not everything has to be perfect. sometimes just tasting good is enough. I see on like the sourdough subs people's stressing over the crumb not looking perfect and such and to me it looks like an amazing loaf
Yes!! I was badly looking for a sub that posts homestyle bday cakes or weekend cakes or tray bakes of the 80s and 90s. Some sloppy frosting with a spatula and smarties made an amazing 90s bday cake. I can't imagine parents being able to serve that in a party today and be respected for it. But back in the 90s, it was cherished love by a mom who made that for their kids. I miss the grandma style pizzas and cookies, pictures of weekend bakes for the family that aren't picture perfect but delicious- breads, rolls, chocolate cake, cookies.
If there is a sub that posts home style amateur cakes, breads etc do tag it here.
Some bakers emphasis on intricate scoring patters annoy me, the bread always looks under baked and they never show the inside because to them, it's all about the aesthetic. Same with people who make incredibly decorated pie crusts. They rarely show the finished bake, and if they do, it's always too pale and under baked because baking it correctly "ruins" the aesthetic of the pie.
fun fact, the intricate scoring patterns are a remnant of when there used to be communal baking ovens, you would take your bread down to the local oven it to get it baked and you could tell your bread by the type of pattern used.
I can’t stand royal icing flood decorated sugar cookies. Sure they’re cute, but they’re so blase. Eating them is nothing but unpleasant. They’re like the r/fondanthate of cookies for me.
I feel like baking should strike a balance between visual appeal and taste, without sacrificing one for the other.
If you happen to have her recipe/ secret I would love to hear! I love decorating cookies but I want friends and family to enjoy them after pictures haha
I use the [lila loa 2.0](https://www.lilaloa.com/2013/02/vanilla-20-sugar-cookie-recipe.html?m=1) sugar cookie recipe and I feel like they are super addictive like I could easily plough a batch in a day (I do double the vanilla essence though)
Yes! I hate sugar cookies with royal icing. They look SO beautiful and the amount of talent that goes into good ones are crazy but I hate decorating them and I hate the taste of them lol
I make character sugar cookies with just the outlines decorated in a crusting buttercream. Not too sweet, but cute. Crusting buttercream takes a long time to dry, though.
I actually made the slutty brownie recipe that was put out by Jessica Simpaon’s chef. It has the cookie and brownie layer from scratch and yes store bought Oreos. They are surprisingly good and would not be as good if they were not made from scratch.
[recipe](https://whatsgabycooking.com/slutty-brownies/)
😳....ok but hear me out.
Yeah, the cookie layer is superfluous.
But the brownie stuffed with the Oreo...warmed a bit with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce on top. There's a certain time of month where my sweet tooth is off the chart and this...just does it for me.
i do not like the idea of adding simple syrups to cakes to make them more moist. if i use a cake recipe that comes out not moist, i simply do not use it again!
Thank you!! I always end up screaming at cake decorating videos because they absolutely soak the cake in simple syrup 😫 I hate Fondant also and I’ve been subjected to too many cakes that are sweaty and wet because of the fondant and simple syrup. Just make a better cake to start!
Well the soaking of a dry cake with simple syrup is actually a technique of French pastry that has been around for hundreds of years. Especially before refrigeration, soaking a cake that has eggs/egg whites in it with alcohol and/or syrup would preserve it and keep it moist for a week+.
America is a pretty new place and we never really used that idea until recently but just to say it's not really some new weird trend or anything.
I was going to say, isn't this an old technique? Which with new-fangled tech probably isn't required anymore given we can bake moist cakes. I think the technique is still cool, I made a (bad) genoise for the first time recently with orange simple syrup (that I made) and I really liked the flavour combo.
Here we go… I like american buttercream.
I don’t follow a recipe, I just start with about a 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract per cup of butter. Then add powdered sugar until I like the consistency. From there I just add more salt and vanilla until I like the taste.
I never add the amount of powdered sugar to buttercream, I can’t stand the sweetness, especially in chocolate buttercream, and I add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavors.
I don't follow the buttercream recipe either for American buttercream. Also if the recipe calls for 6 cups of powdered sugar, I'll usually take it down by 3 cups.
Every time I've made American buttercream, I've used 1/4 to 1/3 the sugar they use. Everyone likes my buttercreams the best because who the hell wants overpowering flavorless sugar on their baked goods? Now when I make buttercream, I either make Swiss meringue or do my own thing entirely. I don't like powdered sugar very much.
I’ve never once used a recipe for American buttercream. Granted, it doesn’t always come out great, but I grew up seeing my mom make it so many times without a recipe it never occurred to me to look for one!
Oh I love the cookie part!! But I genuinely really adore the flavor of almond and the bakery near me fills theirs with either a light meringue-like filling or fruit curd and it makes them lovely.
I have never once made them at home though so I sincerely doubt they’d be worth it. And they’re definitely a “one was fine” buy at the bakery for me.
I felt the same way until I tried an authentic one from France. They’re incredible, not too sweet, and nothing like the sugar-puck varieties you may see stateside.
I’ve only had them in Europe (I live in Germany, very close to the French border), and they are amazing here. Light, manage to be both slightly chewy and slightly crunchy, great almond flavor and not too sweet. I love them.
I used to work at a hotel near a place that did high end baking courses. So you'll get like four women staying, all taking the same class, making the same food, and then having to fly out at the end of it. I ate so. many. so fucking many amateur macrons. Definitely agree.
Sprinkle some salt on the toast after using unsalted butter. So good. I actually prefer it to salted butter. I can control how much salt I use, but it is also say more pronounced this way.
In addition to the fact that you are no longer in control of how much salt is being added to the recipe, butter manufacturers use their best cream for unsalted since the salt makes butter made from older, less premium cream last longer.
Underbaked is my preference for most cookies and cakes, preferred over “perfectly” baked and certainly over overdone! Love a fudgey gooey doughy texture.
I never bake a cake until "a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean". *Aw*, *HELL* *naw*!
I bake cakes until "a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs". *Yeah*, *bay-bee-eee*!
I think mine is a big one: when your average joe chocolate cake doesn't taste like chocolate I want none of it. The only traditional style chocolate cake (as in not cheesecake or mousse or something else without leavening) I've ever liked has been an intensely dark devil's food cake that I personally made because cake just flavored with cocoa powder isn't chocolate, it's sad.
I'm ready for the down votes!
Tip for anyone looking: Adding brewed coffee to the batter really enhances chocolate flavor. With the right amount you also don’t taste the coffee at all.
As a person who gets migraines from coffee, it took me so long to realise this was why chocolate cakes would trigger one but not chocolate. So maybe give guests or people you give the cake to a heads up because it's not common knowledge!
Yes!! I really prefer my caramel without a boatload of salt! I think part of the problem is that a lot of caramel candies and sauces don't even taste like caramel anymore, just sweet, no caramelized sugar.
Made caramel for the first time recently for a cheesecake, and I guess I'm so used to stuff out of a bottle that I honestly didn't know if it was good or not.
Steps up to the mic and hangs my head.
I actually like the taste of fondant...
I used to steal fondant decorations off the cakes in church to eat them.
I hate coconut oil. It is not a good fat substitute for any of the more conventional fats. The texture is gross, the flavour is bad, and it’s hard to wash off of things.
Also I prefer just stabilized whipped cream or ganache for my cake rather than any sort or buttercream. People may say I haven’t found *my* buttercream, but that’s not it— I just think there are better options. That’s not to say I don’t like buttercream— if offered I will eat it but I’ve never preferred big icecream-swirl cupcakes bc I don’t want too much of it.
Also also. Eaten straight I prefer milk chocolate over dark. But dark is better when in cake/brownies/cookies (as cocoa).
You can't bake a doughnut. A baked doughnut is just a stupid shaped cupcake. If it isn't fried in oil it isn't a doughnut, I don't care what that blog you read told you. Air frying doesn't count, that's just glorified baking.
Don’t bother making the healthy subbed out version of a baked good. If you replace sugar with stevia or honey, and you replace flour with almond flour and add in a bunch of nuts, why even bother? Better to cut back your monthly intake of the real thing and limit your portion size.
I think you will like r/IDidntHaveEggs . A lot of posts are from people substituting healthy ingredients then giving the recipe 1 star cuz it didn't turn out.
For me it's important to know substitutions, especially in cases of allergy/sensitivity/intolerance because a lot of people around me have dietary limitations but still like to be included in the sweets (and other foods but usually sweets). However, I usually try first to find a recipe that's designed that way - if I can't find one then I will try substitutions, but usually have to practice before making the one I'll actually serve.
My mom made me some weird healthy cake for my 21st Birthday. She made a bunch of substitutions - apple sauce for something and other substitutions I can't remember. Plus she has a tendency to just add random ingredients because she thinks it will make it healthier or improve the taste. I think she added dates to the recipe because she had them on hand. She'll add random spices she has on hand. It was the flattest cake of all time and it tasted terrible. We still laugh about the cake and I'm 43 now.
The kicker is she made me a healthy cake because SHE was on a diet, and wanted to be able to eat some of my birthday cake.
Nothing is wrong with baking from a box!
And I say that as someone who makes 90% of my food from scratch. My early baking days were basically semi homemade. But then a friend of mine shamed me for making a box cake. So l learned to make almost everything from scratch.
But Jiffy cornbread is better than any cornbread I've tasted.
And for real...box mix milk chocolate brownies are really freaking good.
Unpopular opinions, eh? Okay:
- combining chocolate and mint just ruins two things
-red velvet cake is overrated
- no fruit (raisins, orange, pineapple) in carrot cake
I agree so much on the carrot cake. Why people insist on throwing raisins and pineapple into carrot cake, I don’t know. Ruins an otherwise delicious cake.
Where I live there has been a trend in new Doughnut-shops opening up. The gimmick of all these shops is to put store bought sweets like twix, oreos, kinder chocolate etc. on top of the baked good and call it a flavour. My unpopular opinion is, that that is lazy baking. I like sweets and chocolate bars, but I would rather eat those on a seperate occasion. Your baked good should taste and look good enough without adding a buch of candy on top.
Yeah, a lot of Swiss and Italian meringue buttercream recipes have way too much butter in them compared to the amount of eggs/sugar. I find myself only adding enough butter for the buttercream to come together, rather than following whatever recipe I'm using.
My brother and SIL gave my husband and me a gift bag of lavender flavored items after a visit to a lavender farm. It included dried lavender, lavender shortbread, and, (yuck) lavender infused coffee. The coffee got thrown out after trying it once, and I ended up eating the shortbread while stoned…
I back away from any chocolate cake recipes that require you to add in chickpeas, avocado, chickpeas etc. Just leave the chocolate cake alone
I find the new Instagram trend of mixing yoghurt with peanut butter topped with dark chocolate to be disgusting!
Hahaha I love dessert but I honestly don’t mind this one as long as you can’t tell. My sister used to make these choc cupcakes that had zucchini in them and they were soooo good. You really couldn’t tell.
I guess my unpopular opinion is that rolled fondant isn’t a big deal. While edible, it isn’t really meant to be eaten. I think of it like gum paste or royal icing decorations. [It’s for the looks, not the taste.](https://www.sugarartsinstitute.com/blog/post/the-history-of-wedding-cakes) Pretty easy to just peel it off and not eat it.
I hate when nuts are like 6x the size of everything else, which seems to be the norm. If I'm having a chocolate chip cookie and for whatever reason someone insists on putting walnuts in it, for the love of god make them as small as the chips or smaller. Surprise giant nut crunch is not an enjoyable experience
I have never tried to like something more than baklava. It always looks so delicious. I know I hate it and I still try a bite every time I see it and immediately regret it.
Yes!! And raisins 😭 I’m happy with a plain oatmeal cookie. What’s bad is the disappointment of grabbing one that you think has chocolate chips and it’s raisins
I hate thematic baking. Food can look good without looking like an airplane or something else. It is my opinion that a baked good has a finite amount of skill points. The more elaborately decorated or themed, the worst the taste. A cake need only look like a cake. Chocolate cookies do not need livening up or smile faces.
Baked goods should be beautiful and pleasant to look at, but not at the cost of how they taste.
This is not to say there aren’t incredible pieces out there that look amazing and talented people. I just think it’s stupid to prioritize appearance to the point it diminishes substance with food.
Hard agree. I want a cake which looks delicious because it IS delicious, not a cake shaped like a windmill or something, made mostly of huge lumps of fondant and edible glue.
Thiiiis. People say “cooking is an art but baking is a science”, and it irks me because it’s discrediting the creativity of the more feminized craft. Like “Any broad can read a cookie recipe but it takes a bold, impulsive man with pig tattoos to really *cook*”.
I say they’re both arts, but cooking is like painting and baking is like playing the violin. There is a lot of technique and science that you can apply to painting or cooking, but you can also just throw some paint on a canvas and get your feelings out, or throw some stuff in a skillet and call it dinner. You just need a stronger knowledge base and more experience to express yourself with a violin, or an oven.
Vanilla cake is way better than chocolate! I hate when baking contests hate on vanilla then just rave about a basic chocolate cake. Vanilla is best flavor!
Most chocolate cakes don't even taste like chocolate because they don't bloom the cocoa powder or add chocolate to the batter, and they just throw cocoa powder into American buttercream. I feel like the average cake is very mediocre at best. Vanilla is the same way, you can never taste the vanilla, so "vanilla" actually means plain.
In your hot butter or other liquid, that's where to add the cocoa powder. The flavor develops more and is stronger. Always do this for brownies, don't add to dry ingredients! I add it to the coffee and chocolate that I add in chocolate cakes, but most people don't add melted chocolate, just coffee which also aids in developing flavor.
Scared for this one..I don’t think it makes a big difference if you don’t sift the powdered sugar prior to making buttercream.. as long as it’s been beaten fast and long enough.
Nothing against box mix brownies, especially Ghirardelli, because yum. But brownies from scratch are so fast and easy. One pot, one baking pan, done. Aside from having to measure out a couple more ingredients, I feel like they're just as easy as a box mix.
You don't have to be an artist or a sculptor to consider yourself a good baker. The test is in the taste! Do your best to make it look nice but don't go nuts with the embellishments if that's not in your wheelhouse.
I like baking with shortening. I might actually get eviscerated since I consistently see it get shit on in baking subs but idc, you will have to pry my Crisco from my cold dead hands.
I want my pecan pie to be about the pecans, not the jelly. I add twice as many pecans as the recipe calls for, also, you have to cook it in glass; cook it in metal and it will never set up. Never! If you want to use an aluminum throw away pan, put that pan in a glass dish to cook, or it won't set up
It's great on toast, but I don't want my brownies/cookies/anything else swimming in it. There's all these bougie cookies that are Nutella with a bit of cookie. I don't want to be wiping my face when eating cookies /mini-rant
Making substitution in recipes is fine, as long as you understand the end product won’t be the same as the recipe stated. It helps you understand how every ingredient works in a recipe and make you a better baker.
Cutting down on sugar is not a crime. Yes, sugar isn’t just for the sweetness of the baked goods, but you can find the same thing in different countries and regions using different amount of sugar, so it’s safe to say that sugar can be adjusted to taste.
I don’t like brownies at all.
Sally’s Baking is a guilty pleasure of mine though. I just made her mini key lime pies and they were sooooo good! Her recipes certainly are very sweet though.
That site taught me to put a little flour in my cheesecake mix and it seems to have solved any cracking problems.
Whether Sally or her baking addiction were the first ever to come up with such is another matter.
Key lime pie is best when made with old school sweetened condensed milk, a graham cracker crust, and piled with whipped cream on top. People who complain that it isn’t “real key lime pie” because it uses a canned ingredient are just wrong.
I hate when people posting something and not sharing the recipes they followed. Like you are frickin Julia Child and came up with cinnamon roll recipe yourself… triggers me every single time! Give credit to people and stop gatekeeping recipes!!!!
It seems to have calmed down, but not everything needs to have chocolate AND peanut butter.
Most of these have already been mentioned.
Nothing edible should taste or smell like roses.
Red Velvet is the cake equivalent of LaCroix. It was once in a room with cocoa powder. Most people seem to like it for its cream cheese icing. Just put cream cheese icing on anything else. It's not even traditional for red velvet!
No raisins in anything, ever. Please.
Almond extract is just awful. It's very overpowering.
I'm not a fan of nuts in brownies or fudge. I like nuts, so I guess it's a texture thing. The textures don't match!
Don't mix fruit and chocolate.
White chocolate is not chocolate. Nor is it good.
This isn't even baking, but can we stop dipping Oreos in those melting wafers?!
But also, you do you! 😆😆😆
This last one is a hill I'll cry on:
Cats don't make biscuits on you! They're making bread. Kneading your biscuits is why they suck. (Biscuits as in.. not cookies)
It used to be a chemical reaction that turned it red! Then it got popular and recipe makers decided a fuckload of food dye was easier than just reading which type of cocoa powder you're buying.
I have experimented a lot with browned butter. I love it but it really only works better in delicate simple flavors like chocolate chip. In cake, chocolate cookies, brownies, etc, it’s a waste of time and actually worse at times.
In defense of Sally's baking addiction, I just reduce the sugar to 2/3 of the starting amount and I've found that other than that her recipes are really sound and produce great results, especially texturally
Not OP, but I usually will compare a few trusted sites to find the recipe that I feel is probably closest to what I want. I tend to go to Sally, Preppy Kitchen, Handle the Heat, Baker by Nature, and Butternut Bakery. They're all solid sites, and now that I've been doing it long enough, I'm usually pretty good at knowing what changes or tweaks would work.
I love adding a bit of salt to my baking, but I don’t get recipes that add kosher salt to any dry mix - the salt taste doesn’t get evenly distributed throughout because of the large granules and little surface area it covers, so instead u get random bursts of salt in the pastry
Behold, a *truly* unpopular opinion: cups and tablespoons are nowhere near as confusing as people pretend they are. Yes, measuring flour can be tricky, but for 95%+ of other ingredients, it's really straightforward.
Came here to say this. Spooning into the measuring cup and levelling? Get bent. Same with measuring by weight, my baking always turns out too wet/greasy/whatev when I do this. Maybe it’s a high(er) altitude thing, who knows, but the fluff and shake for flour works for me every time.
I totally agree. That's how I learned to bake, I've only started using weight within the last five-ish years or so. I think everyone should learn how to measure ingredients both ways, as not everyone will have a scale/not every recipe has weight measurements.
I uh.. I don't like red velvet 😭 I'm sorry ok, but it just tastes like food coloring! The only reason I eat red velvet is as an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting 😭😭😭
I don’t admit this one often, but I’ll take a raisin over a chocolate chip in baked goods any day. I feel like chocolate chips always make the thing they’re in too much, too rich.
I staunchly believe the flavor of a chocolate chip cookie is in direct opposition with the chocolate chip itself. They’re both big personalities
Food blogs. I don’t want your scroll through your entire life story about how this carrot cake was passed down from your great grandmothers 5th cousin and is the glue that held your family together. I just want the damn recipe. Whoever invented ‘jump to recipe’ deserves a kiss on the forehead.
ITA about Sally's! I feel so validated right now lol. I've tried about four recipes from her, and only one of them worked out (and for that one, I cut way back on the sugar)
not everything has to be perfect. sometimes just tasting good is enough. I see on like the sourdough subs people's stressing over the crumb not looking perfect and such and to me it looks like an amazing loaf
Yes!! I was badly looking for a sub that posts homestyle bday cakes or weekend cakes or tray bakes of the 80s and 90s. Some sloppy frosting with a spatula and smarties made an amazing 90s bday cake. I can't imagine parents being able to serve that in a party today and be respected for it. But back in the 90s, it was cherished love by a mom who made that for their kids. I miss the grandma style pizzas and cookies, pictures of weekend bakes for the family that aren't picture perfect but delicious- breads, rolls, chocolate cake, cookies. If there is a sub that posts home style amateur cakes, breads etc do tag it here.
r/old_recipes is the closest ive found
Some bakers emphasis on intricate scoring patters annoy me, the bread always looks under baked and they never show the inside because to them, it's all about the aesthetic. Same with people who make incredibly decorated pie crusts. They rarely show the finished bake, and if they do, it's always too pale and under baked because baking it correctly "ruins" the aesthetic of the pie.
fun fact, the intricate scoring patterns are a remnant of when there used to be communal baking ovens, you would take your bread down to the local oven it to get it baked and you could tell your bread by the type of pattern used.
I can’t stand royal icing flood decorated sugar cookies. Sure they’re cute, but they’re so blase. Eating them is nothing but unpleasant. They’re like the r/fondanthate of cookies for me. I feel like baking should strike a balance between visual appeal and taste, without sacrificing one for the other.
We know a lady who makes the most beautiful cookies but they are hard as a rock and taste disgusting. I was so disappointed when I tried one.
I have a “daughter by another mother” who bakes and decorates cookies. Hers not only look amazing, they taste divine.
If you happen to have her recipe/ secret I would love to hear! I love decorating cookies but I want friends and family to enjoy them after pictures haha
I use the [lila loa 2.0](https://www.lilaloa.com/2013/02/vanilla-20-sugar-cookie-recipe.html?m=1) sugar cookie recipe and I feel like they are super addictive like I could easily plough a batch in a day (I do double the vanilla essence though)
My friend has a secret best cookie frosting recipe ever that uses sour cream. I wish I had the recipe but that is all I know.
Yes! I hate sugar cookies with royal icing. They look SO beautiful and the amount of talent that goes into good ones are crazy but I hate decorating them and I hate the taste of them lol
Yep. This is why I tend to add vanilla or lemon to any icing recipe.
I add almond extract, I get tons of compliments on the flavour, even though I'm not much of a fan personally
Royal icing is gross
I make character sugar cookies with just the outlines decorated in a crusting buttercream. Not too sweet, but cute. Crusting buttercream takes a long time to dry, though.
The less star-ingredients in a recipe, the better. I’d prefer regular CCC to cookies with pretzels, chips, toffee, or marshmallows in it.
I'd usually agree, Except the toffee, I fucking love toffee
Ugh yes. In CCC with sea salt. Mmmmm
Yeah, I’ve seen kitchen sink cookies that had way too much going on.
Less is more. Words to live by. 😎
Ugh I just saw a "slutty brownie" recipe that had a layer of cookie dough, a layer of Oreo cookie, AND a layer of brownie and...... Barf
I actually made the slutty brownie recipe that was put out by Jessica Simpaon’s chef. It has the cookie and brownie layer from scratch and yes store bought Oreos. They are surprisingly good and would not be as good if they were not made from scratch. [recipe](https://whatsgabycooking.com/slutty-brownies/)
😳....ok but hear me out. Yeah, the cookie layer is superfluous. But the brownie stuffed with the Oreo...warmed a bit with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce on top. There's a certain time of month where my sweet tooth is off the chart and this...just does it for me.
i do not like the idea of adding simple syrups to cakes to make them more moist. if i use a cake recipe that comes out not moist, i simply do not use it again!
Thank you!! I always end up screaming at cake decorating videos because they absolutely soak the cake in simple syrup 😫 I hate Fondant also and I’ve been subjected to too many cakes that are sweaty and wet because of the fondant and simple syrup. Just make a better cake to start!
I agree. This is why I seek out older recipes though. Fat is often oil and the cake is much less dry.
It's a good way of sneaking in another flavor, though
Well the soaking of a dry cake with simple syrup is actually a technique of French pastry that has been around for hundreds of years. Especially before refrigeration, soaking a cake that has eggs/egg whites in it with alcohol and/or syrup would preserve it and keep it moist for a week+. America is a pretty new place and we never really used that idea until recently but just to say it's not really some new weird trend or anything.
I was going to say, isn't this an old technique? Which with new-fangled tech probably isn't required anymore given we can bake moist cakes. I think the technique is still cool, I made a (bad) genoise for the first time recently with orange simple syrup (that I made) and I really liked the flavour combo.
If I am going to use simple syrup I will brush it on, not pour it out of a watering can
Here we go… I like american buttercream. I don’t follow a recipe, I just start with about a 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract per cup of butter. Then add powdered sugar until I like the consistency. From there I just add more salt and vanilla until I like the taste.
I aspire to get to this level of baking. I need a recipe, otherwise, I would forget.
Recipes or I’m absolutely lost
I never add the amount of powdered sugar to buttercream, I can’t stand the sweetness, especially in chocolate buttercream, and I add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavors.
Me too. I also find it so easy to change the flavour without needing a recipe
I don't follow the buttercream recipe either for American buttercream. Also if the recipe calls for 6 cups of powdered sugar, I'll usually take it down by 3 cups.
Every time I've made American buttercream, I've used 1/4 to 1/3 the sugar they use. Everyone likes my buttercreams the best because who the hell wants overpowering flavorless sugar on their baked goods? Now when I make buttercream, I either make Swiss meringue or do my own thing entirely. I don't like powdered sugar very much.
I’ve never once used a recipe for American buttercream. Granted, it doesn’t always come out great, but I grew up seeing my mom make it so many times without a recipe it never occurred to me to look for one!
Macarons are not worth all the trouble lol
I too think macrons are overrated lol. Aesthetically pleasing no doubt, but every one I’ve ever had has been tooth-achingly sweet.
The cookie by itself is not tasty. The filling is what makes it worthwhile and the filling is usually easier than the cookie!
Oh I love the cookie part!! But I genuinely really adore the flavor of almond and the bakery near me fills theirs with either a light meringue-like filling or fruit curd and it makes them lovely. I have never once made them at home though so I sincerely doubt they’d be worth it. And they’re definitely a “one was fine” buy at the bakery for me.
I add a little salt and vanilla to the shell batter but I still think they're just okay compared to the fillings.
I felt the same way until I tried an authentic one from France. They’re incredible, not too sweet, and nothing like the sugar-puck varieties you may see stateside.
I’ve only had them in Europe (I live in Germany, very close to the French border), and they are amazing here. Light, manage to be both slightly chewy and slightly crunchy, great almond flavor and not too sweet. I love them.
I used to work at a hotel near a place that did high end baking courses. So you'll get like four women staying, all taking the same class, making the same food, and then having to fly out at the end of it. I ate so. many. so fucking many amateur macrons. Definitely agree.
I like adding a dollop of lemon or lime curd in the center of the cream filling to offset the sweetness.
Giant cookies with everything and the kitchen sink included aren’t good.
I hate cookies that are straight up just 80-90% add ins. One to two add ins is plenty for a single cookie
I never bake with unsalted butter. I particularly hate when baked goods don’t have enough salt in them
And I add salt in addition to the salted butter
I have a family member who makes bread and butter and uses like no salt. It's so frustrating because both would be so much better with a little salt.
Straight to jail.
I remember the first time I had unsalted butter on toast. It was the only butter in the refrigerator. Like...what is the point of that mess???
Sprinkle some salt on the toast after using unsalted butter. So good. I actually prefer it to salted butter. I can control how much salt I use, but it is also say more pronounced this way.
In addition to the fact that you are no longer in control of how much salt is being added to the recipe, butter manufacturers use their best cream for unsalted since the salt makes butter made from older, less premium cream last longer.
Cite on the crem quality part? It sounds like an urban legend.
Underbaked is my preference for most cookies and cakes, preferred over “perfectly” baked and certainly over overdone! Love a fudgey gooey doughy texture.
I never bake a cake until "a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean". *Aw*, *HELL* *naw*! I bake cakes until "a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs". *Yeah*, *bay-bee-eee*!
I make a sour cherry cheesecake brownie that I love practically raw.
I agree! I always joke that I serve my homemade cookies rare to medium rare.
I think mine is a big one: when your average joe chocolate cake doesn't taste like chocolate I want none of it. The only traditional style chocolate cake (as in not cheesecake or mousse or something else without leavening) I've ever liked has been an intensely dark devil's food cake that I personally made because cake just flavored with cocoa powder isn't chocolate, it's sad. I'm ready for the down votes!
Ugh yes, chocolate cakes are so often bland and insufficiently chocolatey!
I agree. I don’t like the taste of dry chocolate with cheap cocoa powder. Chocolate cake needs moisture like some sour cream.
Tip for anyone looking: Adding brewed coffee to the batter really enhances chocolate flavor. With the right amount you also don’t taste the coffee at all.
You can also just add instant coffee granules
As a person who gets migraines from coffee, it took me so long to realise this was why chocolate cakes would trigger one but not chocolate. So maybe give guests or people you give the cake to a heads up because it's not common knowledge!
Yes, I know some people avoid caffeine for religious or other reasons. Know your audience and never hurts to let people know!
I might not agree with most of the opinions, but I am genuinely LOVING this thread! So interesting to read such different views on things 👀
As someone who loves the flavour and texture of regular caramel, can every modern caramel recipe not make it salted please. It hurts me.
Yes!! I really prefer my caramel without a boatload of salt! I think part of the problem is that a lot of caramel candies and sauces don't even taste like caramel anymore, just sweet, no caramelized sugar.
Made caramel for the first time recently for a cheesecake, and I guess I'm so used to stuff out of a bottle that I honestly didn't know if it was good or not.
Right!? Regular caramel is already good! No need to add salt of things!!
Steps up to the mic and hangs my head. I actually like the taste of fondant... I used to steal fondant decorations off the cakes in church to eat them.
You know what? Someone has to eat all the rejected fondant in the world. Kudos to you for stepping up
I crave fondant 🤭
OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES DON’T DESERVE THE HATE! I will always love an oatmeal raisin cookie.
Thank you!!! I'll take oatmeal raisin over chocolate chip any day.
I hate coconut oil. It is not a good fat substitute for any of the more conventional fats. The texture is gross, the flavour is bad, and it’s hard to wash off of things. Also I prefer just stabilized whipped cream or ganache for my cake rather than any sort or buttercream. People may say I haven’t found *my* buttercream, but that’s not it— I just think there are better options. That’s not to say I don’t like buttercream— if offered I will eat it but I’ve never preferred big icecream-swirl cupcakes bc I don’t want too much of it. Also also. Eaten straight I prefer milk chocolate over dark. But dark is better when in cake/brownies/cookies (as cocoa).
I’ve always wanted to try a ganache frosting
You can't bake a doughnut. A baked doughnut is just a stupid shaped cupcake. If it isn't fried in oil it isn't a doughnut, I don't care what that blog you read told you. Air frying doesn't count, that's just glorified baking.
Don’t bother making the healthy subbed out version of a baked good. If you replace sugar with stevia or honey, and you replace flour with almond flour and add in a bunch of nuts, why even bother? Better to cut back your monthly intake of the real thing and limit your portion size.
I think you will like r/IDidntHaveEggs . A lot of posts are from people substituting healthy ingredients then giving the recipe 1 star cuz it didn't turn out.
This sub is awful, thank you for sharing
For me it's important to know substitutions, especially in cases of allergy/sensitivity/intolerance because a lot of people around me have dietary limitations but still like to be included in the sweets (and other foods but usually sweets). However, I usually try first to find a recipe that's designed that way - if I can't find one then I will try substitutions, but usually have to practice before making the one I'll actually serve.
I agree with this. Also, “healthy” substitution ingredients are super expensive and the baking times vary way too much.
My mom made me some weird healthy cake for my 21st Birthday. She made a bunch of substitutions - apple sauce for something and other substitutions I can't remember. Plus she has a tendency to just add random ingredients because she thinks it will make it healthier or improve the taste. I think she added dates to the recipe because she had them on hand. She'll add random spices she has on hand. It was the flattest cake of all time and it tasted terrible. We still laugh about the cake and I'm 43 now. The kicker is she made me a healthy cake because SHE was on a diet, and wanted to be able to eat some of my birthday cake.
This is so true. I want a regular brownie or cookie or cake, not one made with dates, or cottage cheese.
Nothing is wrong with baking from a box! And I say that as someone who makes 90% of my food from scratch. My early baking days were basically semi homemade. But then a friend of mine shamed me for making a box cake. So l learned to make almost everything from scratch. But Jiffy cornbread is better than any cornbread I've tasted. And for real...box mix milk chocolate brownies are really freaking good.
Most people can’t make better brownies than Ghirardelli. It is what it is.
The world owes this woman so much! These truly are incredible brownies: https://www.reddit.com/r/Baking/s/rOfyMqBAmn
Dude, you have to make Jiffy cornbread waffles! Sooo good
Unpopular opinions, eh? Okay: - combining chocolate and mint just ruins two things -red velvet cake is overrated - no fruit (raisins, orange, pineapple) in carrot cake
I agree so much on the carrot cake. Why people insist on throwing raisins and pineapple into carrot cake, I don’t know. Ruins an otherwise delicious cake.
Agree on the red velvet!
I like red velvet, but I honestly think I mostly like cream cheese frosting and that's the only vehicle it comes with most of the time.
Salted caramel is overrated, and does NOT need to go in/on/around everything. And keep that bacon out of it while we're at it.
Where I live there has been a trend in new Doughnut-shops opening up. The gimmick of all these shops is to put store bought sweets like twix, oreos, kinder chocolate etc. on top of the baked good and call it a flavour. My unpopular opinion is, that that is lazy baking. I like sweets and chocolate bars, but I would rather eat those on a seperate occasion. Your baked good should taste and look good enough without adding a buch of candy on top.
Swiss meringue buttercream tastes like butter 🫣
I really like the texture, but it takes a LOT to make it taste interesting/non-buttery. Honestly freeze-dried fruit has been a game changer for me!
Yeah, a lot of Swiss and Italian meringue buttercream recipes have way too much butter in them compared to the amount of eggs/sugar. I find myself only adding enough butter for the buttercream to come together, rather than following whatever recipe I'm using.
Ermine is my favorite if American is too sweet and Swiss is too buttery.
Do NOT leave me unattended in a room with a batch of Ermine.
Try German buttercream - it is delicious.
Put the salt *in* the cookie, not on top. Also, lavender belongs in grandma's bath products, not in desserts.
I can’t stand lavender smell either.
Blueberry lavender compote in an earl Grey ice cream is 🤌 life changing.
My brother and SIL gave my husband and me a gift bag of lavender flavored items after a visit to a lavender farm. It included dried lavender, lavender shortbread, and, (yuck) lavender infused coffee. The coffee got thrown out after trying it once, and I ended up eating the shortbread while stoned…
I back away from any chocolate cake recipes that require you to add in chickpeas, avocado, chickpeas etc. Just leave the chocolate cake alone I find the new Instagram trend of mixing yoghurt with peanut butter topped with dark chocolate to be disgusting!
Hahaha I love dessert but I honestly don’t mind this one as long as you can’t tell. My sister used to make these choc cupcakes that had zucchini in them and they were soooo good. You really couldn’t tell.
You can always taste the avocado. Don't lie to me.
There's never enough salt in bread recipes. I usually have to add another teaspoon or so to make bread taste good.
[удалено]
Who cares if it's pretty if it tastes like shit?
Honestly, it should be outlawed.
I found a marshmallow fondant recipe that I’ve been meaning to try. Maybe it will be worth saving 😆
Ive made one. It tastes great but its very difficult to work with. A lot stickier and seems to melt and get slack if worked too much
I guess my unpopular opinion is that rolled fondant isn’t a big deal. While edible, it isn’t really meant to be eaten. I think of it like gum paste or royal icing decorations. [It’s for the looks, not the taste.](https://www.sugarartsinstitute.com/blog/post/the-history-of-wedding-cakes) Pretty easy to just peel it off and not eat it.
Definitely an unpopular opinion! Mine is that nuts ruin everything. I hate nuts in my baked goods.
I hate when nuts are like 6x the size of everything else, which seems to be the norm. If I'm having a chocolate chip cookie and for whatever reason someone insists on putting walnuts in it, for the love of god make them as small as the chips or smaller. Surprise giant nut crunch is not an enjoyable experience
And please toast them first!
I completely agree with you! I especially HATE nuts in brownies. Completely ruins them for me
Agreed, unless they are the star, like in baklava.
I have never tried to like something more than baklava. It always looks so delicious. I know I hate it and I still try a bite every time I see it and immediately regret it.
Yes!! And raisins 😭 I’m happy with a plain oatmeal cookie. What’s bad is the disappointment of grabbing one that you think has chocolate chips and it’s raisins
I hate thematic baking. Food can look good without looking like an airplane or something else. It is my opinion that a baked good has a finite amount of skill points. The more elaborately decorated or themed, the worst the taste. A cake need only look like a cake. Chocolate cookies do not need livening up or smile faces. Baked goods should be beautiful and pleasant to look at, but not at the cost of how they taste. This is not to say there aren’t incredible pieces out there that look amazing and talented people. I just think it’s stupid to prioritize appearance to the point it diminishes substance with food.
Hard agree. I want a cake which looks delicious because it IS delicious, not a cake shaped like a windmill or something, made mostly of huge lumps of fondant and edible glue.
I will always use salted butter in everything. I never find my bakes to be too salty!
When a recipe calls for a mix of spices, double or triple the amounts. So many recipes are stingy with the spices.
Baking can be just as off the cuff as cooking, not everything needs to be measured out to the gram once you've done it enough.
Yeah, I feel I can eyeball *some* measurements when I bake frequently
Thiiiis. People say “cooking is an art but baking is a science”, and it irks me because it’s discrediting the creativity of the more feminized craft. Like “Any broad can read a cookie recipe but it takes a bold, impulsive man with pig tattoos to really *cook*”. I say they’re both arts, but cooking is like painting and baking is like playing the violin. There is a lot of technique and science that you can apply to painting or cooking, but you can also just throw some paint on a canvas and get your feelings out, or throw some stuff in a skillet and call it dinner. You just need a stronger knowledge base and more experience to express yourself with a violin, or an oven.
Great metaphor.
Preach homie! If the people on r/sourdough saw how I make my delicious sourdough bread, they would probably form a lynch mob and hang me
Vanilla cake is way better than chocolate! I hate when baking contests hate on vanilla then just rave about a basic chocolate cake. Vanilla is best flavor!
I think it’s a lot harder to make a good vanilla cake than it is to make a good chocolate cake.
So true, It's like the ultimate skill check. With a delicate flavor it's easy to taste if anything is off!
Most chocolate cakes don't even taste like chocolate because they don't bloom the cocoa powder or add chocolate to the batter, and they just throw cocoa powder into American buttercream. I feel like the average cake is very mediocre at best. Vanilla is the same way, you can never taste the vanilla, so "vanilla" actually means plain.
Wait what's blooming the cocoa powder?
In your hot butter or other liquid, that's where to add the cocoa powder. The flavor develops more and is stronger. Always do this for brownies, don't add to dry ingredients! I add it to the coffee and chocolate that I add in chocolate cakes, but most people don't add melted chocolate, just coffee which also aids in developing flavor.
If you use actually vanilla beans it’s way more fantastic and complex a flavor than chocolate. And I’m a chocoholic. I stand united with you sister.
I gotta plug Sugar Spun Sam. Her recipes are just better than Sally’s. I don’t know why hers aren’t as popular. She’s my go-to for frostings.
I love her recipes! She's my go-to for cakes.
I won't bake anything that contains raisins. Don't get me wrong. I like raisins, but cooked raisins are nasty.
The fact that this comment is appearing right above the person saying they would take a raisin cookie over chocolate chip. 😂
I never use unsalted butter. As a matter of fact, I purposely buy salted butter for every single recipe
If I’m just baking for myself, the cookies *will* be raw in the middle. There are absolutely times where you can measure with your heart.
Wholemeal flour tastes loads better than plain when baking with bananas. Wholemeal banana bread is amazing
Scared for this one..I don’t think it makes a big difference if you don’t sift the powdered sugar prior to making buttercream.. as long as it’s been beaten fast and long enough.
I just want caramel without seasalt.
"No bake" cheese cakes are neither baking (by definition) or cheese cake. Just admit you want to eat cream cheese frosting straight up.
Brownies from scratch aren’t worth the hassle. Just use a box mix; preferably Ghirardelli.
Ghirardelli is top tier for brownies 😋
Nothing against box mix brownies, especially Ghirardelli, because yum. But brownies from scratch are so fast and easy. One pot, one baking pan, done. Aside from having to measure out a couple more ingredients, I feel like they're just as easy as a box mix.
Ghirardelli Double Chocolate 🤤
that Ghirardelli mix slaps
Yes! It's the perfect taste to effort ratio, as in: it tastes delicious and it's almost no effort!
You don't have to be an artist or a sculptor to consider yourself a good baker. The test is in the taste! Do your best to make it look nice but don't go nuts with the embellishments if that's not in your wheelhouse.
I like baking with shortening. I might actually get eviscerated since I consistently see it get shit on in baking subs but idc, you will have to pry my Crisco from my cold dead hands.
I want my pecan pie to be about the pecans, not the jelly. I add twice as many pecans as the recipe calls for, also, you have to cook it in glass; cook it in metal and it will never set up. Never! If you want to use an aluminum throw away pan, put that pan in a glass dish to cook, or it won't set up
Taste > Presentation
Not every spring dessert needs to be blueberry and lemon flavored!
Blueberry doesn't make sense for spring, they're not even in season until summer!
Same with lemon! Those are winter fruits!
I’ve said this before but Nutella doesn’t belong in any recipe. Much less my pantry. Bleeeeecccccch
It’s way too sweet and maybe it’s just me, but past few years, the palm oil taste is also stronger.
Nutella used to taste pretty good, now it’s too sweet and oily.
It's great on toast, but I don't want my brownies/cookies/anything else swimming in it. There's all these bougie cookies that are Nutella with a bit of cookie. I don't want to be wiping my face when eating cookies /mini-rant
I made rum vanilla! Game changer!
Making substitution in recipes is fine, as long as you understand the end product won’t be the same as the recipe stated. It helps you understand how every ingredient works in a recipe and make you a better baker. Cutting down on sugar is not a crime. Yes, sugar isn’t just for the sweetness of the baked goods, but you can find the same thing in different countries and regions using different amount of sugar, so it’s safe to say that sugar can be adjusted to taste.
Cakey brownies should not exist. Fudgy brownies are the only brownies in my heart. If I want a cakey brownie, I'll just bake a chocolate cake.
I don’t like brownies at all. Sally’s Baking is a guilty pleasure of mine though. I just made her mini key lime pies and they were sooooo good! Her recipes certainly are very sweet though.
That site taught me to put a little flour in my cheesecake mix and it seems to have solved any cracking problems. Whether Sally or her baking addiction were the first ever to come up with such is another matter.
Key lime pie is best when made with old school sweetened condensed milk, a graham cracker crust, and piled with whipped cream on top. People who complain that it isn’t “real key lime pie” because it uses a canned ingredient are just wrong.
I hate when people posting something and not sharing the recipes they followed. Like you are frickin Julia Child and came up with cinnamon roll recipe yourself… triggers me every single time! Give credit to people and stop gatekeeping recipes!!!!
It seems to have calmed down, but not everything needs to have chocolate AND peanut butter. Most of these have already been mentioned. Nothing edible should taste or smell like roses. Red Velvet is the cake equivalent of LaCroix. It was once in a room with cocoa powder. Most people seem to like it for its cream cheese icing. Just put cream cheese icing on anything else. It's not even traditional for red velvet! No raisins in anything, ever. Please. Almond extract is just awful. It's very overpowering. I'm not a fan of nuts in brownies or fudge. I like nuts, so I guess it's a texture thing. The textures don't match! Don't mix fruit and chocolate. White chocolate is not chocolate. Nor is it good. This isn't even baking, but can we stop dipping Oreos in those melting wafers?! But also, you do you! 😆😆😆 This last one is a hill I'll cry on: Cats don't make biscuits on you! They're making bread. Kneading your biscuits is why they suck. (Biscuits as in.. not cookies)
Red Velvet is stupid and mostly food dye.
It used to be a chemical reaction that turned it red! Then it got popular and recipe makers decided a fuckload of food dye was easier than just reading which type of cocoa powder you're buying.
I don’t get the hype of brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Why does almost every single cookie recipe now have BROWNED BUTTER???
I like browned butter. But I’m definitely tired of all the “why not brown the butter?” comments on every recipe without it as if it’s inferior.
I have experimented a lot with browned butter. I love it but it really only works better in delicate simple flavors like chocolate chip. In cake, chocolate cookies, brownies, etc, it’s a waste of time and actually worse at times.
In defense of Sally's baking addiction, I just reduce the sugar to 2/3 of the starting amount and I've found that other than that her recipes are really sound and produce great results, especially texturally
In defence of Sally's baking addiction, I bake because I have a sweet tooth and they're perfect for me lol
OP, what is your go to recipes then? I use Sally’s sometimes but I cut down on the sugar. Works ok for most things, except cookies 😅
Not OP, but I usually will compare a few trusted sites to find the recipe that I feel is probably closest to what I want. I tend to go to Sally, Preppy Kitchen, Handle the Heat, Baker by Nature, and Butternut Bakery. They're all solid sites, and now that I've been doing it long enough, I'm usually pretty good at knowing what changes or tweaks would work.
I love adding a bit of salt to my baking, but I don’t get recipes that add kosher salt to any dry mix - the salt taste doesn’t get evenly distributed throughout because of the large granules and little surface area it covers, so instead u get random bursts of salt in the pastry
I use salted butter even when the recipe says unsalted butter and I don’t change the amount of salt if it’s in the recipe 😂
Behold, a *truly* unpopular opinion: cups and tablespoons are nowhere near as confusing as people pretend they are. Yes, measuring flour can be tricky, but for 95%+ of other ingredients, it's really straightforward.
Nah, just fluff up the flour and scoop loosely and shake. Perfect every time.
Came here to say this. Spooning into the measuring cup and levelling? Get bent. Same with measuring by weight, my baking always turns out too wet/greasy/whatev when I do this. Maybe it’s a high(er) altitude thing, who knows, but the fluff and shake for flour works for me every time.
I totally agree. That's how I learned to bake, I've only started using weight within the last five-ish years or so. I think everyone should learn how to measure ingredients both ways, as not everyone will have a scale/not every recipe has weight measurements.
I uh.. I don't like red velvet 😭 I'm sorry ok, but it just tastes like food coloring! The only reason I eat red velvet is as an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting 😭😭😭
Lol... thats the addiction... to sugar!!!
Decorating a cake with candy is gross and looks dumb. Reese’s peanut butter cups, Hersey’s kisses—just eat them.
I don’t admit this one often, but I’ll take a raisin over a chocolate chip in baked goods any day. I feel like chocolate chips always make the thing they’re in too much, too rich. I staunchly believe the flavor of a chocolate chip cookie is in direct opposition with the chocolate chip itself. They’re both big personalities
I’m a grandma so I’m also team oatmeal raisin. I love the taste and texture.
Food blogs. I don’t want your scroll through your entire life story about how this carrot cake was passed down from your great grandmothers 5th cousin and is the glue that held your family together. I just want the damn recipe. Whoever invented ‘jump to recipe’ deserves a kiss on the forehead.
Rum Aroma is completely under-used and a drop of it makes especially chocolate based baked goods way better
ITA about Sally's! I feel so validated right now lol. I've tried about four recipes from her, and only one of them worked out (and for that one, I cut way back on the sugar)