Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Baking recipes are the fucking worst.

I shouldn’t have to read 2000 words to make a cheesecake. And I shouldn’t have to read it three times before starting to make sure I combine the ingredients in the right order.

Even the good ones are often subtly wrong. For example, never add baking powder or especially cinnamon to wet ingredients. Stir them into the dry ingredients first, then combine. Otherwise they clump. With cinnamon it makes it look bad. With chemically reactive ingredients it can lead to insufficient rise. Who taught you people to cook? Obviously not grandma or PBS.

I see a lot of people blame “stale” baking powder and while that is a thing, mixing it in wrong or subbing oil for butter or not chilling (eg cookie dough) is just as likely a culprit.

My friend made two sheets of cookies from the same batch and the second ones were terrible. She left the dough on the counter while the first batch was in the oven. Rookie mistake. And she has adult children.




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: