Samantha Leo-Porter’s Post

If a recipe told you to bake these banana chocolate chip muffins at 350° F for 20-25 minutes, would you follow it blindly? For most, the answer is probably yes. The writer is the expert, after all. But do you know what the writer can't account for? Your specific environment. My oven runs about 10° hotter than it reads, so instead of baking it for 20-25min, I baked them for 15min. The result was beautiful, fluffy muffins that were moist and flavorful. If I had baked them 5-10min longer, they would have been overcooked, dry, and unappetizing. While the expert gave me guidelines, I used my senses and background knowledge to get the result that was best for my specific environment. Experts can give you guidelines, but they don't know your environment. Use their advice accordingly.

Making Mistakes and Failing Imagine you are about to do something for the first time. You have no prior experience and knowledge of how to do this new thing. You’re bound to make “mistakes”. You’re bound to “fail”. You’re bound to “mess up”. For example, last week, I attempted to make a dim sum dish that’s one of my favourites. 豉汁蒸鳯爪 - Steamed chicken feet, in black bean sauce. The recipe was straightforward and easy to follow. Yet, my result was nowhere near the recipe’s result. I may have missed a step or THREE. I could have steamed the chicken feet for another hour, as they were still quite tough. I didn’t get the cornflour ratio right. So, the sauce was too thick. I used too much black beans. I rarely cook with black beans, because I’m not a big fan of it. Now that I have “failed” miserably, next attempt is going to be easier. I am going to be able to fellow each step and probably won’t miss any. The chicken feet is going to be softer, because I am going to steam them for another hour. ✅ I am going to use less black beans. ✅ As for the sauce, it is going to be a thinner sauce. ✅ So, chicken feet or something else, when you are doing something for the first time, make the “mistakes” and “fail”. Why? These are the ingredients to getting results you want, because you are going to learn what works and what doesn’t, as soon as possible. #doingnewthings #makemistakes #failure

Do you always do as you're told? Is the ‘traditional way of doing things’ always the best? I read somewhere that recipe amounts are “more like guidelines”. Except if you’re baking, then they’re strict. Except if you’re making pastry, then they’re gospel. Nah. Food for me is art, and art is playing. I love playing with food just as I love playing with coaching 😁 I know the underlying principles, so I can be flexible and creative. A tasty example: I have this delicious Dorset Apple Cake recipe which yes, makes a lovely cake. But also… I have these pears to use up, pears are like apples right? And oh, I bet they’d be nice with chocolate... Jeez, four eggs?! If I use three I’ll still have one left for breakfast… “Slice and layer the apple”? Sounds tedious how about I just mix it all together and put hazelnuts on top And… it still works. It’s still cake, and it’s absolutely delicious. It still *looks* amazing because what freshly home baked cake doesn’t? You don’t have to do things the way everyone else does it, you don’t have to have all the material resources everyone else has. Learn the rules so you know how to break them. Do it your way. I bet it’ll still be delicious.

If You Like Coffee Cake, We Have The Perfect Recipe For You I'm sure you won't be able to eat just one slice of this cake. The recipe is from the Food Network website. Ingredients: 100 grams of butter 50 grams of sugar 2 eggs 100 grams of flour 15 ml cold coffee For the icing: 3 tablespoons of chocolate paste 150 ml cream 3 teaspoons ground coffee 75 grams of milk chocolate Directions: 1- Beat the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs, flour and coffee. Divide the mixture into two tins and bake for 25 minutes. 2- While the cake is baking, prepare the cream. Whip the cream, add the coffee and chocolate. 3- To assemble, place part of the cream on top of one of the cakes. Cover with the other and add the remaining cream. https://ift.tt/CItgEFd

Hey there, Acai Spot fans! We’re super excited to roll out our latest and greatest treat that’s going to make your taste buds do a happy dance—say hello to our Cheese Buns! 🎉 What Are Brazilian Cheese Buns? Imagine a warm, fluffy, cheesy cloud that melts in your mouth. That’s what Brazilian Cheese Buns are all about! These delightful treats, also known as Pão de Queijo, are a traditional Brazilian favorite. They’re made from a special blend of cheese and tapioca flour, giving them a unique texture that’s soft on the inside and delightfully crispy on the outside. Why You’ll Love Them Perfected Taste: We’ve worked hard to capture the authentic, mouthwatering flavor of these cheese buns. Finding the perfect taste isn’t easy, but we’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to! Frozen for Convenience: Our cheese buns come frozen, making them super easy to prepare right in your kitchen. Just pop them in the oven, and you’ll have warm, cheesy goodness in no time! Surprise Your Clients: Looking to impress your guests or clients with something unique? These cheese buns are sure to be a conversation starter and a crowd-pleaser. How to Enjoy Just take them out of the freezer, bake them according to the instructions, and watch as they turn into golden-brown perfection. Serve them warm with a smile, and get ready for rave reviews! Bon appétit and happy munching!

Confidence is the key to many things including one of my favourite things, baking a cake. Nothing can shake your confidence as failure. Especially when you have put so much care and attention into it, just like when baking a cake for someone special. To achieve our desired outcomes, it is important to understand what is happening during the process.  Any deviation from the process or misunderstanding of what goes with what, may end in failure – and that is something we wish to avoid. So, what is happening when a cake is being baked! The first step is called creaming, when fat and sugar are mixed. This process results in little bubbles of air being trapped in the mixture, each one surrounded by a film of fat. Trapped air produces a light finished cake. With the addition of egg, a layer is formed around each bubble that when heated turns rigid, preventing the bubble from popping and ruining the cake. And so on and so forth. I am led by the science of cooking and this interest extends to business. Where I am fascinated by how things work together and how processes work together.  Process understanding and control within the process gives us confidence that the outcome will be the same each and every time a task is completed. #confidence #processcontrol #process #understandingprocess

This winter I took on something that intimidated me. Bread. Yes, homemade bread baked in my own oven, shaped by my own hands with four simple ingredients: 🍞 Yeast 🥐 Salt 🥖 Flour 🥣 Water I love to bake. It might be the only science I truly understand, but that's probably because there are specific recipes to follow with exact instructions and steps that need to go in order. But baking my first loaves of crusty bread didn't feel so neat and orderly once I dug my hands in the dough trying to shape the sticky mass into a smooth oval shape. What no one told me: Baking bread is quite a process. It's not that the bread takes a long time to bake. No, it's that the dough needs to sit in the fridge for hours once all the ingredients are mixed. And it's so messy. Flour everywhere. Sticky fingers. But it tasted incredible. All the time and work were worth it. One of my favorite phrases is "The right thing and the hard thing are the same" and that seems to resonate.

Monday Message from the Mat: � � � � Have a Plan! � � � � Last week we discussed the importance of knowing exactly what you want in life and being as specific as possible with it. Now it's time to take the next step... Do what it takes to "Go Get It!" So, what does that involve? It's simple. You need a plan. Think of what you want in life being similar to baking a cake. What do you need to bake a cake? A recipe of course. The same goes for getting what you want in life. Once you have your plan, break down the steps even further into monthly, weekly and daily steps that you can to lead you straight to your dream. As the saying goes, "Yard by yard is hard, but inch by inch is a cinch." #WeAreKRMA #GoGetIt

I love cakes especially when it's chocolate and moist. Such a beautiful sight to behold😍. For something that consumed in less than a minute, a lot of process has been put into it. From ingredient measurement; not too little not too much, to the mixing, baking, frosting, etc. Every step of this process is extremely crucial to the success of the cake. So, next time you are served a piece of cake, while savouring it, take a moment to reflect on and appreciate the process it took to reach your plate. #reflectionfriday #process #businessanalyst

What do selling and cooking have in common? We had waffles for breakfast this Sunday morning. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, as waffles are pancakes with abs. Just like my batter for pancakes, I make it the night before. I'll take the eggs out 30-60 minutes before, so they are room temp. Mix the dry ingredients—a quick zap with an electric mixer. Move on over and add the wet ingredients together. Mix those bad boys. I pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix them, but I leave the mixture a little lumpy, like how Shock G likes his oatmeal. A little Humpty Dance? Then, let it rest for 30 minutes before refrigerating it. I take out the batter in the morning and mix it quickly. Just a quick little wake-up call. Then I let it sit for 30 minutes. Most of the family sleeps while the work gets done. This morning, Titan and I were in the kitchen. While I was getting the eggs and bacon ready, he was playing with Play-Doh. Now that you know what I do, you won't replicate it because you don't know how much flour, sugar, or butter goes into it. This is like telling someone to make a certain number of calls or emails in sales. It doesn't do much if you don't teach them how to do it. Everyone has a recipe, but how we do it can generate different results. Recipe in comments. Do you do something that gives you a little secret sauce? P.S. This was a chocolate chip waffle. #rileysreality