When Life Gives You Dry Cake Batter, Make Cookies

Baking, Decision-Making, Uncertainty and Self-Doubt

Baking was my first love. One of my first and fondest memories is of me watching a baking show. I had to tune in at a certain day and time or I would miss it. I would write down the recipes on a paper notebook and re-create them later.

Sometimes I would miss ingredients and had to figure out how to convince one of my parents to go get them for me. I was not too bad at persuading them, or maybe they were motivated by the yummy treats they knew would follow. However, sometimes money was tight and I had to make a good case.

I had many adventures in the kitchen. Some recipes turned out great. Others not so much. I learned to focus so I would not cut or burn myself (or the recipe). I learned to orchestrate different processes so the timing would be optimal. So many lessons were learned while having fun preparing different recipes.

There is a particular adventure that has always stayed with me, and I will never forget. When I was about eight years old, something went wrong with one of my recipes. I made a crucial mistake: not making sure I had all the ingredients I needed before starting to make the recipe.

I was very excited to try this new cake recipe. When the time came to add the milk I realized, to my dismay, that I did not have any. And there was no adult around who could get it for me. At that moment, I was faced with two options. I could either throw away the dry batter, because there was no way a cake could come out of it, or I could make something else with it.

It was then that I made an executive decision. After some consideration, I decided that I would use the batter to make cookies instead of cake.

I was not certain whether this would work, since I was not an experienced baker and there was no internet to help me figure this out (it was the ’80s after all). I shaped the batter into flat rounds and hoped for the best. The result: delicious cookies that everyone loved.

This anecdote has stayed with me throughout the years because it taught me many valuable lessons. I am not sure I realized those at the moment. I was only eight after all. I was just happy I did not waste the batter and something yummy came out of it.

One of those lessons was about making the best out of what you have. Things in life are not perfect. You will often be missing one or more ingredients you think you need to make something happen. Do not let that get in your way. If you do not achieve your desired result, see what you can make with the ingredients (resources, people, circumstances) you have.

Another lesson was about self-doubt and indecisiveness. Thanks to my experiences in the kitchen, I rarely suffer from either when baking. This is because baking teaches you that whatever the outcome is, you will gain something from it. Either the fabulous and yummy result you were hoping for, or a lesson you can learn from that will make you a better cook (by looking at how your decisions affected the result). You just have to ask yourself “what can I learn from this?” Then write down your observations on your recipe so your next iteration will be better.

Self-doubt and indecision can keep you under the illusion that you are trapped when, in reality, you have the choice all along to do something about any situation. You are the master chef of your life. You decide whether you let your life recipe stay the same or you change it by adding and/or removing ingredients.

The last lesson has to do with dealing with uncertainty and things you cannot control. You have the power to change your attitude regarding what is out your control. You are sure you eliminated all the air bubbles from the cake batter. You are sure you did everything the way it was supposed to be done. Once you place the batter in the oven there is no point in worrying about how well it will turn out. You just have to wait and deal with the uncertainty, the level of which depends on how experienced you are with this recipe and as a cook.

If you were to open the oven to take a look before the time is right, just to make sure it is cooking nicely, you could ruin the result. The best decision is to wait, as curious or impatient as you might be. And if you still decide to open the oven earlier than recommended, make peace with the chances of the cake not turning out how you wanted it to.

Now translate all these lessons to your current projects and life circumstances. And always remember that when life gives you dry cake batter, you can always make cookies out of it.