Purrrfect
- Jake Swenson
- Jan 6, 2020
- 2 min read
Happy New Year. Now that the holiday season has screeched to a halt as the three wisemen have delivered gifts that were way too mature for a newborn (really they were for mom and dad, just like that Target gift card you got for your brand new niece) and begun the return leg of journeying afar, we can leave festive baking behind. I produced several things over the holiday; most good, one very bad. I posted them so take a look (the bad one was the bagels).
I would like to take a moment to address perfection. Perfection is that thing that you saw on page 72 of that cookbook or on that Pinterest page by that lady who's internet famous or that stick of gum Chandler got from that hot model in the ATM in that one episode of Friends. I can't say that I shoot for perfection. Perfection is the enemy of production. When I'm baking my primary purpose is producing something good for me and my family as well as something I can maybe share with friends. Completing the exacta by fifteen lengths is putting that thing up on the Instagrams for everybody to ogle. There's really no third purpose. If I were to be beholden to perfection there wouldn't have been croissants, stollen or brioche in the Swenson household.
Recently I made Mallorcas. They're this sweet bun that originated in Puerto Rico and take their name from one of the Ballearic Islands. Having never made one before I used a published recipe and had at it. What I got was nothing close to perfection. They're supposed to look like these elevated spirals of golden brown dusted with icing sugar and served warmish with sweet or savory fillings (or just butter). What I got looked somewhat like a flock (?) of snails who had been grazed by a Goodyear. They were ever so ugly but also incredibly edible. I dusted those bad boys right up, posted a snazzy pic and got to eating one. Perfect? Depends on your definition.
PS: the group of snails is called a rout, walk or escargatoire. Thanks Googly.
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