Domestic

Daily writing prompt

Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.

View all responses

I was trying to be domestic. I’d just moved in with my girlfriend of the past three months, and I wished to impress her with my cooking skills. To my credit, I had some cooking chops, having grown up in a family where everyone participated in preparing dinner, and some creditable pancakes.

I made the mistake of asking her what she’d like for breakfast on saturday before going to bed. She laughed and told me to make something surprising. Oh boy, did I surprise her. I decided to bake a jelly roll cake.

A bit of background first. I do not remember either of my parents ever putting anything vaguely resembling a baked good in the oven. Oh, perhaps they warmed up something from a commercial bakery, but actually bake? No. So I started with a clean slate, beyond knowing how to turn the oven on.

I found an old paperback copy of the Joy of Cooking and some pans. I could not find all the needed ingredients, so I scrounged, invented, and substituted. Now, today, I might manage a success out of a similar effort. But in those days, the result was terrible. It might be described as a sort of rocket ship that had fallen on its side, leaked all its goo over the surrounding terrain, and then had an explosion.

My girlfriend was supportive of my beginning efforts in the kitchen, and actually sampled the cake, but insisted that the kitchen cleanup was all mine.