Private Finished Burning Is Not Baking

Jae quickly scrubbed his hands and arms of oven dirt and carefully read the sheet handed to him. Baking was not as easy as it looked and he was going to get it right this time. He followed Katie's lead, and took the time to carefully measure each ingredient and to mix everything together until smooth. It was slower going, but he had to resist the urge to take shortcuts. The bake sale couldn't afford to lose any more goods to sell.

They were quiet as they worked, each hyper focused on the task before them. When he got to the part of filling his paper lined tray he paused. Don't fill these to the top, he mentally reminded himself. Jae filled each cup halfway and checked over his work. It actually looked good. "Katie, what do you think?" He said, for a second confirmation. "Oh, the oven." He almost forgot to preheat the oven again. Jae rushed over to the oven and set it to the exact temperature on the sheet.

Jae wiped his forehead as he worked up a sweat with all this cooking. The batter looked good, and he was feeling good about their work. Katie asked if was ready to try the muffins and Jae nodded. "Yeah!" He pulled that sheet and while they read it over and gathered supplies the oven beeped. Jae put the cupcakes in and set a timer on his phone.

Together they tackled the muffins, and they were a little more complex than the cupcakes, needing extra measuring and care when mixing in blueberries. By the time they finished and poured the batter into the cups the cupcakes finished. Jae pulled the tray from the oven and clearly some cooking god was smiling upon them as they looked perfect! "Katie, look at these!"

He placed the tray on the table, and could smell the warm vanilla wafting off them. They had actually baked something!