You won’t find any evidence of it on my blog, but I did make Citrus-Berry Terrine way back in July, 2011 when it was assigned. I didn’t realize that there was pineapple juice mixed into the juice I used for it and it refused to set. Worse, it spilled as I removed it from the refrigerator and that part of it set very well on the corrugated shelf. A good deal of scrubbing later, I was reluctant to try the recipe again.
I haven’t had too many failures during my French Fridays run. Some things haven’t turned out as beautifully as I’d hoped, but they weren’t a failure in anything but my artistic ability (of which I have none). And if there was a failure, I usually corrected my mistakes and had a better version to post about by deadline.
This week, though, I decided to tackle what I thought would be a quick catch up, since I had no time at all to go to the butcher for duck or to source kumquats. Unfortunately, I had a Canadian moment when I was reviewing the recipe and read 1/2 a stick as 1/2 a cup. I realized this after I mixed everything and with twice the butter and no more almonds in the house, I adjusted the recipe as best I could, put the dough in the fridge and hoped for the best.
You’re probably thinking that the cookies up top don’t look that bad, right? Well, I have another photo to share with you.
In one of the few instances where there can be too much butter, the top two tuiles were the only ones that made it to the plate looking like, well, tuiles. And they are a little greasy, I have to admit. I’m going to try these again some time, because the flavour combination is terrific, but that may or may not make it to the blog.
So my lesson this week (one I thought I’d learned by age eight) is to read the recipe carefully before beginning. Thanks to Adriana for the inspiration to keep it real.
Find out what these tuiles are supposed to look like here: Almond-Orange Tuiles.
Everyone else made duck this week and you can find those links here: Pan-Seared Duck Breasts with Kumquats
One Wet Foot 
Try, try, again. It’s a shame it didn’t work, cause a lot of effort goes in, but don’t give up.
Believe me, we have all had days like that. Happy weekend.
So sad! At least these were quick and easy to mix up and bake, so you didn’t have a big time investment. I successfully halved the recipe. You are right about the flavor combination – it is terrific!
This happens to me more than l care to admit…. l just get too excited about making things, and forget to be precise. The second time round is always better! 🙂
Don’t even start, that still looks good, I can’t even make boxed brownies without burning it. -FindingAlfred
I hope you crumbled the tuiles into ice cream or otherwise made use of the tasty treat. Thanks for keeping it real too 🙂
Oh I know the feeling all too well…the moment you realise you got it wrong and there is no way back… priceless! But I am glad you went ahead and posted about it. Because life is not only about getting it right! My favourite quote these days is “fail, fail again, fail better” so don’t be afraid of failure it only makes you better 😊
So frustrating!! I have also had my share of fails! It’s what I call being distracted! A few years ago, while making biscotti…which if you ask Mary, I am the queen of, I forgot to add a crucial ingredient! I don’t even remember what I left out, but the result was awful! I had to throw the whole mess out!
Take a deep breath and carry on!!
I was in SUCH a mess making those silly tuiles too! Good for you and yay for keeping it real!
Yes, thank you for your very real post. Things don’t always turn out picture perfect. This one is one of only 2 recipes on my make up list. I’ve been procrastinating because I actually tried Martha Stewart’s version of these cookies a few Christmases ago and they were a masively time consuming disaster. Which is to say that it’s entirely possible that these cookies will still be on my make up list when we wrap this project up next year.
Isn’t it nice to be reminded every so often that you don’t always have to be perfect? Perfection is overrated, trust me. I often read a recipe two or three times and still mess up with proportions. As I said on Facebook, I think that second picture of the tuiles is quite artistic. Just crop so the side wires aren’t showing. Pop the color a bit. Blur the corners. Viola. And, you said you weren’t artistic, Teresa.
Hi Teresa, so sorry your tuiles did not turn out, I have done similar things myself.
I remember these being tough. The crumbs tasted good, but I also had a hard time shaping them properly (and so did Karen @ From Scratch this week). You were not alone. In any case, after 100s of recipes from AMFT don’t count the failures. Count all those successes!!!!
I think if I looked back to my tuiles the pics would be very similar! I managed to get a couple to somewhat hold their shape:) These just didn’t work for me and I haven’t tried them again. Like you I’ve done more cooking than blogging:) I don’t think thats a bad thing!!!
Some time you just have days like that. No apologies about the kumquats. Seasons change year to year and we are such a diverse group. I think we all made fine substitutions. The duck was great and I look forward to more.
I think many of us had a fail on these – even following the directions. (I had a rolling pin of shame with the tuiles).
We love reality – it takes some of the pressure off 🙂
Happens to all of us sometimes! And yes haha, a wonder that there can be such a thing as too much butter 🙂
Oh, gosh, I think I used the correct amount of butter and mine were still a mess. I bet those were tasty crumbs!
I found that these didn’t work either – they were a nightmare.