Comment dit-on “baking fail” en français?

(How do you say “baking fail” in French?)

As they say, it’s better to show than tell, non?

So allow me to show you my recent baking failure, or « échec de cuisson » !

Inspired by the lovely lemons in my little garden, I decided to make a dessert that was simple, but tasty. So when I discovered an easy recipe for French Lemon Tart, I was on it!

To save time, I used a store-bought frozen crust. (The recipe called for making your own dough from scratch.) I followed instructions on the package for thawing (15 minutes) and baking (7-9 minutes at 400°F.)

Ugh. It’s cracked. And it seems to be shrugging at me
melting butter and crème fraîche on a double boiler
Feeling good here. This looks about right to me
egg, sugar, lemon juice mixture on a double boiler

The filling had somehow seeped underneath the cracked crust causing a little bit to boil over! In addition, a piece of the crust had fallen off. Together, the spilled buttery filling and crust fragment burned on the floor of the oven creating a lot of smoke!

When I took it out of the oven, I discovered that the bottom crust had floated to the top! It left an unsightly crack in the middle of the tart.

Nothing a couple of strategically placed lemon slices couldn’t fix, I thought. But that idea only made the tart look scared. 😱

I was hopeless. But I must say, if nothing else, the dessert did have a good, fresh lemon flavor!

Lessons learned

Next time, I will make my own crust. No, that’s a lie. I will try another kind of premade crust. I will also use less butter, like 50% less. I will put the pie pan on a cookie sheet. Just in case.

Better yet, I’ll just make lemonade next time! 🍋

If you enjoyed this post, you may be interested in I Made an Apple Cranberry Flaugnarde with Crème Fraîche and Quiche Vosgienne (both of which turned out all right!)