Fail again. Fail better.

This evening I tried to make the Welsh fruitbread bara brith for the first time. All was going reasonably well, though I underestimated the amount of yeast I would need to compensate for the fat and sugar in the dough and it didn’t rise well. Nonetheless, after half an hour in the oven it was colouring nicely and I decided to remove it from the loaf tin for the last ten minutes or so. I turned the tin upside down, gave it a firm shake and watched in dismay at the crust exploded and gooey, raw dough splattered everywhere. After hours of work, it was a complete write-off.

Failure in breadmaking isn’t always as dramatic or decisive as that, but it’s always a disheartening experience. A lot goes into making bread and if things don’t go according to plan it can feel like time and effort wasted. Now, nobody who knows me would describe me as a ‘glass half-full’ kind of fellow, but I have come to understand that no matter how disastrously things turn out in the kitchen, the experience is always valuable. In fact, the bigger the mess, the better. You learn from experience, and the lessons you learn the hard way are the ones you remember best. Of course, it’s possible that this is just the way I’ve come to terms with a lifetime of failures. If so, all the more reason to put my obstinate nature to good use and try again.