I love when my day starts out reading an email with the following comment:
| “The worst recipe ever! I followed the recipe and all the potatoes were stuck on the parchment paper. If you want to loose half of the potatoes and present something looking really crummy, go ahead! Not worth it!” |
That was a reader’s comment about my baked sweet potato fries. I was immediately hurt after reading this and tried thinking of anything I could have done differently/could do differently in this recipe to prevent such negative feedback.
So I pouted, got a little defensive and then calmed down. I remembered a common phrase I’ve rehashed over the years — “Not every person you meet is going to like you; that’s ok. With everything you do, someone will disapprove; that’s ok. Something you say will rub someone wrong and/or they will disagree; that’s ok. And specific to the blog and the passion I have for food and cooking/baking— with every recipe you make and create, there will be someone who dislikes it; that’s ok.”
For me, this is easier said that done. I’m a perfectionist so being okay with the “that’s ok” part is a hard to swallow. I’m constantly working on accepting the fact that I am not perfect, not everyone will like me, not everything I say will be accepted by everyone who hears it and my goodness, my recipes just may not suit every single person who makes them. For the last one, I do apologize since I strive to make healthy, creative and delicious recipes but at least some people still enjoy my eats, and for those of you out there – THANK YOU!
Stepping down from my soap box…I think it’s time for cake 🙂 Banana cornmeal cake to be exact — a tender crumb, sweetened with ripe bananas and earthy brown rice syrup. This cake just happens to be vegan too. Now I don’t think I will be hearing negative comments about this one, it’s delicious and adapted from Hope for Healing.
I’ll admit, a huge slice of this cake cheered me right up 🙂 Do you need a little happy boost yourself? Maybe you want something sweet to snack on? Cut yourself a slice and dig in, I give you full permission!
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
3 Tbsp chopped walnuts (pecans or almonds), optional (omit for nut-free)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 8-inch round springform pan or 8X8 dish and set aside.
2. In a small bowl or cup, combine non-dairy milk and the 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar Let milk mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to form a buttermilk like liquid to eventually mix with the whole batter.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the flours and dry ingredients. Add vanilla, brown rice syrup, applesauce and oil to the dry ingredients and stir. Lastly add the banana and the milk-lemon mixture and mix well. Fold in nuts if using.
4. Let it start to rise and foam a bit from the baking powder and soda, then pour batter into prepared pan. Smoothy out the top with a spatula because it will bake how it looks, then bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the middle can be tested with a pick to ensure it is cooked through*.
*make sure there is no gooey middle in the pan (I was impatient and the middle was not cooked through.The cake fell in middle after removing it from the oven. I cut out the gooey middle with a small biscuit cutter, added it to a bowl and microwaved it for 45 seconds to fully cook – yummy and I didn’t waste any batter :).
Natural Noshing 
Ahh I am sorry you got such a nasty comment, I have made many of your recipes and enjoyed them immensely. Its so true, you can’t please everyone. Anyway, this cake looks yummy!
Thanks so much Heather 🙂 you win some and you lose some right? I’m so happy to hear you’ve enjoyed many of my recipes, that makes it all worth it!!
I don’t think the commenter didn’t like YOU, they just didn’t like the RECIPE. You are so much more than easily-replaceable ingredients 🙂
The cake looks great, bookmarking it for my weekend baking!
Thanks Becca 🙂 I know it was a direct jab at me, I just have to learn not to take it personally ya know? I hope you enjoy the cake!
Aw, I’m sorry you got such an awful comment! You really can’t please everyone and I’m so glad you realized that, otherwise a comment like that can be really depressing. Not to mention developing recipes, we can’t really see who is trying them, and their level of cooking abilities, which is a major factor in whether a recipe turns out “good” or not for them. It’s still awful having to deal with rude comments though 😦 Your cake looks great! Funny, I just made an apple kamut bread the other day and it wasn’t cooked in the middle like that too – oops. I love your idea to cut it out – it’s pretty cute in doughnut shape 😀
Aww thank you Heidi, that’s exactly what I needed to hear! You cheered me right up!
Ooooo an apple kamut bread, that sounds delish! It actually turned out pretty with the hole plus I got a gooey microwave banana cake out of it too 🙂 Win-win!
Man, there is a lot of this going around lately… Again, these are the people who DON’T yet feel they have the right to criticize those who DO. Comments like that are so unnecessary and cowardly. What a jerk, really. I wanna punch her because she upset my Nora. Not on my watch! I guess it’s safe to say that unhappy people are toxic and are not meant to hide the brightness of beautiful lights as yourself. You are doing all the right things, sister. Keep shining because WE all love you and think your recipes are FABULOUS! (Now I’m going to make those fries and counter-comment) <–mature, huh? 🙂
You’re the best Cara, thanks so much for the support and the pep talk – you always make me feel better!
Well since you are allergic to sweet potatoes, I don’t need you getting sick now…so don’t bother making to recipe..not to mention it contains your absolute #1 fav ingredient (eggs) so you have two strikeouts with the fry recipe 😦 Thank you for offering though!
XOXOXO
Awwww, Nora, don’t sweat it. You know, pretty often, those that leave nasty comments like that are the people that are absolutely clueless in a kitchen and messed it up by their own fault because they didn’t follow the instructions properly or didn’t use the right ingredients, or reheated a pie to which the recipe specifically mentioned to cool for at least 4 hours before serving, preferably overnight (can you tell that I’m speaking from personal experience on that last one?)
I myself tried your fries and found them to be extremely good! And I didn’t lose half my potatoes, nor did they look real crummy. You are a star and your recipes are awesome. Don’t let a stupid comment like that bring you down.
As for that cake? YUM! No matter how bad I’d be feeling, I’m pretty sure that it’d make me feel better in no time also! And I kind of like the gooey middle, so I think I’d do the being impatient thing too… (but then again, I often purposely underbake my baked goods to get some of that gooeyness…) 😉
THANK YOU Sonia – you rock girl! I appreciate the kind words, it makes it all better especially since I look up to you and your gorgeous food so if YOU had decent results then I won’t think twice about the comment 🙂
And you got it right, this cake made me feel better quick! I happen to love under-baked goods too – SO MUCH better than dry crumbly cakes, breads and muffins 🙂 I always under bake my brownies, oh goodness it’s like liquid fudgy gold!
I like your gooey middle! The cake looks great. 🙂
Like everyone has already said, the person that left that comment must have messed up the recipe. I think sometimes there can be ingredients issues since all ingredients aren’t the same around the world, but I think sweet potatoes and eggs are pretty much the same. So, the person messed up and I’m sorry, but what a nasty mean-hearted person. How anyone could think it’s okay to leave such a rude comment is beyond me. Ugh.
I wish I liked sweet potatoes without loads of sugar and cinnamon. Then I would definitely make these like Cara just so that I could leave the glowing review that I’m sure they deserve!
Haha, like that photo? It sure tasted great, just wasn’t easy to slice and make it pretty looking.
Thanks SO much Erin! You made me smile with your sweet comment – thank you for the encouragement 🙂 I won’t think anything of the negativity anymore!
I don’t blame you, sweet potatoes are like candy with cinnamon – YUM!
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i made it, with some variations. LUSCIOUS. my kids ate up like crazy, and it was moist enough to give to my 10 month old
!
YAY! I am so glad you and your family enjoyed this 🙂 What were your variations? Maybe I’ll give it a go next time I make this!
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