A piece of cake
It's a piece of cake.
Yes, it is, but at the same time, no…it was not.
I tried making a Whole Orange Blender Cake and it did not turn out well. As I was making it, I kept thinking, it's not going to work out: The batter feels wrong; we should NEVER make a cake in a blender. If I keep blending, the cake will be tough due to gluten development. The doubts kept coming. In this case, I should have listened to my gut and adjusted the recipe. But, as I usually do, when following a new recipe, I follow it as written first and then on subsequent attempts, tweak it.
As you can see, the first cake came out heavy with barely any rise or texture. Was I devastated? No, it's just a cake. My husband and I had a good laugh because it closely resembled the worst cake ever baked in the #gbbo tent. (Love that show, btw!)
After the first failed attempt, and with what we have learned from our home baking experience and watching A LOT of cooking shows, we decided to only pass the wet ingredients in the blender (including the whole orange) and then incorporate the dry ingredients in a bowl by hand (actually with a spatula). And as you can see...SUCCESS!
Since I have no shame 😄, I decided to share the pictures of both cakes because ... why not? What can be learned here?
1. When we try, we might fail or we might succeed. But even if we fail, we can still learn from it, improve, and get closer to getting what we want. When we don't try, nothing changes. When we don't try, we have no way of getting cake! Remember that!
2. Sometimes, we focus too much on the failure and stop trying. Try to change the POV: How close were you to succeeding? What can you learn from this that might help you get closer to succeeding?
3. After a setback, we can get discouraged and the negative spiral begins. Stop. Breathe slowly and acknowledge how you're feeling. Then, ask yourself "What is a small action step that I can take that will help me get moving again; that might help me succeed?". Acknowledge the emotion but do not let it take over.
4. Pay attention to how you speak to yourself. Even if you are self-deprecating, be kinder to yourself. Use words that are more positive and encouraging. Give yourself the grace and patience that you probably easily give to others. You are worth it.
