I just love dessert, sometimes more than the main course and most times, too much for my own good. So, it made perfect sense that I learned to whip up something myself.
There are just so many recipes and types of desserts out there, which is a little overwhelming for a novice like me, until I saw this episode of a cooking series on Astro (I forget the name and channel) and the chef prepared this banana dessert that looked absolutely delicious.
The original recipe as the chef demonstrated was: heat up some sugar in a hot pan until it melts completely and turns into caramel. Then add butter and some liquid stuff (I can't remember what this is till this day which caused my first blunder). Finally, add in some sliced banana and let it boil for a while, just enough to get the banana half cooked. Then serve and enjoy the sugary delight. It looked mouth watering on TV as the guests were tucking it in; I was convinced it was not possible to fake the look on their faces.
It seemed really easy and quick to prepare. I know most shows give that impression, obviously to keep up the pace and condense everything into an hour, but I was sure, watching the cook in action, that it was really a breeze and even I could do this, and that was what I did.
My first attempt did not turn out as I imagined. It was mother’s day (of all days, I had to choose Mother’s day!) and a very enthusiastic me volunteered to make dessert, to everyone’s pleasant surprise. It did not stay very pleasant for long. I did everything like the cook on TV said, and more, I decided to be “creative” and improvised on the part of the liquid ingredient that I could not remember and used Shandy!! It made such a sizzle on the pan that did not happen on the TV show and a smell that immediately told me that this was not going well. The taste just confirmed what I feared, it was bitter!! You could still taste the sweetness from the sugar, but it had an overpowering bitter aftertaste that lingered. It was just awful. By that time, the smell had invaded the whole house and my family had figured out that my little experiment had gone south. As expected, I didn’t have any takers on my dessert and we had to throw it all out, don’t think that even the pets would have it.
Reeling from defeat, I didn’t give up and tried again after a week, this time the approach was more conservative, no more improvising and I sticking to the original recipe, I tried to at least make it palatable. My first lesson in cooking: don’t start improvising till you at least get the original recipe right! Words to live by. Anyways, this time, with some advise from season veteran friends, I decided to leave out the ingredient that I could not remember, and use just a little bit of water instead, the rest of the recipe and execution were basically the same and this time, at the risk of being a boast, I am pleased to note that it come out wonderfully, my guests and I were enjoying it and I became my own best customer and took 3 servings!
It was a great experience, while I’ve cooked meals, this was my first at desserts and I like it, maybe more than cooking main courses (although my repertoire is limited, to say the least). I’ll be looking at new desserts recipes to try out; hopefully, the family will be more forgiving next time. And to those who have been thinking of trying this, my advise is to go for it, cause if I can do it, then everybody probably can! Just don’t believe everything you watch on TV.
There are just so many recipes and types of desserts out there, which is a little overwhelming for a novice like me, until I saw this episode of a cooking series on Astro (I forget the name and channel) and the chef prepared this banana dessert that looked absolutely delicious.
The original recipe as the chef demonstrated was: heat up some sugar in a hot pan until it melts completely and turns into caramel. Then add butter and some liquid stuff (I can't remember what this is till this day which caused my first blunder). Finally, add in some sliced banana and let it boil for a while, just enough to get the banana half cooked. Then serve and enjoy the sugary delight. It looked mouth watering on TV as the guests were tucking it in; I was convinced it was not possible to fake the look on their faces.
It seemed really easy and quick to prepare. I know most shows give that impression, obviously to keep up the pace and condense everything into an hour, but I was sure, watching the cook in action, that it was really a breeze and even I could do this, and that was what I did.
My first attempt did not turn out as I imagined. It was mother’s day (of all days, I had to choose Mother’s day!) and a very enthusiastic me volunteered to make dessert, to everyone’s pleasant surprise. It did not stay very pleasant for long. I did everything like the cook on TV said, and more, I decided to be “creative” and improvised on the part of the liquid ingredient that I could not remember and used Shandy!! It made such a sizzle on the pan that did not happen on the TV show and a smell that immediately told me that this was not going well. The taste just confirmed what I feared, it was bitter!! You could still taste the sweetness from the sugar, but it had an overpowering bitter aftertaste that lingered. It was just awful. By that time, the smell had invaded the whole house and my family had figured out that my little experiment had gone south. As expected, I didn’t have any takers on my dessert and we had to throw it all out, don’t think that even the pets would have it.
Reeling from defeat, I didn’t give up and tried again after a week, this time the approach was more conservative, no more improvising and I sticking to the original recipe, I tried to at least make it palatable. My first lesson in cooking: don’t start improvising till you at least get the original recipe right! Words to live by. Anyways, this time, with some advise from season veteran friends, I decided to leave out the ingredient that I could not remember, and use just a little bit of water instead, the rest of the recipe and execution were basically the same and this time, at the risk of being a boast, I am pleased to note that it come out wonderfully, my guests and I were enjoying it and I became my own best customer and took 3 servings!
It was a great experience, while I’ve cooked meals, this was my first at desserts and I like it, maybe more than cooking main courses (although my repertoire is limited, to say the least). I’ll be looking at new desserts recipes to try out; hopefully, the family will be more forgiving next time. And to those who have been thinking of trying this, my advise is to go for it, cause if I can do it, then everybody probably can! Just don’t believe everything you watch on TV.
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