Lessons in Baking

Baking is definitely a learning process. I used to look at food and baking blogs, expecting that whatever I choose to make will come out looking exactly like the ones pictured. After doing tons of baking in the span of three weeks, I realized that it takes trial and error as well as practice to make the food presentable and look remotely close to the ones posted by professional food bloggers. Below are my three attempts at making thumbprint cookies (recipe here) and you can see that I've made some improvements over time. Practice is EVERYTHING!

 Attempt #1

Oh gosh, I didn't realize how bad this first batch looked until I compared them to the later batches.
- Cookies are a bit flat and have cracked bottom, might have over-baked
- Jam looks sunken in 
- Glaze is too thin

Attempt #2
- Glaze looks barely there
- Cookies are puffier

Attempt #3

Best batch yet!
- The glaze is thicker
-  No more cracked bottoms
- Cookies are rounder and fluffier

Pssst, do you see a teddy bear's face on the plate in the back? Do you see it, do ya? (okay, maybe it's just me ;p)