Considering that I have an interest in the intersections of food and music, the latest Daring Bakers Challenge on Opera Cake should have been a perfect challenge for me. I loved the idea of a complex structure, a multi-layered and textured cake, and something that takes hours and hours to make being named after opera.

But I suffered the same downfall of so many a performer—lack of preparation. I started the cake two days in advance of the posting date, basically hoping that everything would go smoothly the first time out. I should have known better.

It was a series of mishaps—imagine a performance where the prima donna gets her braids tangled in her horns and the conductor is a bit tipsy. Too coarse almond meal made the joconde base far too crumbly. I tried to make a butter cream from a sugared syrup, which immediately solidified on the beaters of my hand mixer, turning them into enormous lollipops. I did manage to salvage enough for one minature cake, which at least looks good (even though it didn’t taste good). The critics would have panned me.

Ah well. I learned my lesson: the only way to get to (the bakery next to) Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice.

Check out some of the more successful attempts at the Daring Bakers Blogroll. If you dare to try the recipe for yourself, it can be found here. Thanks to the organizers, as always.

(This post originally appeared on Cookthink)