Soggy vs done

I made goat milk yoghurt cake, almost the same as the walnut orange cake I made the day before. One came out well risen, the other one with an “under risen” bottom. And I started thinking, as my husband says – way too much thinking. 

Every time I make soggy bottom pie or cake, or basically anything that’s a bit soggy, I remember Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood in the Great British Bake Off, their smart and serious faces showing disapproval for what you have done. The problem sometimes is – I actually like that soggy bottom cake because I just love that texture, and as one of my friends likes to say, “Everything ‘under baked’ and soggy always tastes just a bit better.” Not always, but many times I agree when I see two Brits shaking their heads and making “no no no” sounds. And I think – where is the truth? In the professional competitions led by great cooks, chefs and bakers, or in my friend who loves great food, visits excellent restaurants, drinks champagne, cooks at home, but still thinks that when his wife makes grandma’s pie, she should take it out of the oven just a but earlier than normal. Even better, he would just eat the batter.  

I started to think – what are we looking for in food? Are we looking for one texture, one taste? Are we looking for perfection or do we leave room for some mistakes, some new ideas, something personal (as long as it does not kill or poison us)? Or what? Does everything has to be the same size and look, or can it be different? Do we have to hide that we love cake with a bit of soggy bottom and pretend that we like the perfectly made cake or we can say “This is the way I love it” and everybody will think that there is a tiny screw loose in our heads.  

I truly agree that we cannot make salad with iceberg lettuce and some bacon and call it a Cesar salad the same as mille feuille has to be made with a thousand layers of puff pastry and an éclair made with pate choux – otherwise we cannot call them that. There has to best some respect for what has been created, what is traditional, but where is the line? There are mille feuilles made with tomatoes and éclairs made with mango with cream.