Nailed It! - Nailed It!: Baking Challenges for the Rest of Us

Welcome to the official Nailed It!cookbook! Whether you are an experienced baker looking to challenge yourself or have never baked without a cake mix, I am so very glad you have chosen to come on this baking journey with us.

I think what makes the show so authentically delightful is that it proves that everyone can bake and have a good time doing it. We rarely get anything perfect on the first try. Do you remember the first day you rode a bicycle? You fell! Nobody jumps on a bicycle and doesnt fall. But you get back up, learn from your experience, and try again. And eventually, you get better until youre riding around as if you were born doing it.

Its the same with baking. Everyone starts out less-than-perfect and if you make sure to have fun while youre doing it, you cannot lose. I tell the new chefs in my kitchen: You might not do it as well as me the first time, but do it a couple times and youll improve, and eventually you might even do it better than me!

I know the kitchen can be an intimidating place for many people, but it shouldnt be! It is actually the best place to spend time with your friends and familyto cook and be together. My son is four years old, so everything he touches in the kitchen is a little bit of a catastrophe, but he loves trying and discovering. He really enjoys making and decorating cookies and chocolates. Even when I make my coffee in the morning, he says, Papa, let me do it for you! How cute is that? My daughter is two, and when we made gingerbread houses this holiday season, she put more of the candy in her mouth than on the house. Its fun to crack eggs, play with dough, decorate with frosting and mold chocolate.

My favorite part of Nailed It!and this book is that they show us things dont have to be perfect to be wonderful. Too often, the stress of modern life causes us to want everything to be a certain way. You might end up with a cake thats a little bit crooked or doesnt look exactly right, but you will still have a cake! A deliciousone, as long as you promise to read the recipe and not swap the sugar for salt or something (my mouth still tingles at the memory of that Humpty Dumpty cupcake from Season 2). No matter how your recipes turn out, you should be proud of yourself too. Proud that you tried something so outrageous (like an erupting volcano cake!), that you opened yourself up to a new experience, and that you learned along the way.

I am proud of you for challenging yourself with these crazy recipes and cannot wait to see the amazing creations you make. I am rooting for you, and I know that in the end, you will have nailed it!

Happy Baking!

Jacques

Share your creations with me on social media @jacquestorres using
#NailedItCookbook

Baking used to be nothing but joy. Sweet, sweet joy.

A stress-relieving activity for family and friends that started in giggles and ended in something delicious. Enter Pinterest and Photoshop. Like the horsemen of the Apocalypse, they rode in and destroyed the dream. Suddenly, our feeds were filled with images of dessert perfection, and we were stuffed with shame.

The gorgeous photographs called to us, and we wanted to make it all: the rubber ducky cupcakes, the rock candy geode cakes, the elaborately braided pies, the ombr mermaid milkshakes. The pictures made it look so easy. But it was all a lie.

We shouldve guessed from the number of rainbow unicorns that the photos were selling a fantasy, but we tried anyway. And failed. Oh, how we failed! Our colors bled, our cakes collapsed, and our mythical horses looked like monsters. Frustration built, tears were shed, and more than one birthday was ruined.

Our only solace was in seeing the fails of others posted onlinebut laughing at someone elses melted Cookie Monster didnt make up for our wasted time and trash can food.