Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good
I recently planned my next baking project; a coffee and walnut cake. When I considered my options for decorating it my brainstorming session quickly escalated from walnut halves, to chocolate covered coffee beans, to...walnut whips.
Once I had landed on walnuts whips in my brain I couldn't un-think them. It had to have them. I became obsessed with them. My brain can be so stupid sometimes.
A walnut whip has three components: chocolate, marshmallow and a half walnut. So I needed to get hold of some for the cake. Simple.
I came up with five options:
Buy a pack of walnut whips from the shop.
Build a factory that creates walnut whips to the same quality as Nestle.
Bake walnut whips from scratch using a Prue Leith recipe, that has 16 steps, with a walnut biscuit base, fresh marshmallow and tempered chocolate.
Make a cheat version using a mould, use pre-made marshmallow and tempered chocolate, but with no ability to alter the height.
Create a hybrid version of 3 and 4, with pre made marshmallow, tempered chocolate and a cake base to make in effect a mini walnut whip cake.
After trying to buy a pack of walnut whips at five shops I had to order online from you know who, and not being a billionaire I couldn't build a walnut whip factory. So over the last couple of weekends I had a go at baking versions of the last three. They are very tricky little things to bake I can tell you.
There is an old saying- “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”. This is appropriate for baking and transformation as people will be on a continuum of perceptions for what perfect and good look like. Engaging hearts and minds here is crucial on the transformation journey.
Sometimes, you may need to find a mid-point. Like my walnut whips, buying in may not be an option due to availability. There may be no budget to invest heavily in a new operation. There may be no time to create a perfect solution. A 'moulded' approach may not provide enough flexibility. So a mix of approaches could be just the ticket to create something ‘good’ enough. Just remember to keep the reins on any brainstorming sessions!
The pictures show my R&D process for my walnut whip cake - 3 layers of coffee and walnut cake, covered with peanut butter and espresso buttercream icing and decorated with walnuts, chocolate covered coffee beans and a circle of mini walnut whips cakes.
