Strawberry Shortcake Cake

This Sunday, I went to a Brazilian-themed party that I later found out was a party in honor of the World Cup game with Brazil playing against the Ivory Coast. I arrived just in time to see the recap of the game, but since I'm not into sports, I was completely okay with that. I just wish I could have heard all the Brazilian guests yell after seeing their country win. I love witnessing that type of excitement.

The reasons I made this strawberry shortcake cake were threefold (one of my mom's favorite words): 1) I had bought a bunch of strawberries at Costco the day before; 2) I have been wanting to make this type of cake ever since I saw this beautiful one on the Good Mood Food blog, an Irish blog written by Donal Skehan; and 3) I wanted to bring a cake to the party. I chose this cake over the Pioneer Woman's version because she used sour cream in the cake, and you know how I feel about sour cream.

I changed around the recipe for the cake so much that I can only say that I was inspired by the Donal's recipe. For instance, instead of melting the butter, I blended it with the sugar as is done with most cakes I've made. Also, I felt that half of a stick of butter was not enough for a good cake, so I used a whole stick. The other major change I made was to sweeten the whipped cream instead. I couldn't imagine eating whipped cream without sugar! Blech!

Once the strawberry filling was placed on top of the cake layers, they started to slide (along with the filling), and it became a huge mess. Also, I was already running late, so that is why I didn't take photos of the process. I angrily threw placed the cake layers in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then, I made more sweetened whipped cream and covered the entire cake after cleaning the edges. I was very pleased with the end result. This was a very photogenic cake. I speak in the past tense because everyone ate that cake so quickly. It was gone before I knew it. Anyway, after I had frosted the cake, I placed it back in the freezer for 15 minutes just to be safe. After placing more strawberries on the cake and taking photos of it, I got ready to go to the party.

I placed the cake in the passenger seat and surrounded it with my camera bag and a VCR that I am planning to donate or recycle that was sitting in the backseat of my car. I then wrapped everything together with the seatbelt :). It worked. The cake didn't move one inch.

I drove up to my friend's house and was greeted by the sight of bright green and yellow shirts with "BRASIL" written on the front. I almost turned around because I didn't recognize any of the people on the stairs (remember my social phobia?). I reminded myself that there were people I did know inside the apartment, and that thought helped me muster up the courage to get out of the car. I hid as much as I could behind the cake and cake stand and muttered a brief "Olá" to the people outside and anxiously searched for a familiar face.

Once I walked inside, my anxiety increased even more because there were so many people in there that there was barely enough room to walk! Even the sight of a few of my colleagues did not assuage my increasing desire to run back home. Finally, my friend - the host of the party - spotted me and got so excited about my cake. I felt a bit better and less nauseated after seeing her and walking in the near-empty kitchen. I managed to eat a traditional and DELICIOUS Afro-Brazilian dish called Bobó de camerão over white rice (I am soooo going to make this very soon) that another friend/colleague had made. I then became part of an interesting 3-way conversation that lasted until 8pm!

I had to "stop the presses" in order to take this shot...

When the cake was taken out, almost everyone took a slice. I personally thought the cake wasn't sweet enough. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since I'm aware that desserts in the U.S. tend to be sweeter than those made in other countries (correct me if I'm wrong!). Nevertheless, because the cake wasn't super sweet, I knew that the guests of this party, which was comprised of 90% Brazilians (there was also one Mexican (the host), an Argentinean and one German), I assumed they would like it. I was right. They raved over the cake and kept saying comments like "Que delícia, Memória!".

...and this shot. Look at the poor strawberry haha.

If I were to make this cake again, I would pick a sweeter cake as the base and use a regular frosting. I love sweet desserts, though, so ignore my preferences if yours are different haha. Despite the sweetness level, the whipped cream and strawberry filling tasted really good. I loved how soft everything was. It was a very comforting cake that felt very light even with the presence of heavy cream. If this cake sounds like your kind of dessert, you should definitely make it!

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Inspired by Good Mood Food Blog

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) of butter, room temperature
1 1/8 cup (225g) of caster sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup (100ml) of milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (210g) AP flour
2 tsp baking powder


Strawberry Filling:
1 pint (300g) of strawberries, washed and hulled
1/4 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on how sweet your strawberries are)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
juice of 1/2 lemon

Whipped Cream:
2 1/2 (550ml) heavy cream
1/2-3/4 cup granulated or powdered sugar, to taste
1 1/2 tsp CLEAR vanilla extract (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C/Gas 4, and grease and line two 8-inch cake pans.

Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Mix the milk and vanilla extract together in a liquid measuring cup. Sieve or whisk the flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Then, pour the flour and milk mixture into the mixing bowl, alternating and ending with the flour.

Mix the batter completely until smooth and combined.

Divide the mix evenly between the two baking tins (or you can pour it all into one pan and separate it with a knife if you have a steady hand. I used two pans) and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool slightly for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. [While the cakes are cooling, place the whisk and bowl for the filling in the freezer!]

Filling and Topping:
When both cake layers are completely cooled, make the strawberry filling. Place the cut strawberries in a medium sauce pan along with the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Heat to boiling and then remove the pan from the heat. With a potato masher or fork, mash the strawberries into smaller chunks. Allow the filling to cool while making whipped cream.
With the cold whisk and bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add in the sugar and CLEAR vanilla extract. [If you don't have clear vanilla extract, you could omit it or use the dark variety. Just know that it will change the color of the whipped cream.]

Assembly:
If the cake layers have a peak in the middle make sure to slice it off so you are left with perfectly flat layers. Place one layer face down on a cake stand and dollop with half the cooled strawberry purée. Then, add about a fourth to a third of the whipped cream, spread evenly. Carefully place the second cake layer on top and add the remaining strawberry purée. To avoid making the mess that I made, place the layers in the freezer for 30 minutes. After that time, add the remaining whipped cream generously. Feel free to garnish your cake with more hulled strawberries.

White Chocolate Mocha Cookies

For some reason, I was craving cookies the other day. I was deciding between two recipes that both had espresso powder in them and decided on this one because it was more different from any cookie recipe I've done on the blog due to the addition of cocoa powder . The other recipe looked more like a regular chocolate chip cookie.

The day I made these cookies, I was not overly impressed. I allowed the rest of the dough to refrigerate for two days (I had planned to make more cookies out of this dough the next day, but I didn't feel like baking that day.), and it made a world of a difference.

I halved this recipe and still made almost 2 dozen cookies. After forming the balls of dough, I rolled them in sugar to add sparkle, and then baked them. After baking the cookies, I immediately mashed the rounded cookies slightly with the bottom of a measuring cup to make them have a different look. Lastly, in these cookies, I used the Guittard white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and cocoa rouge powder that the Guittard company sent me a while ago. I think they look much better than they did when I didn't roll them in sugar and left them rounded . They also tasted much better.  

Is it weird to drink fat-free milk with decadent desserts? haha

Remember: These cookies are much better in a warm state and with cold milk!

White Chocolate Mocha Cookies

adapted from Home Sweet Eats

Yields about 3-4 dozen small cookies; can be halved easily.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge powder)

2 Tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I always use kosher)

1/2-3/4 cup white chocolate chips (I used Guittard wafers)

1/2-3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Guittard wafers)
1/4 sugar for dredging (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into balls; coat with sugar (optional), and set on baking sheet or Silpat. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. If your cookies are too rounded, immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, press down on the cookies lightly with a measuring cup or the bottom of a cup.

 

White Chocolate Mocha Cookies

Cream of Tomato Soup

Here's another dish I had to consume during my wisdom teeth "saga" (I exaggerate, of course). This soup was very good and hearty. However, it didn't take long for me to get tired of soups. What I liked about this recipe was that it had a small enough yield for one or two people compared to the soup recipe from Ina Garten (why do most of her recipes yield so much?).

Anyway, make sure you season this soup well. If you're eating this soup right after an extraction, purée the soup more than I did. I ate this after 3 or 4 days of my extraction, and I was lazy, so I didn't purée it. I will be sharing one more soup I consumed during my extraction, then we can move on to solid foods again hehe. On the top of the soup, I added small squares of a grilled cheese sandwich as garnish!

Cream of Tomato Soup

adapted from Life's Ambrosia and Ina Garten

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup chicken broth or dry white wine (I don't drink alcohol, so I used extra broth)
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted or regular crushed tomatoes (I always use a box of Pomì)
3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tsp granulated sugar (to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes)
Black pepper
Kosher salt
1/2 cup half-n-half or heavy cream

Garnish:
Chopped fresh basil
Grilled cheese sandwich chopped into squares

In a large saucepan heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once butter has melted add onions and garlic, cook until onion is softened about 5 minutes. Add in 2 Tbsp of flour to form a roux. Cook the roux for 3-5 minutes. Pour in broth or wine, and allow to cook for 1 minute. Add in crushed tomatoes, vegetable or chicken broth and granulated sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Slowly stir the cream/half-n-half into the soup, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

For a smoother soup, blend the mixture, and process it until smooth. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and/or grilled cheese sandwich squares.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Cheesecake

Move over all you strawberry shortcakes! Here comes a strawberry cheesecake you'll never forget!

After getting my four wisdom teeth extracted, I could eat only soft foods. Unfortunately (and fortunately), the majority of the allowable food items were high in sugar and/or fat such as pudding, ice cream, and mashed potatoes. For some reason, I was craving healthier food items, so I supplied myself with plenty of baby food canisters of applesauce and pears since they are puréed more finely than the adult versions (you want to make sure you don't get food particles on your newly-revealed gums. I even had to avoid rice dishes until later).

Anyway, once my teeth had healed a bit, I was craving something delectable, so I made a cheesecake since it is soft and on the approved list. I added the strawberries on top, but if you decide to eat this a day or two after a tooth extraction, you must omit the fruit or make a coulis version (i.e., purée the strawberries and strain out the seeds) of it.

I used my go-to recipe for cheesecake. I will never stray from this recipe because it doesn't require sour cream or flour, two things I don't like to put in my cheesecakes. It is so smooth and amazing and never creates a crack (at least on my watch).

I also whipped some heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract and placed some on top of individual slices. I hope you make this soon. If you are out of strawberries, try this with cherries. That was how I was going to make it originally, but I remembered the strawberries I had frozen a few months ago. I also didn't feel like pitting cherries.

Don't be discouraged by the length of the recipe. Most of the time making this dessert involves the oven and refrigerator. Also, I always make half of the cheesecake recipe (and the full recipe for the crust) since I live alone. It is still more than enough. Enjoy!

Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

halved and adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours and Serious Eats 

Crust:

1 3/4 - 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt (I always use kosher)
1/2 stick (4-5 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
1 lb (two 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt (I always use kosher)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp heavy cream or sour cream, or a combination of the two

Make the crust:

1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan - 2 3/4 inches high - and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.
2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake:

1. Put a kettle or large pot of water on to boil.
2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
3. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.
4. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
6. After an hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster, and remove the foil carefully. Allow the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
7. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly, and chill the cake for at least 4 hours or overnight.
8. Remove the sides of the springform pan, and set the cake, still on the pan's base, on a serving platter. The easiest way to cut cheesecake is to use a long, thin knife that has been run under hot water and lightly wiped. Keep warming the knife as you cut slices of the cake.

Strawberry Topping

1 pint of strawberries, cut and hulled
1-2 Tbsp cornstarch, if you want it to be thicker
1/4 cup or less of sugar, depending on how sweet your berries are
half of a lemon

In a medium saucepan, boil all of the ingredients until thick. Pour the mixture on top of the chilled cheesecake. [If making a coulis, omit the cornstarch. Pour the cooked ingredients into a blender and puree or use an immersion blender until smooth. Then, drain the mixture with a strainer.]

To store: Wrapped well, the cake will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or for up to 2 months in the freezer. It's best to defrost the still-wrapped cheesecake overnight in the refrigerator.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!! ¡¡¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, MAMÁ!!!! FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO, MÃE!!!! BUON COMPLEANNO, MAMMA!!!! BON ANNIVERSAIRE, MAMAN!!!! 생일축하합니다, 어머니^^!!!!  

(Wow! I typed in Korean instead of copying and pasting. I hope I wrote it right.)

Baked Spicy Buffalo Wings and Fries

Has anyone caught the football* fever yet? I am not into sports, but it is nice to see my international colleagues get excited about their countries for the Copa Mundial/World Cup being held in South Africa. I haven't been seeing much coverage of the games on English-speaking channels here, but on the Spanish-speaking channels, it has been big news.

Even though I'm into sports, the Copa made me want to cook sports-related food items like wings and fries. Now that I can eat solid foods again, I decided to make these wings and fries my first real meal. I don't know if the positive, delicious outcome of this meal was because it was my first solid-food meal or if it was because of the recipe. I am sure the answer lies in both of those reasons. These wings and fries are crunchy and beyond flavorful on the inside and moist and yummy on the inside.

Whether you have football fever or not, you must make these wings and fries. They are beyond amazing and so flavorful. My teeth, tastebuds, and stomach enjoyed them very much. And what did I watch on TV while eating them? Toy Story 1 and 2 haha. So much for football fever in this household!

TEETH UPDATE: I would first like to thank my oral surgeon, his assistants, and my two good friends for making this wisdom tooth procedure so easy and pain-free. I requested to be sedated during the process and allowed my oral surgeon to remove not one but all four of my wisdom teeth! I didn't feel one ounce of pain during and after the procedure. My good friend took me to the dentist and back home. Then, she removed and replaced my gauze and monitored my medicine intake for most of the day. Later, my other friend took over and brought over ice cream and stayed with me until I could fend for myself. I truly am grateful for them. I am also thankful to all of my blog readers for thinking and praying for me. It is nice to graduate from mashed potatoes, ice cream, pudding, and baby food. :)

Well, enough of that. Here are the recipes!

YUM! I want more right now!

Spicy Buffalo Wings

adapted from Life's Ambrosia

1.5 to 2 lb chicken drummettes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
About 1/4 cup canola oil
Wing sauce (recipe on her site) I used Frank's Red Hot Sauce and butter because I had a bottle in the cupboard (follow the recipe for the sauce on the back of the bottle).

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Combine flour, seasoning salt, pepper and granulated garlic in one gallon plastic bag.
In a bowl whisk together egg and milk. Put chicken wings in the egg wash first and coat (I also seasoned the wings with seasoning salt while sitting in the egg wash). Transfer the wings to the plastic bag with flour. Seal the bag and shake to coat.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Lay wings in single layer. Drizzle with canola oil. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Wings should be golden brown and crispy. Prepare the wing sauce while your drummettes are cooking.

Jo Jo Potatoes

reduced and adapted from Life's Ambrosia for one person

Non-stick spray
1 tablespoon butter, melted (I didn't use)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 6 – 8 wedges each
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray, set aside.

Pour olive oil in a bowl over the cut potatoes. Combine seasoning salt, flour and cayenne pepper over the potatoes to coat.

Bake on prepared cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Turn and bake for 10 more minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 5–7 minutes or until browned (I skipped this step).


*I am referring to the definition of football recognized by the majority of the world, not U.S. football.

Baby Blue Cake: Chocolate and White Cake with Blue Frosting

Yeah, I know I still have a long way to go to being a good cake decorator hahaha.

I took a nice break from the kitchen and the computer. I want to thank you all for your encouraging words and advice on the previous post. I guess I was so used to previous Daring Bakers' challenges as being fairly easy and manageable for me. With the toothache and so many other problems. this challenge was just really...plain and simple...a challenge for me. Next time, I will work on a challenge while not in pain, and I will take things slowly (even though I am already a slow baker/cooker). Also, I will stick to challenge dishes that I will actually want to eat in the end.

As many of you know, here in the United States, many of us celebrated Memorial Day. On this day, my colleagues and I went to my favorite BBQ joint, Rudy's BBQ, and I brought this cake. I colored it baby blue just for the "Colorful Mondays" project on Kitchen Simplicity.

The cake is comprised of my two favorite cake recipes: the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake and Bridget's white cake, which I blogged about here. Half of my friends preferred the chocolate side because they prefer chocolate, while the other half preferred the white side. I know that my favorite was the white cake. My friend cut a small slice of cake to reserve for her boyfriend, and he later told her to tell me the following:

Please tell Memoria my only complaint is that the piece was cut way too small. It's really delicious. It has almost an angel food taste but with a regular cake texture.

I would totally agree with his description. This recipe is my go-to for white cake (for process photos of this cake, check out the strawberry cake derived from the same recipe).

I tried to make Italian buttercream, but I whipped the meringue too long and accidentally heated up the sugar syrup too long because I was taking photos. So, I had to make a regular, no-egg buttercream for the outside.

I ended up removing this frosting because it curdled. After scraping it off, I made and added the regular buttercream.

It felt really weird to have a cake this color in my possession. I'm not a fan of making and looking at colored icing, but I am totally okay with eating it!

TOOTH/TEETH UPDATE: I'm going to the oral surgeon tomorrow to get my tooth/teeth extracted. I plan to make soup for this week. Please keep me in your prayers or send me good thoughts. Have a great week, everyone!

Regular buttercream

Some may say this is not a buttercream due to the absence of eggs, but I disagree since it is comprised of butter, has a creamy consistency, and is often used for cakes. 

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk or half-n-half
blue colored gel (optional)

Beat the butter and shortening together well. On low speed, mix the the powdered sugar in one cup at a time. Then, add in the milk until you reach the desired consistency. Add blue colored gel, mix, and keep adding more gel until you reach the desired color.

Enjoy!

Daring Bakers: Pièce Montée and a Croquembouche

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a pièce montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Martha Stewart made it look easy and so pretty. The host of this challenge made it look easy and lovely. The other DBers made it look easy and amazing. But it wasn't easy or pretty for me. 

This is the final product. It is ugly and messy after two days of work. I had to make the pastry cream twice b/c the first one was too runny, the caramel sauce twice because I ran out of the first one, and the cream puffs twice because the dough (or batter in my case) was too runny. I had to do this all while having a serious toothache b/c of a wisdom tooth (or teeth) that I'm too chicken to get extracted. The pain was/is so unbearable that I didn't eat anything until the late evening. All of that work, and this so-called pièce montée ("assembled or mounted piece") and croquembouche ("crunch in mouth") is all I have to show for it.  I don't even like cream puffs, but I wanted to complete this challenge since I missed out on so many in the past.

Mise en place (the (failed) coffee pastry cream is in the bottle)

This challenge made me realize some things: 1) If I'm willing to spend all this time, effort, and money on a baking project, I should be able to extend even more effort on my dissertation. 2) I don't know if I can keep doing this Daring Kitchen thing. I was so frustrated today to the point of tears. *sigh* 

Anyway, below are photos of the process. I don't feel like going into details about the project. As far as taste is concerned, the pastry cream and puffs tasted good enough, but the caramel was so hard, I had to spit it out.

Blurry photo. Sorry.

So, yeah, I'm going to take a break from the kitchen for a few days. I don't even want to do anymore baking for a long time (hah! yeah, right). I should feel better by tomorrow.

You can find the recipe on Cat's blog.

******************************************************************************

Pastry Cream Process (the runny version): I was too tired to take photos of the good version.

I ended up using this pastry cream recipe on my second attempt.

Caramel (reheated a MILLION times):

First Creme Puff attempt was fine before...

adding the eggs...

Tried to work with the runny dough and ended up burning the puffs. Thanks overheating, old oven!

No, these are not macarons.

After adding flour to the runny dough...

Next day, second attempt.

 Better, but not great. 

The croquembouche kept falling, and I kept burning myself with the hot caramel that I had to reheat over and over again. Do I sound frustrated much?

A photo of the croquembouche caving in.

Oh well. I apologize for sounding so negative. I'm just tired and in pain. Take care, everyone!