Do You Eat Your Mistakes?

Have you ever been in the middle of a recipe and find yourself with a growing sense of rage because things aren't working out? (I have to think of Julie/Julia at these moments.) I was making Lora Brody's Little Guy Cheesecake on Monday and suddenly wanted Ms. Brody to reimburse me the money I spent for the ingredients. The ironic thing is I've been on the other side of this equation, when I worked at the magazine. We actually did get a letter from a reader demanding reimbursement when a recipe didn't work out. I don't think she got it.

My problem started after the cheesecake was almost through baking and it was time to put the sour cream topping on it. My gut told me, when I took the cheesecake out, that it was still too wet. But the recipe just said "Bake 25 minutes." (It's a very small cheesecake.) Nothing about the state of the cheesecake after 25 minutes. And that's what irritated me. When I ignored my gut (which can't usually be trusted when it comes to cheesecakes -- mine always crack) and put the topping on, it broke through the thin baked part on top of the cake and down into the center of the cake. So I stopped topping it and put it back in for 5 more minutes (not wanting to overbake the thing). Topped the cheesecake, baked it for the additional 5 minutes, then left it in the oven as the oven cooled (because it still didn't look baked). The resulting cheesecake was a mess but edible, I think (no food poisoning yet). After cooling further in the fridge it seemed to set up. But argh! All she had to say was, "until the sides have set but the cake still jiggles a bit in the middle." (Only in a more polished way.)

Must not have been too much of a disaster because I haven't had dinner yet and all I'm thinking is, "Must have cheesecake now!"