There are few things more stressful in the culinary world than making dessert. You start with an amazing, Pinterest-inspired idea — cupcakes made to look like miniature burgers or a pie donned with a fruitifed American flag — you read the recipe, gather the ingredients, and pray to Ina Garten that you don't experience a major dessert fail.
Well, clearly you did something to upset the Barefoot Contessa in a past life, because by the end of your baking adventure, you're covered in flour, the cupcakes have a not-so-beautiful burned edge, and the flag looks more phallic than patriotic. (Yeah, I really don't know how that happened either.)
Take a deep breath (Well, after you cover that semi-pornographic pie). Everyone's been in this boat at some point. Baking is a high stress situation and failure, big or small, can make you feel like the most inept person in the world. But you know what? It's a rite of passage. I went through this at my daughter's first birthday and now I know that it's better to spend the money on a professionally crafted sheet cake than bake something that will scar her for life. Now, I'm not brave enough to post my dessert fails on social media, but many others are. So dig into some Sara Lee and take comfort in the fact that there are at least 15 other dessert fails guaranteed to make the biggest sweet tooth gag. (And if you're ever wondering if you should put beef sauteed with peas and onions into a dessert, just don't.)