Time for a new career pudding

You know those days where everything goes wrong at work to the point where you want to run away and join the circus?  Where you start to question not only your ability and expertise, but also the ethical (or lack thereof) foundation of the kind of employment you are in?

I recently had one of those days.  I since the age of seven have spent all of my life chasing the dream, full of idealism and the hope of making the world a better place.  Now it seems that everything I had convinced myself of is a small flower crushed under the heel of reality.

So I ranted.  I raved.  I actually had a crying fit from the sheer frustration of it all.

Then I did the only thing I could do - I made cupcakes.

Unmitigated Disaster Cupcakes

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 and 1/2 cup flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

Cream the butter and sugar together
Add maple syrup and cinnamon; mix well
Mix in 1 cup of flour, the add the baking soda and salt
Add egg and mix until combined
Add the milk - the mixture will start looking a little curdled, but that's okay
Mix in the remaining flour; it looks way too curdled, feel free to add in another tablespoon or two.
Spoon into cupcake cases (obviously already loaded into a 12-hole cupcake pan.  I use silicone cases, because the cakes pop out easily and the cases can be reused)

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C (375 F) for 15-18 minutes.

Of course, just like my career, these cupcakes turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.  I should have split the batter between 18 cupcake cases, not 12.  I should have paid more attention to the oven temperature.  I shouldn't have taken them in and out of the oven in a panic.  I should have used baking powder instead of baking soda.  All pretty elementary mistakes that made me question not just the wisdom of a career in science, but also what on earth was I doing making a cooking blog?

With a terrible day at work, and a tray of cupcakes that were simultaneously overflowing, slumped, burnt and underdone, all I wanted was a stiff drink. 

Three drinks later, I came up with a new plan.

Time For a New Career Pudding

3 cups cake crumbs, loosely packed (feel free to substitute your own cake disasters here)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter

Take your own cake disaster, and fork it to death until you have small pieces and crumbs
Pour 3 cups (or so) of the crumbs into a cassarole dish and laugh maniacally
Pour milk over the crumbs and take a celebratory drink
Dot the top with a little butter, or not if you don't feel like it

Bake at 180 C (345 F) (or less, if you're worried about burning it again) for... who knows.  Until it gets crispy on top I guess.  It's not like you can make it any worse at this stage.  Say somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes. 

Handy hints; place the dish on a baking tray before you put it in the oven, so that if the pudding over boils it won't go all over the oven itself.  Leave the pudding to cool a little before you try to eat it - you don't want to add another disaster to your cooking day.

Serve warm or cold.