Thursday, April 4, 2024

A Hot Cross Fiasco

Why do I keep doing this to myself? I still insist on baking things that are way beyond my skill (or patience) set, or I do it under duress, like when lack of sleep interferes with my coping skills -insert caterwauling cat here- and then I wonder why they don't turn out as nicely as I'd like, or why I feel so defeated at completion.

I've made Hot Cross Buns in the past, but as I get older, I see my capabilities slowly withering away. It means I have less and less patience and desire to see multi-step baking dishes through till the end, despite ultimately relishing the fruits of my labors. I'm frazzled and annoyed by the time I'm finished, and then there's a mound of clean-up!


Those dough crosses are not meant to be so 'broad' but I no longer have a working piping pen with nozzles (it was made of plastic and eventually broke), so I thought I'd easily make do what I've seen on the Great British Bake Off - use a cut off corner of a Ziploc bag. I had to make the cut large enough to allow the gummy paste to ooze through the hole, but it produced a wide swathe of a cross that wasn't to my liking.

Furthermore, whilst dissolving sugar in the water/milk glaze, I turned aside to take a drink of water, and in that short moment, the sticky glaze erupted from the bowl onto the microwave turntable. Gahhhhhhhhh! Sweet, sticky residue to clean up as well, as if I didn't have enough going on.

Here is said caterwauling cat, being totally adorable as I write this confession!

They did taste yummy, though, and I'll probably end up doing this again next year. Because ... well, maybe it is worth it after all!



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