Cooking for Dummies....

I like to consider myself a fairly decent cook.  I can easily prepare more than chicken quesadillas, easy mac n cheese, pancakes, french toast, and ramen noodles.

Which was my ENTIRE cooking repertoire when I was a new bride. 

Thankfully, My Love wasn't after my skills in the kitchen. 

I have slowly but surely added various kitchen-y skills to my resume - things like how to read a recipe,  learning how to prep ahead, cooking juicy chicken. :) I like to think my cooking has slightly improved over these past 8.5 years of being a wife. At least in the breakfast/lunch/appetizer/entree departments.

My baking skills?

They are still pretty much at zero.

Don't get me wrong - I am a baking master with the help of Betty and the Dough Boy.  But that baking from scratch business? That is the stuff that makes me break out in a nervous sweat.

Sometimes, I forget that little tidbit of non-baking-ability, and volunteer myself to bake something.

Like tonight.

I volunteered to make a gluten-free dessert for our ladies book club which can't be that hard, right?

Did I mention that one of the other ladies making desserts could fill in on that "Cake Mob Boss" show? No pressure on Whitney. Yeah, right.

So, yesterday I pulled up "gluten free desserts" on google, and sat down to figure out what delicious something I could create. Realsimple.com - you pulled me in with your beautiful picture

I mean, how good does THAT look????  Yes, delicious and amazing.

Then I found an even better one on Martha's website:

I made my list of ingredients, and off I went to the store. So far, so good.

Then I read the directions:

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS A SPRINGFORM PAN???!?!?!?!
I'm gonna be honest here, at first I wondered if it meant you could only use it in Spring.  That admission alone is pretty hard for me to make - but it's true. Don't laugh at me. I didn't know?! 


Back to google I went. 

I would not be able to do anything, ever, if  I did not have google.

Apparently, the "springform" part is NOT referencing a season. It is describing the fact that the sides and bottom can separate from one another, and the side has a spring that pops it off your concoction without needing to flip the pan. And yes, I did do the wikipedia/google images search. 
Even more apparent, I didn't have one. One of my wonderful neighbors did, and he was kind enough to show me how it works and everything!


Crisis averted.


Back to the directions:
Step 2? It actually made sense. Hallelujah! 
Step 3? Notsomuch.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.

Soft peaks? Glossy Stiff Peaks?? Folding?! 
Thankfully, my 15 year old babysitter (Bridget) was here and she actually bakes. So as I was beating the egg whites I kept asking,

 "Is this right? 

Are these soft? 

Whattheheck does a peak look like?

Is this too much? 

Is this glossy?

It looks slightly matte to me, did I ruin it??"  

I guess today she's babysitting the 30 year old mother-of-4-boss-of-the-house. 

My cake is currently in the oven - making the house smell amazing. Will it taste good? Will it look good? I honestly have no idea. 


If it doesn't? I'm totally blaming it on Bridget.


~Whitney 
 Copyright 2012