EXPERIMENTS

Time flies, really.

The very first time I tried my hands at baking is earlier this January, which is less than 8months ago. That is not even considered real baking, to be concise; but nevertheless, it had been such a bother (right, PH? DH? Remember how the bones in our poor fingers nearly broke just by crumbling that ONE WHOLE ROLL of digestive biscuits? Should have thought to use a hammer or something. Anyway, to be fair, we did 偷 吃 a little here and there while crumbling the biscuits. Heh!) that I remember telling myself something to the effect that never again would I bake.

Promises of this nature - more often than not - usually do not stick out till the end; which is why one should always be prepared to expect the unexpected, I thought ironically to myself while peeling, de-core-ing, and slicing some Granny Smiths. It has only been 8months, and since that January birthday cake, things have progressed to chocolate cakes and, now, the current apple pies.

The first attempt at apple pie turned out fine; except that it was a tad way too sweet, and the crust was a little odd-tasting; so much so that I personally doubted its' edibility. Thus, this time round though, I kapok-ed my mum's dough recipe and reduced the amount of white sugar by half, choosing to leave the quantity of brown sugar as it originally is because, you know, the gooey sauce in apple pies are supposed to be brown in colour.

Mum's dough was, of course, way much better than my first attempt. It was, however, dry and flaky. It was almost impossible to roll a good piece out of it. Just then, I remember reading somewhere that the main causes of flaky doughs are most probably due to either: insufficient thawing, or lack of water. The former was not a very likely cause (since Mum's dough does not require refrigerating unlike some other recipes which call for it). Mum's recipe had not listed water as one of the ingredients. As a precautionary measure, I tore off a small chunk of dough and added a little water to it, and voila!

Anyway, as I was saying, the dough has been my area of biggest concern. That had been Friday night. After baking, I kept the pie in the refrigerator overnight and took it out the next morning before heading out for tuition; adjourning down to Simei thereafter. Had originally planned to warm it up before serving (food tastes best when served hot!), but didn't get to do so. I was worried, too, as to whether would it upset stomachs; since I took it out from the refrigerator at 10am in the morning.

I didn't realize how concerned I was over this whole thing until this little chat with WL while walking out of Expo together later the same day.

"The apple pie just now, you're the one who brought it, right? Buy one ah? Or make one?"

"Made it. How ah? How was it? Is it ok?"

"Nice." My heart danced, and she continued, "I LIKE the crust!"

I flipped. I couldn't almost believe my ears. The dough? The LEAST confidence I had is the dough! And I know that many people - myself inclusive - prefer fillings to crusts. The unexpected stone in my heart suddenly felt lifted. Strangely, this alone certainly beats having 10 people saying that they like the fillings.






Anyway, I just suddenly came to realize that - unknowingly, inadvertently, and subconsciously - the CG has become the (un)official food tasters. To put it plainly, apart from the family, it feels like there is also another bunch of supportive, long-suffering, and awesome food tasters (read: guinea pigs) who readily and gamely help to wipe out the "products" of my "experiments". Hohoho!

Anyway, before I start working full-time, I would like to use this period to experiment and try out different stuffs. I have a feeling that starting from Jan 2010, time would not be such a luxury as it is now.

My next conquer? Cookies!



Edit (12.09am): Next on the list: CHILLI CRAB!