So I am notorious for leaving ingredients out of my cakes by accident. I have forgotten the vanilla, the eggs, the salt, and now.....The Baking Soda. After everytime I do it "I say not again. I am going to be more careful next time, etc." Now I need your opinions...

1. I baked Collette Peter's heavenly white cake and left out the baking soda. I made one batch and baked it all in a 14" square pan. I knew it was going to be a thinner cake but that is what i was going for. It actually seemed to bake well and even. Do you think it will taste okay?. the cake is for a party for me and my friends, so it is not extremely critical that it has to be perfect, although I am making this cake for my friend's wedding who we are throwing the party for.
2. Do you all have a system or a way helps you not leave ingredients out?

TIA

I can't imagine it would change the taste...

As for a system...yeah, hahahaha...um, no...unless you consider leaving out ingredients enough times that you become paranoid and check that you've put everything in like 10 times or more until you feel like you're a little OCD a system.

Good luck! Not much good advice, but it'll get you a bump!

Ok here's my system...

I lay everything out on the table in the order that I need to add it pre measured that way all I have to do is grab it and toss it in...and because I am paranoid that I forget to add something I started making checklists for each recipe that I tape up on the oven hood and check off as i add...

I don't have a system - which is probably why I too (occasionally) leave things out.
And I don't have an answer to you question - but figured you should know you're not alone

I premake freezer bags with my dry ingredients.

Put your flour, salt ,baking soda ,baking powder etc. in the bag and seal.

Put all other ingredients on your counter.

Mix your wet ingredients and then cut the corner off the premade bag and add your dry. Much easier to pour through that hole..less messy.

I also liine my ingredients up to the left of my mixer..(I'm left handed)..when I add it I place it to the right of the mixer(like my vanilla bottle) so I know I've added it.

Hope this helps.

I keep my recipes in clear folder pages and have them on the bench with me. Then before the tin goes into the oven, I run my finger over the ingredients list and double check it.
This works 100 percent!

I've done that more than once, especially if I get interrupted. When my kids were little and liked to help, I would have them get out all the ingredients for me. Sometimes we would play "cooking show" and they would help measure out the ingredients, line them up, and then we would add them in order.

That was many years ago.

Now I get out the ingredients and line them up. I put them away as I use them because that's what my brain likes. And then I reread the recipe before it goes in the oven.

Long ago, I realized that I had made batches of cookies for Christmas with pancake mix instead of flour, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

My hubby suggested and I followed it, that I prepare the ingredients as I read the recipe and line them up in the order that they're going to be used. This way whichever ingredient is used, I place the empty container/cup in the sink.

Read the recipe carefully before you start anything. Turn on the oven to preheat, then with the recipe in front of you get out all the ingredients. Using the recipe measure and assemble the recipe putting ingredients away as you finish with them. Check over the recipe to make sure you have completed the recipe correctly as well as checking temp. and time. This means you will actually be reading the recipe 4 times while you are working which usually means you will catch any misreads or simple over looks.

My problem is with recipes I have memorized but haven't made recently. I will sometimes get over confident and not even bother looking at the recipe which resulted in over baked caramel rolls last week.

i think at one point in time we all have forgotten to add an ingredient or two... ...i knwo i forgot to add the eggs when i first started decorating...lol...now i set out all the ingredients i need for each recipe and then once i have added them to the mixture i put them away...this way if anything is left out...well them i must have forgotten to add it...
I am really bad at forgetting what amount of each ingredient i have already added...such as if i am making like a double chocolate chip cookie recipe...i will start adding in the cups of flour one at a time, say i need 6 cups....well then i forget the 'count' i guess you could say, and then i don't know how many cups i have already added...lol... ....just have to pay attention i guess...lol instead of day dreaming about what the cookies will taste like when they are done.