Girl vs. Yeast, Part I

I've been really looking forward to getting my newest cookbook, "How to Cook
Everything," by Mark Bittman.

I'd been eyeing it for a while and after tasting the delectably incredible bagels from the same cookbook I decided to finally bite the bullet and order one.

This morning, like manna from heaven, it came.

First on the agenda were the cinnamon rolls. They'd been on my mine for months--ever since we conquered bagels, in fact. Something about making those bagels changed things for me. Part of my fear concerned yeast. We've never gotten along. Without a thermometer, I could never tell how warm "warm" is and hardly ever got the dough to proof either because I scalded the yeast or understimulated it. My other issue with yeast recipes is that they usually require more patience and precision than I am inclined to put forth. You see, although I love to bake, I am a very lazy baker. Not enough flour? No problem, just adjust the ingredients a pinch here or there. No oil? Fine, we'll just use butter. Oh wait, there's also not enough butter. I wonder what butter and olive oil would taste like. Ah, so that's why it specified butter. You get my drift. I'm an improviser and once I'm into a recipe--even if I don't have the exact ingredients called for--I'll soldier on, only to regret it when the recipe fails.

Anyway, I digress. The bagels gave me confidence that with some focus I could conquer Norwegian Cinnamon rolls. But to say that I conquered them would be an overstatement. I prefer to focus on the fact that I finished them and that they at least resemble the picture in the cookbook. In spite of my instincts, I followed the recipe this time and didn't add warm water to the yeast so it never really doubled. Then, there was the minor issue of coming up just a little short on flour so I had to take some of the flour, yeast, salt mixture out of the bowl to use on the counter for kneading the dough which created a grainy boule. Lastly, having given up at this point that the rolls wouldn't be perfect, I only added 2/3 amount of the cinnamon sugar because it looked like too much only to realize after they cooked that they weren't quite sweet enough.

Saying all of that, they are edible and will do for now. A bit too cakey and not enough yeasty, doughy softness. I was able to muster the strength to shovel down two in one sitting, though. You know, for the good of the order.

What I'm learning is that a recipe rarely works the first time and that to really enjoy its biproduct you have to make it over and over again until it is perfected to your taste. I will definitely deviate from the instructions next time, albeit with the proper amount of flour on hand and at least the amount of sugar and cinnamon that's called for! Ha.


Next on the agenda: Baked Alaska!