A lemon curd mishap turns into cake. I decided long ago to show the bad along with the good. I call it the “learning curve.” Too often, you see people posting the joys of baking and when you attempt their recipe, you have a hideous mess and want to know what went wrong. They never explain it to you.

Once I discovered there is actual science behind baking and it all comes down to basically creating chemical reactions, it began to make sense why things fail so frequently. Sometimes it comes down to leaving out an ingredient, other times, it comes down to not having enough information for you to actually succeed. Take lemon curd for example.

I didn’t know there was a key element they neglect to tell you when making custards: get the heat to minimum of 170F (77C.) So many recipes tell you “cook until thickened or coats the back of a spoon.” How many people could have successful bakes if they just bothered to say “cook until mixture reaches 170F, thickens and coats the back of a spoon.” But do they bother telling people this? Not in the recipe I found.

I nearly cried the next morning. And then I realized I had the beginnings of a cake. So I did some basic math and added in a few more eggs for volume, some baking soda (since there is lemon, an acidic, baking soda is the ideal leavening agent) and flour. And there you have it, a mishap turns into cake.