Ah, cooking. A gift not all of us have been lucky enough to be bestowed. The experts on the internet make it look so easy with their well-lit DIY YouTube tutorials. But the fact of the matter is even if you follow all the steps, you simply may not find the recipe turns out exactly how you planned. Or even close.
These unlucky folks may not be the next contestants on Top Chef… but at least they have a sense of humour! After their adventures in cooking went awry, they pulled out their cameras to capture the disasters and share their defeat with the world.
1) Expectation vs Reality
Okay, the cupcakes I can understand. But the face?! How did this happen? Were there every any legs or a tail, or was this always going to be a scary floating dragon dog? I hope the cake tastes good because this is sure to scare off a bunch of kids at a birthday party.
2) Caramel lava cake
“I forgot I was making caramel at work. It’s a tad overcooked.”
Wow. I didn’t know there was a DIY recipe for lava. But this absent-minded cook unintentionally found a way. I don’t know if I should be impressed… or terrified.
3) Yum… cold stock soup.
“This sums up my day. Why isn’t my stock simmering…it’s been over an hour…”
A watched pot never boils… but it also won’t boil if you leave it on the wrong burner and walk away.
4) “Sugar and cinnamon pooptzels”
I’m sure they taste delicious but… yeah. I’m not sure if I could bring myself to eat one of these. What do you think? Does the smell of cinnamon sugar nullify the visual here?
5) “It’s easier than boiling an egg”
“Forgot to set a timer boiling eggs. The sound of them exploding reminded me.”
What a way to be reminded! Imagine hearing this and how quickly you would sprint to the kitchen to see the damage. I’ve never asked myself what would happen if I left eggs boiling on the stove, but I’m happy that I now know the answer.
6) This could ruin a vacation
This is a classic case of Instagram being misleading. The expectation vs reality for this one is too strong. All you want is to make fun, bright summer cocktails for you and your friends… then BAM the banana doesn’t co-operate and suddenly your fun-loving dolphin idea turns sinister.
It looks more like an angry eel than a dolphin.
7) From lattice to splattice
All that hard work gone! This would be absolutely devastating after all the hard work in getting the decorations just so. I would never bake again due to grief.
8) When you see it…
I thought this looked perfectly delicious. But it seems the chef didn’t know their own strength! They may have been a little too overzealous when cutting their meal…
9) This would be soul-destroying
This is why cooking isn’t for people like me (and definitely not this guy). It requires too much attention and some of us just really can’t multi-task! I hope he got away with using store-bought stock. It’s the thought that counts in the end, isn’t it?
10) There’s no coming back from this one
“When I wanted to make spaghetti. But all signs pointed to it not happening.”
Geez, how do you even get rid of a disaster like this? This is the moment when you pull up the Uber Eats app, my friends. It definitely wasn’t meant to be.
11) This is going to give me nightmares
Imagine coming down to your kitchen and finding this haunted pie sitting out, cooling on the table. I would love to know exactly what the cook had in mind here… Teeth do not belong on a pie. Stick to simple, non-threatening lattice please people!
12) They tried…
They really thought “how hard can it be? Homer is a cartoon.” And found out the hard way that it can be very hard.
This looks like the version of the cake that had to be made to avoid copyright issues.
13) Don’t put icing on red cakes
These are strawberry cakes baked in cat moulds. In some ways, could definitely be worse. In others… they look like burn victims.
14) Believe in yourself, but have a back up plan.
“What my brother was trying to make vs what he actually made”
I genuinely love that someone who clearly doesn’t have much cake-decorating experience thought they could pull this off. We should all aspire to have this much self-confidence.
15) You’re telling me french fries did this?
The only explanation this Imgur user gave us is: “My sister made some french fries.” And that simply doesn’t answer enough of my questions. What. The. Heck. Happened here. Call the police and have them investigate, I must know.
16) This guy is just not having a good day
“Came home late from work, drop my open sandwich in the parking lot. Go to make pasta, the first pot slips and I pour it all on the ground. Make a second pot and the handle straight up breaks and my pasta goes everywhere. Didn’t eat; had a lil cry.”
I would cry too tbh.
17) DIY death apple
Home invasion? No problem. Just snap the handles off of your apple slicer and voila, homemade weapon. You will first require super-hero strength and a very flimsy apple slicer. But it looks pretty terrifying!
18) We’ve all been here
Well, maybe not exactly here. I can’t say I’ve ever been in this situation, but I can safely say I don’t wish this on anyone. Not even my worst enemies. There’s no way those slippers recovered from this debacle. R.I.P.
19) But… why?
What recipe lead this woman to believe corn could be left alone on a flame for 2.5 hours?! Now it’s goth corn. I can only imagine what it would look like when the little bits got stuck in your teeth! If anyone was brave enough to try it, that is.
So my wife grilled corn tonight.
For 2 1/2 hours. pic.twitter.com/lJFFVXThiQ
— Bent Wookie (@therallyking) July 30, 2019
20) Oh my
Dear me… how did this even happen?! They’re very… detailed. Send this to a friend who loves sausage rolls.
When sausage rolls go wrong… 😨🤔🤣 pic.twitter.com/A6sPntwa3P
— Fi 🍂🕯❄🕯🍂 (@Fibutton) June 10, 2017
21) Whoopsie daisy
“My own invention. Eggplant with a side of melted knife.”
Note to self: always always always check the tray before popping it in the oven. I can only imagine the intense plastic odor in the air after this one. And can we be honest… that eggplant doesn’t look like it was going to be a smash hit in any case.
22) Food should just never ever be blue
“I was making Thai basil chicken then I turned around for a minute and my brother put blue food dye in it. He’s 19.”
This is like the modern-day Asian fusion version of Green Eggs and Ham. I respect the brother for his version of how to spice up the meal, but I really don’t think any food should ever be blue. Would you still eat this?
23) Improvise, adapt, overcome
“Got drunk last night and wanted pizza and didn’t want to spend money.”
This looks… umm… not great. But I love the dedication to budgeting. Most people’s financial responsibility goes out the window when they drink. So, kudos, I guess?
24) This banana bread could not be tamed
The best part about this, is that while it looks wild, it’s still totally edible. In fact, the bit that escaped looks perfectly cooked. Get a fork!
If you have to have a baking fail, this is the best case scenario.
25) Don’t cry over spilled soup
This looks bad enough as it is. But the caption claims it was five minutes before close after a 12 hour day. I cannot imagine the floor of emotions going through this person’s head right now. Stay strong, you can do it!
26) Start with the easy animals
This person has clearly never seen a lamb before. – that’s the only explanation for this atrocity. If someone presented me with this cake on my birthday I would be both scared and elated that they tried.
27) Absolutely defeated
This is just like Episode 26, Season 5 of The Office. The tragic first 30 seconds of the episode when Kevin spills his chilli. I can’t think of anything more upsetting, and I totally understand this girl’s reaction. At least the cat is there to help clean up!
28) I want to speak to the manager of this kitchen store, please
I don’t understand how this even happened. What kind of kitchen equipment can’t handle the stove? I don’t even think we can blame this one on the roommate.
In case you ever think your roommate is dumb… let me one up you pic.twitter.com/INsZbAfnNv
— anie (@_aniebananie9) December 18, 2019
29) Stick to buying commercial wine, I think
This just came with a Lithuanian caption that translated to: “Dad tried to make wine.”
I have sooo many questions. I don’t even know where to begin. Just throw the whole kitchen out and start again.
30) These pancakes are cursed
This is almost a little Nightmare Before Christmas. But if that’s not the intention… I can fully understand why this was a terrifying experience. Can’t exactly serve this to your child without traumatizing them, can you?
thought id make some pancakes tonight, flipped the pancake and almost fucking shit my pants 😭 pic.twitter.com/dcMXeFOR2U
— mics (@miiiccczzz) March 5, 2019
31) Definitely not what she was expecting
This person wanted to make a wholesome lobster-shaped cake and look where it got them. No where good! I would love to know if the creators of this crustacean-themed baking pan have ever actually tested it or…?
32) This monster mash
“Apparently using a syringe to inject the filling of a jelly bun doesn’t work that well.”
I mean, that’s debatable. If they were trying to come up with a killer and creative Halloween snack… they’ve succeeded.
33) Croissants for dinner?
“Asked my boyfriend to bake the croissants for our dinner…”
Okay, he didn’t do a very good job. But maybe this is fate telling you not to eat croissants for dinner. What kind of meal is that?! I need answers.
34) Thanksgiving can be tough
The art of roasting a holiday turkey should not be under estimated! Whoever did this did more than just forget to continuous baste it, or leave it in a little too long. It is literally scorched. Hopefully they had a back up option! Better luck next year.
35)
“My submission for dumbest way to injure yourself: I burnt my hand taking tomato soup out of the microwave. The toast I was making popped up and it scared me.”
36) Is this an art installation?
I have no idea how they managed to do this, but why does it look so beautiful? Appetizing, nah, not really. And maybe it’s just the colorful plate in the background, but this speaks to me.
37) Do not mess with the recipe
“Bake bread they said… an overnight rise will taste so good they said… put in the fridge they said… it’s so a rewarding hobby they said…”
Wow this did not go according to plan. It wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t destroy the area around it in the fridge in the process. Don’t give up! But maybe go easy on the yeast next time, ok?
38) What kind of fish is this?
I truly can’t imagine what the pastry chef had in mind when they went to decorate this cake… but I can promise you this wasn’t what they envisioned. Apparently it was supposed to be a hedgehog, but I don’t know a hedge hog who has a terrifying human-like mouth like this one. This is cursed.
39) I don’t care how much you love Ice Age…
…this is simply not okay! The stuff of nightmares! Imagine going to check on your meal just to find it staring back at you? Instant loss of appetite… I may never be able to look at the chicken the same way again.
40) Expectation vs. Reality
They really had the best of intentions. But these dough-demons had other plans. I would drive that thing to the edge of town and leave it there so it couldn’t crawl out of the garbage bin and terrorize my home in the middle of the night. It looks ominous.
41) So close
This charming daughter baked her mom a home-made cherry pie. It almost made it to the table… but not quite. It’s the thought that counts though, right? I think the worst part about this is the clean up.
42) This ain’t right
“Black bean “burrito” my roommate made with rice paper. He was out of tortillas and said, “I didn’t think it would look like that.”
Rice paper as a substitute for tortillas?! I want to commend the creativity but we’ll have to give this one a miss, thanks.
43) But mug cakes are so easy…
This is an easy recipe that somehow went wrong. I can only imagine the state of that microwave, yikes! But don’t let this discourage you. You can still try to make your own DIY mug cake with oreos and milk. If you only put it in the microwave for a minute at a time, this won’t happen to you.
44) I like that he updated Twitter
He could have left it with the internet and pretended everything was okay with his delicious-looking cheesecake. But I’m sooo happy he chose to update us all with the tragic demise. Not only did it go down, it had to splatter all over the fridge shelves, too. Very unfortunate indeed.
45) Hi, Charlie
“Someone left a bread pudding in the back of the oven for 5 days. So here is my new pet rock, Charlie.”
Charlie looks crispy. It’s a miracle he didn’t crumble to bits – science is crazy.
46) It’s the thought that counts!
This woman tried to make her brother a birthday cake but it didn’t quite go as planned. But instead of feeling grumpy about it and throwing out a perfectly good cake (good tasting, not looking), they got creative. Nice save.
47) Note to self – never get an air fryer
“Tried cooking a potato in my new air fryer today.”
This looks like something out of The Lord of the Rings. This is Mount Doom… in a potato. the presentation on a Christmas plate is what gets me though.
48) On trend, at least
“Attempted to make flower pancakes for my wife… ended up looking like Corona cakes.”
Sometimes it feels like we can’t escape this virus! No matter where you go or what you do, it’s on your mind. Even when innocently trying to cook a nice breakfast.
49) “Found the spoon, honey”
Someone must have been drunk-baking for this to happen. I mean… how does an entire spoon get lost!? The only explanation is an empty bottle of wine.
50) There’s always a silver lining
“Tonight was foreign culture night in my house so I decided to cook a traditional dish from Pompeii.”
I like their gusto and ability to spin this horrific outcome as if it was intentional. I would genuinely love to know what this was originally supposed to be… it’s burnt beyond recognition!
So the next time you forget to strain your pasta, or your homemade cake decorations don’t turn out exactly as you planned, just remember… you’re not alone. But if there’s anything we’ve learned… it’s that maybe we should stick to the basic recipes for now.
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