you don’t loose the integrity and texture of the final product by over-mixing your batter. If you accidentally dumped all of your flour into the bowl of batter, it shouldn’t be too big of a deal: using a wooden spoon, gently fold it in using large, sweeping movements. Stir as few times as you can… just until everything is combined. If you’re making something delicate, like a soufflé or angel food cake, I can’t guarantee that it will work perfectly, but for no-nonsense things like quickbread and muffins, you should be fine.

3. I was supposed to grease the pan first.

First, examine how much grease is in the actual recipe. If it’s got a lot of butter or oil, you’ll probably be fine. Also, are you using a nonstick pan? If so, you may not need double-duty grease. When in doubt, just use a rubber spatula to get as much batter back out of the pan as possible, rinse it and wipe it dry, and start from square one. It’s better than worrying for 40 minutes if your cake is going to come out of the oven.

4. The butter was supposed to be softened.

Softened butter and melted butter are not the same thing, and if you’ve forgotten to leave your butter out on the counter to soften for twenty minutes, try this trick.

Place the butter (still in its paper or foil wrapper) on the metal part of the stovetop above the preheating oven. Allow it to sit for two minutes before rotating it so that all four sides have a chance to sit on the stovetop. Then place it in the bowl and whip it a bit to ensure uniform heat throughout the butter.