Fold does not mean stir

When reading recipes it's important not to make assumptions about the instructions. If a term isn't clear it's always a good idea to stop and ask the advice of an experienced cook. Otherwise you might wind up with a tasty but very flat cake.

Normally I would have made a chocolate cake but I wanted my mom to be able to enjoy the cake as well. She doesn't like chocolate. She does like fruit. I settled on some sort of pear spice cake. The recipe seemed pretty straightforward. Mix spices and flour, chop pears, etc. No problem...

The recipe called for egg whites that were at room temperature. I was then to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks formed. The egg peaks would then be folded into the rest of the batter.

My cooking experiences had been quite limited. I didn't know what it meant to fold something into a batter. The recipe didn't explain the technique. I paused for about five seconds.

Now this is the point where a wiser person would have sought help. Unfortunately if I could provide my own answer to a dilemna in a relatively short amount of time, I was certain that I didn't need help. I never even dreamed of asking for help. I KNEW what I was doing. Fold must be synonymous with stir in the cooking world!

It's not. The cake turned out to be about an inch tall. My sister made fun of the cake but also devoured half of it. My mother, after I explained how I had "folded" the egg whites into the cake, gently explained where I'd gone wrong. At least the cake tasted good.

My cooking education

My mother often laments that I never learned any of her cooking secrets because I never had any interest in the kitchen as a young child. She also comments on my stubborn refusal to ask for help. When I was in junior high I became interested in cooking dinner for the family. I was convinced that I could cook a full gourmet meal, not just a regular dinner. Desire to cook, zero cooking knowledge, and a strong "I can do this myself" attitude create a bad combination.

I had the opinion that since I could read, I could cook. After all, cooking is just follwing a set of instructions. Any literate person can do that. Or so I thought...

As you've probably guessed, I've had some rather interesting cooking experiences and results. Not all of the experiences resulted in complete failure. For example, I baked a cake that was extremely tasty. Unfortunately it was also about one inch tall.

Somehow I've managed not to burn the kitchen, burn myself, or poison anyone. Instead I now have several stories about my cooking experiences. So read, laugh and shake your head. If you know me in real life, then you probably aren't going to be too surprised by a few of the stories.