What's the one thing you just can't cook/bake...

[nubka]

I was thinking about this today, when I saw a recipe for lemon bars on Pinterest. I totally stink at lemon bars, homemade and boxed. This filling never sets up right.

But hey, I can make a mean pan of rolled baklava!

What do you epically fail at when it comes to cooking/baking?

[MacMadame]

I've never tried to make lemon bars. I don't do anything too complicated so I never have any big issues.

Right now I mostly make cake, brownies and the other day I made these mini-pumpkin pies but I didn't do the crust from scratch. The first batch I used a pre-made crust and the second I used a pie crust mix. My crusts turned out better than my SIL's but she made hers from scratch.

[michiruwater]

The only thing I have failed at more than once is custard. I haven't made custard correctly yet. It's irritating.

[Cachoo]

mince meat pies--even the dog won't touch it...

[A.H.Black]

The secret to lemon bars is to use freshly squeezed lemon juice - that you squeeze yourself.

I can't make anything with yeast. Bread etc.

[Grannyfan]

I'm not much of a cook anyway, but I simply cannot make good chocolate chip cookies.

[BigB08822]

I've always had trouble with pancakes. They never come out like IHOP or other restaurants. I did, however, recently find a great recipe and I made one change which seemed to make them lighter and fluffier than any other homemade recipe I had made before. I separated my egg and whipped the whites into peaks and folded it in as my last step. Not bad.

[BigB08822]

I'm not much of a cook anyway, but I simply cannot make good chocolate chip cookies.

I have a to die for choc chip cookie recipe. I will post it later.

[nubka]

The secret to lemon bars is to use freshly squeezed lemon juice - that you squeeze yourself.

I can't make anything with yeast. Bread etc.

I'm no good with yeast either. Not sure what I'm doing wrong...

[TheGirlCanSkate]

Bacon. If I make it in the oven it doesn't crisp nicely and is very...flat, I burn it in the skillet, in the microwave it makes tasteless bacon.

[my little pony]

grilled portobello mushrooms

[skateboy]

I'm at home with all kinds of entrees and dinner items in general. But my baked goods (breads, cakes, etc.) have had much to be desired.

[Impromptu]

I've always had trouble with pancakes. They never come out like IHOP or other restaurants. I did, however, recently find a great recipe and I made one change which seemed to make them lighter and fluffier than any other homemade recipe I had made before. I separated my egg and whipped the whites into peaks and folded it in as my last step. Not bad.

I always fail at pancakes too. Will have to try that.

I'm better at baking than cooking, and I love making bread. But I can generally manage to follow a recipe and cook competently too. The one thing that I wish I could make though, and that I never manage to get right, is roast chicken. And I love a good roast chicken.

[Japanfan]

I have trouble with pancakes too, I think it's impossible to make a good pancake unless you have a griddle for flipping. Ditto omelettes - though I'm keen to try a frittata by cooking the bottom on the stove, then finishing and browning it in the oven.

I've also had no luck with sweet and sour soup, which left me reluctant to attempt Chinese recipes at all. I fared a little better at Japanese soups made with a dashi (fish) base, but can't compete with ramen made by Japanese chefs. I can do Thai recipes though - Japanese and Chinese give me something to go out for.

[CynicElle]

I can't do pizza dough. Every time I've tried to make my own, it comes out so leaden and heavy that if I dropped it on the floor, it'd probably just keep going until it hit the basement. I'm fine with most breads, but not that one.

[Southpaw]

For those who have pancake issues Aunt Jemima makes a fantastic boxed mix. It's the Buttermilk Complete and even though it's a "just add water" mix I swear it makes easy and delicious pancakes. Someone told me about it years ago and I was skeptical but it really is quite tasty. And easy. Oh so very easy.

I've always been a loser when it comes to working with dried beans but I think I finally cracked the code. Turns out that if you cook dried beans with tomatoes then they'll NEVER soften. That's what the Interwebz taught me this week.

[Buzz]

What can I just not bake? EVERYTHING!

[Aceon6]

Savory pie crust. My crusts with sugar and more fats come out fine. The ones that just have fat, salt, flour and water drive me CRAZY. Either they're too dry to roll out, or too wet and taste like cardboard.

[Prancer]

I can't do pizza dough. Every time I've tried to make my own, it comes out so leaden and heavy that if I dropped it on the floor, it'd probably just keep going until it hit the basement. I'm fine with most breads, but not that one.

Try adding gluten.

I used to make pizza dough for a living, from a multi-award winning recipe, and the chef told me that the key to good pizza dough is using high-gluten flour.

[Jenny]

Like several others, I'm not much of a baker - I cook everything else, but haven't really baked much since cookies and boxed mixes as a child.

One thing I do do well is pie crust - I have any awesome recipe (happy to send Aceon6, just let me know), totally delicious and flaky every time, perfect for fruit pies, savoury tarts, pot pies. But I totally suck at forming the darn thing, and no matter how careful I am, it comes out a big mess. Delicious, but distinctly unattractive. I have tried calling it "rustic" or "free form" but no one's falling for my PR efforts