My daughter Linnea and I are a bit late to view the Great British Baking Show, but we’re making up for lost time.  As a person who takes baking seriously, I’m drawn to the seriousness of the show and how the obviously accomplished judges treat the amateur bakers with such respect.  Everyone involved is in love with crisp crusts, silky ganache, creeping angel food cake batter and perfectly set custard.  Exactly as it should be…  I watched a pie and tart episode tonight and am still craving brown and crackly pie bottoms.

The show is inspiring Linnea and I to bake with abandon.  To try new recipes, follow them to the letter (even if that means sifting the flour three times), and to experiment more.  To get beyond my tried and true cake and cookie recipes and try something new.  So we started that “resolution” this week.  To almost utter failure.

We made Chinese almond cookies that tasted just like the bland vegetable shortening baked inside.  We made Viennese butter cookies that called for hard boiled egg yolks and not much else.  And a new chocolate cake recipe that came from a trusted source but resulted in dry cake.  I tried to improve the butter cookies with finishing salt, sprinkles and a chocolate ganache, but they were still ugly to eat.  Even my little girls, who will do somersaults for a sprinkle, quickly tired of eating them.  Thank goodness I’m not now asked to plate these items and present them to very serious judges who couldn’t even balance the criticism with a nod to my style.

Still, we’ll persist.  I’m still hungry for those pie crusts and the regular people I saw who bake them live an ocean away.