so i was making a carrot cake for my friend steph. it was the first time i had ever made a carrot cake, the thing is i had a drivers ed drive in the middle of the day when my cake was baking. so my mom told me that she would take care of it. of course she forgot about it and when she took it out it was compleatly burned. she also didnt notice that the cake leveler fell off of the cake into the oven. when she turned around there was smoke coming out of the oven and she realized that the cake leveler was on fire!

when i got home i just told her that it was okay and i would remake the cake. but this time i forgot to put the flour in so when it was done baking it looked as flat as a pancake... =P

so FINALLY on the third try the carrot cake came out alright and steph LOVED it, i guess its the thought that counts... not to mention all the ingredients waisted in this little nightmare.
that was by far the worst baking day of my life.

LMAO ..... How do you forget the main ingredient.....LOL
I've forgotten to put things in my cakes but never that....LOL

I had to chuckle...it reminded me of the time when i was making my pumpkin pie...i was so distracted that I forgot to put in the pumpkin pie filling...i ended up calling it the pumpkinless pie...

Yeah, if I get distracted, I could probably forget something as important as the main ingredient. I call it 'having three kids-itis.

Ok I'll share a little secret with you. Last week I was making a train cake in the 3-D pan. It was a royal mess!!! I couldn't figure out what went wrong. I was so frustrated. I told my husband "I FOLLOWED THE RECIPE TO A T!! As soon as I started reading the ingredients, I stopped, set the recipe down on the counter and started walking away. As I was walking away he started in a somewhat chant "You forgot the flour didn't you?" I just kept walking Soo trust me, your not the first and won't be the last one to do something like this lol. Sounds like you made a nice recovery and your friend appreciated what you did

haha! thats hillarious! i like your reaction when you found out you forgot the flour. it made me laugh <3 [/quote]

It was funny looking back on it, and it didn't end there. He offered to make the cake for me the next day while I was at work I said go for it! He called me at work and said well I put this in instead of that, and I added a little more of this than that etc, but I think it will turn out just fine!! I said nothing expecting it to flop like mine, but his turned out great!! lol. So instead of me making my own recovery, hubby made it for me BIG PAT ON THE BACK TO HUBBY!!!

Mandygirlxoxo - I looked at your cakes they are awesome, even the pic with you in the background So you had drivers ed, that makes you in high school? I'm jealous, your cakes are great and you have incredible talent.. Keep up the great work. You Rock!!!

Great thread! I've had a few disasters too but I try to make the process idiot proof (believe me when I say that I am such a doofus) by measuring, weighing and laying out ALL the ingredients on the list before I start baking. I then go through my checklist one more time and then yep you've guessed it still manage to miss something out.
I am hoping to grow out of this eventually but till then.........

Not long ago I was baking a 12"X18" sheet cake, mixed it up as usual, poured it into the pan and popped it into the oven....turned around and noticed 8 eggs sitting in a bowl in the sink ! OMG I can't believe I forgot the eggs , especially not 8 of them!

The cake was for my son's school and there wasn't time to bake another one. It looked fine when it came out of the oven and I tasted the part I cut off when I leveled it. I torted it and filled it and decorated it...and they loved it !

Don't feel bad sweetie...we all get distracted and forget things sometimes . You're definitely in good company here on CC !

Cute... yeah we all do it. I made a banana cake for the fourth and the next day I went to pop breakfast in the microwave and there was a half melted stick of butter that should have went in the cake! lol It happens to the best of us.

thanks, i have big dreams and high hopes for my future in cake decorating. i plan on going to paris when i get out of high school to studdy culinary arts and then come back and open a bakery. its truly the best hobby in the world and my friends love it too =) lol[/quote]

Your dreams sound awesome, you can do it. Are you going to open your bakery in Washington? I"m originally from Tacoma, I miss it a bit, but then I hit my pool and those thoughts are gone. Keep us updated, I'm sure we will be seeing you on the Food Network.

I almost always make mistakes like this whenever I try to do more then one thing at a time......if I am making frosting and cake at the same time or more then one recipe of cookies.

My best was when I was 22 and cooking my first turkey. I had my Mom and Dad and DH's parents over. I was quite proud and trying to be very adult. So I am making the gravy, trying to make it as delicious as my Moms.......I add salt and pepper and some flour.....and then gravy starts to literally foam! Turns out the 'flour' was actually baking soda.

Here's the kicker - everyone said to serve it anyway and me not being much of a cooker, I did. They are all eating it like it was no big deal until I tasted it - blech! I dumped it out.

I'm glad it all worked out for you!

I have to agree-we have all messed up. I have two sisters and we were all very involved in 4-H when we were younger. We did food contests that you had to prepare foods and clean up in front of a judge. We are very close in age and it wasn't uncommon for all us to be cooking at the same time. We had to divide a lot of ingredients and cleaning items. We got home from a contest and put everything away in what we thought were the correct containers. For a month or so we noticed that anytime we made a cake or pancakes that there were bubbles in the mix. Didn't think much of it until the day we used the last of the cooking oil in a carrot cake and it tasted just like soap. That's when we figured out that when we came home from the last contest one of us put the lemon joy dishwashing soap into the cooking oil. It was the same color and we were in a hurry to get stuff put away. We still laugh about it-20+ years later.

About 10 years ago I moved into my first apartment, and wanted to be little betty homemaker. So, I made banana bread. It smelled wonderfull while it was baking. But, when I took that first bite ,YUCK! I relized I had put in 2 Tablespoons of baking soda instead of 2 teaspoons. Trust me it makes a HUGE difference. But we live and learn, and it makes for fun stories later on. Oh yeah, I have also left the gizzards (including bag) in the turkey. My DH promised not to tell, but we laughed silently in the kitchen about it while his parents were waiting in the living room for Thanksgiving dinner. And this was just last year !

My MIL made a ham for the first time a few years ago. She basted it all day with a honey glaze but when we got there to eat she cut into it......she didn't notice that the ham still had the plastic on. It was hilarious. She'll never live it down.

This is a fun thread. Thanks mandygirl!

Okay, this one's been in my family for years (before I was born or from when I was an infant - not sure).

Years ago after a holiday meal, it was dessert time and, as is the norm in my family, fresh coffee had to be made to accompany the dessert. So my grandmother washed out the coffee maker (perculator type) and made a fresh pot.

She was the last one to sit down and enjoy her cup of coffee and dessert. Everyone else had all been served, but noone was drinking the coffee. When my grandmother took a sip, she spit it out as it was horrible. Nobody else had wanted to say anything and remained silent to be polite. She then took the pot back to the kitchen to make a new one and discovered that she had accidentally left the sponge in the pot when she washed it earlier. For the rest of her life this little story reared its ugly head and elicited much laughter.

I want to know how you managed to put a cake leveler IN the oven.

???

I bet she means bake-even strips

Oh, yeah. I took it that she misspoke (typed) and she meant a bake even strip. Just like sweetideas stated.

My family gleefully tells the story of Thanksgiving at Grandmas. All the dishes were prepared in advance, covered with foil, and put on the screened back porch until cooking time. It wasn't until the dishes came out of the oven when Grandma realized the jello salad was cooked and the sweet potatoes were still out in the cold.

I have forgotten to put eggs in a recipe before. Everybody gets distracted, especially when you're in a hurry and it's something you aren't used to doing!