Look, we all make mistakes in the kitchen. But some errors are so bad that they might just make your jaw drop. If you have a sense of humor and don’t mind poking a bit of fun at yourself, you might just be tempted to share photos of your less-than-stellar baking results online.
Our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most disastrously delicious baking fails from the far corners of the internet. They’re a reminder that it’s okay not to be perfect. Scroll down for a good laugh, a lot of facepalming, and to feel better about those muffins you once burned a long time ago.
#1 I Tried Baking Frog Bread And Failed Horribly. Meet Jerry
Image source: theowlbee
#2 Tried Baking A Pie. Ended Up Baking The Necronomicon
Image source: illegalmonkey
#3 And This Is Why I Don’t Bake. My Cursed Hedgehog For My BF’s Birthday Last Year
Image source: starpiece
If cooking is more akin to art, then baking is a science. The specifics and tiny details are incredibly important in the latter. If you substitute some ingredients for others, use different techniques and baking temperatures, mess up the quantities, and skip steps, you will end up with something radically different from what you intended.
Some kitchen disasters are completely out of your control, sure. But as a rule of thumb, when it comes to baking, if your end results look different from the gorgeous photos in the recipes, the responsibility lies with you. It’s back to the drawing board, then.
#4 My Sister Forgot The Dry Ingredients
We call this the cookie soup incident.
Image source: commiephag
#5 My Boyfriend’s Attempt At Making Me Cupcakes For My Birthday
I have no idea how he managed to explode batter like this.
Image source: wyze-litten
#6 My Birthday Cake Just Had A Nose Dive
Image source: shapeshif7er
Be honest with yourself if you intentionally did anything different from the recipe, or if you might have misread or miscalculated something. If you spot your mistake, try making the baked good again, correctly this time, and see if you succeed.
Later, once you’ve mastered that particular recipe, you can experiment a bit to create something new. Or just move on to learning a new recipe and expanding your skill set.
#7 Lamb Fail
Image source: mikehtiger
#8 I Failed At Making A Thank You Cake For My Grandmother
Image source: 6ftonalt
#9 What The Hell
Image source: midorito_101
Getting good at a new skill requires some dedication, patience, perseverance, and (if you can muster it) a good sense of humor. If we all quit the moment we made a mistake, nobody on Earth would know how to do anything. It’s pushing past our failure that creates room for growth.
Putting time into learning a new skill is one thing. But your efforts also have to be focused. In other words, it’s not enough to work hard; you also have to work smart. Think about where you could have messed up, consciously change your strategy, and see if you get different results.
#10 Make Sure To Feed The Floor Too Sometimes
Image source: No-Sun-6425
#11 I Dont Even Want To Try To Explain What Went Wrong With These Cookies Me And My Girlfriend Made
Image source: enby_pidgon
#12 Tried To Make My Blackberry Blondies, Made A Slab Of Ground Beef With Suspicious Sauce
Image source: SugarVibes
Understanding the fact that we all make mistakes in theory doesn’t automatically make it easy to accept them. Failure hurts. Failure isn’t nice. Failure sometimes keeps you up at night, cringing at being so far from perfect.
But if you develop a growth-oriented mindset, your disasters won’t sting as much. Instead, you’ll learn to embrace them because you see them as opportunities and lessons to help you improve, instead of ‘proof’ that you’re somehow awful at everything you do.
Someone who has a growth mindset understands that they can improve their skills and grow as an individual. On the flip side, if you have a fixed mindset, you don’t see much room for growth.
#13 This Was Supposed To Be A Dino Cake
Image source: No-Amount-6137
#14 So We Tried…
Image source: NellaJade98
#15 The Icing Went Wrong So I Turned The Cake Into A Worm
Image source: milenoopy
As the Harvard Business School explains, individuals with a growth mindset view challenges as opportunities, embrace constructive feedback, learn and grow from failure, and believe in skill development.
Growth-oriented individuals believe that they are capable of improving their abilities, talents, and intelligence through effort. They see things as learnable with practice.
On the other hand, according to HBS, people who have a fixed mindset avoid challenges, don’t accept failure or mistakes, believe that talent is static, and shy away from unfamiliar things.
A growth mindset is empowering, while a fixed one is limiting. This applies to any new skill or endeavor, not necessarily just baking.
#16 Second Attempt At Macarons
My first attempt went great. And then I got overconfident and tried to make shapes.
Image source: ol0516
#17 My BFF With A Lot Of Food Allergies Wanted Meli’s Monster Cookies “Substitute The Peanut Butter For Water” For Her Birthday. Can’t Say I Didn’t Try
Image source: reddit.com
#18 Mom Tried To Make Buttercream While Drunk And Unsupervised
It was also on the ceiling, and completely covered her front side too.
Image source: pass-me-a-beer
Building a growth mindset won’t happen overnight, though. You’ll need to turn it into a habit, step by step.
To start off, you can begin changing your perspective on challenges. Embrace them, instead of shying away from them.
It’s also essential that you celebrate your effort, not just flashy successes.
#19 White Chocolate & Caramel Cookies
They taste very good, they’re just flat and ugly unfortunately.
Image source: Envyra
#20 So… This Looked To Be Baking Perfectly And Happily In The Oven… This Was The Surprise On The Other Side
Image source: moominesthers_kitchen
#21 Asked My Husband For A Frog Cake For My Birthday
Image source: tirzys
“Shift your focus from only praising outcomes to recognizing and rewarding effort. Understand that consistent effort over time is the key to mastery. Try to celebrate small victories and incremental progress, which are vital steps toward achieving larger goals,” HBR suggests.
Other things to focus on include staying curious and being willing to learn new things. This might mean being open to attending workshops, learning about new trends, or asking other people for help. The new knowledge you get can help you adapt and grow.
#22 I Requested A Hedgehog Cake. This Is What My Husband Made
Image source: tirzys
#23 My Fiance’s Birthday Is Tomorrow. Icing Is Harder To Write With Than I Thought It Would Be
Image source: TeamChaosPrez
#24 Baked Actual Poison
Tried making brownies for the first time, recipe called for 16 gramms of vanilla extract, but it’s not sold in the stores here. I had the bright idea to add 16g of pure vanillin, once they were done I found out that’s effectively 100x the vanilla extract than the recipe called for. After further googling, found out that this much vanillin can put a small child in the hospital.
NEVER substitute vanilla extract for pure vanillin.
Image source: Mushroom38294
Furthermore, you have to be willing to prioritize your learning, instead of just seeking others’ approval. “This perspective shift reduces fear of judgement and frees you to pursue more ambitious, innovative projects,” HBS states.
And, of course, it’s important to actually spend time surrounded by people who embrace growth while challenging and encouraging you.
#25 Goal Was Cookies, Outcome Was Bread
Image source: Corndoginheels
#26 Black Bean Brownies Turned Out Somehow Both Burnt And Raw?
I used chia seeds as a substitute for eggs. My theory is that there was too much water in the chia egg to cook the insides, but I don’t know.
Image source: Guy_with_no_ideas
#27 The Inspiration vs. The Result
Image source: FragrantChipmunk4238
Which of these baking disasters did you find the funniest and most cringeworthy? Were there any that genuinely made you laugh out loud?
What are the biggest, boldest, bravest fails that you’ve ever produced in your own kitchen? Tell us all about it in the comments at the bottom of this list. And if you have photos of your food fails, we’d be happy to see them, too!
#28 Ugly Blueberry Muffins
Tried making homemade dairy-free blueberry muffins for the first time. They came out looking like the nasty patty from SpongeBob. They taste great thankfully!
Image source: Ok-General-5119
#29 AAA For Effort
Image source: josherwalla
#30 Dream Bake, Koala Bread (Fail). So Many Faces Of Nightmare Fuel In One Loaf
Image source: Kalamazee
#31 Tea Party Petits Fours (Tasty But Huge Fail)
Image source: laceyinsandiego
#32 Tart Shell Fail
I tried making a tart, but it just broke while baking. What can I do to prevent this in the future? I was planning to leave the tart to bake with the custard for about 2 hours at 135°C, but this happened around half an hour in the oven.
Image source: Ignis_Vespa
#33 Scared Of The Rango Cake I Made
Image source: Live-Internal-959
#34 My Wife Decided To Try Homemade Bread For The First Time. How Do Y’all Think It Turned Out?
Image source: natebark
#35 Note To Self: Think Sprinkles Are Not Meant For The Oven
Enjoy our nightmare cookies from this year’s Christmas Bake Off.
Picture 1 is just to show the types of sprinkles we used for eyes before they got blown out.
Image source: beanfox101
#36 Let’s See Everyone’s Macaron Fails… I’ll Go First
Not even sure how I did this to be honest. Im more impressed than upset.
Image source: xXNovaPrimeXx
#37 Don’t Even Know How I Failed At Cookies That I’ve Baked Countless Times. This Is Not My Night. No Comfort Cookies For Me I Guess
My crush slept with some guy and texted me about it. I congratulated her and asked for details. This always happens to me. I need a win so bad right now.
Image source: RoleplayingLlamaa
#38 Massive Fail At Prue’s Chocolate Rolls, But It Still Tasted Good This Way
Image source: thatsnotmuchcheese
#39 Protein Muffin Fail
Image source: BoxedWineBonnie
#40 Air-Inspired Vegan Blue Velvet Cake With White Frosting Clouds
Image source: Leisurelybro
#41 Levain Cookie Failed On First Attempt
Image source: kcajor
#42 Tried Making A Rum Cake For My Husband After We Began Dating
Image source: Careless_Order5271
#43 My Grandma Made This Cake. Bless Her Heart. She Tried, And It Will Be Delicious, Will Be Appreciated Regardless Of Its Appearance
Image source: kermit_the_froggie
#44 My Husband Made This Frosted Layer Cake For Our Friend’s Birthday
Image source: Felicity_Calculus
#45 Accidentally Made A Bean Cake
Image source: MacroMolecula
#46 I Thought I Could Use A Leftover Sheet Of Puff Pastry As A Tart Shell. In My Hubris, I Did Not Google It. It’s The Ugliest Thing I’ve Ever Made
Image source: climbing_headstones
#47 I Made Blueberry Muffins, Hold The Blueberries
Image source: Available_Link_9832
#48 Apparently One Was 8 Years Out Of Date-
The one on the left is the one we bought today and the one on the right was in the cupboard- Was going to make a 2 layer funfetti cake for my dad since it’s Father’s Day but apparently not.
Image source: Late-Camera5616
#49 They Are The Size Of Cakes
Image source: tiny-catgirl
#50 They Look So Disappointed In You
Image source: KetanJ0
#51 My Hideous (But Delicious) Cake Fail
Image source: Kindly_Switch_4964
#52 Epic Fail
Rookie mistake. Forgot I was proofing in the oven and then turned it on to preheat for granola bars.
Image source: Nurs_Ria_0215
#53 On Today’s Episode Of Baking Fails, I Overbaked My Cookies And They Turned Out Completely Hollow
Image source: drjimmybrungus
#54 Is There Any Way To Salvage These Brownies? I Thought I’d Be Clever And Bake Them As Cupcakes. I Failed
Ok, so I thought it’d be fun to bake these brownies as little individual cupcakes. I heavily oiled each individual cup, but the brownies still stuck because I didn’t have a cup liner big enough (they’re basically giant muffin size). Getting them out is a bit of a disaster, and the middle is just barely cooked (so that they’d be fudgy).
Image source: rvp0209
#55 I Mixed. I Baked. I Failed. My Father Says It Looks Like A Kindergartener Wrote It
Image source: Ill-Wear-8662
#56 Baking Fail. I Followed A Recipe For Snickerdoodles To A Tee And It Came Out Liquified
Image source: Environmental_Fun749
#57 “I Have Become A Baked Dough Shape. Test Failed”
Image source: RabidLeroy
#58 Had An Absolute Baking Fail Today
I was prepared for it, as I just randomly put together the recipe at 10 pm last night. Pistachio and raspberry coulis cheesecake. I think I need to put gelatin in both the coulis layer and cheesecake layer next time, so it doesn’t flop.
Image source: Particular_History50
#59 Dairy-Free Blueberry And Coconut Cake Fail
Image source: CoffeeHead22
#60 Chocolate Mousse With Cherry Jelly In A Heart-Shaped Silicone Mold (Fail)
Image source: Eliza08
#61 Me And My Sister Had High Ambitions For Our First Cake. It’s The Experience That Counts Though
Image source: thechildrenofbrisus
#62 Tried To Make A Sun And Moon Cake
I was at a birthday party, and they decided to decorate the cake during the party. They started breaking apart the cake somehow just by cutting the circle out of it, so I ended up doing the whole thing myself while they went to a convenience store for snacks. I tried to make a little sun pattern with gold sprinkles on the yellow cake before it got covered up with the writing. I also made the frosting from scratch. This is my first time doing any of this, if that excuses me for any of it.
Image source: codog_13
#63 I Made This Lovely Crime Scene Of A Raspberry Crepe Cake
Image source: barredowl123
#64 Cheesecake Cracked So Hard It Greeted Me
Spent an hour looking for the perfect cheesecake recipe, „no cracks“, followed all the hacks, didn’t overbeat the batter, didn’t overbake, let it cool slowly… Next time I walked into the kitchen – cake said „Hi!”
Image source: PuzzleheadedAd3060
#65 I Told My Family I Would Make Rolls For Thanksgiving And Practiced Tonight
They taste great and were nice and soft and perfect. They just didn’t look like turkeys.
Image source: TheQueenIsHere55
#66 My Sad Bday Cake Which I Attempted To Make For Myself
Image source: 0chronomatrix
#67 I’m A Professional Baker And Cake Decorator. Take Heart That Sometimes The Baking Gods Exact Their Vengeance Randomly
Currently trying to rid my house of the smell of burnt cake. Honestly floored at how horribly it went wrong. It’s almost impressive.
Image source: Erisouls
#68 You May Win The Most-Failed Banana Bread, But I Am The Champion Of Most-Failed Normal Bread. I Give You This:
Image source: KellyHevel
#69 My Dad’s Disastrous Attempt At Baking A Cake
Image source: Stoner10220
#70 Tried My Hand At Lemon Curd. But Then I Added Too Much Onto Fillo Dough Which Ended Up As This Baking Fail. Good Thing I Can Eat This Mistake
Image source: 420chickens
#71 I Made Those Pillsbury Croissants. I Burnt Them, But I Still Ate Them. I Don’t Waste Food
Image source: meantu83
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