The things we got wrong
This page is the log of mistakes we made before we knew better. It’s not a list of virtues, a manifesto, or a way to brag about how we fixed everything.
It’s proof that we pay attention—because the only way to earn trust is to show where we’ve failed, and how we caught it.
A site like this one lives or dies by the recipes. If a step is wrong, a measurement is off, or a method doesn’t work in a real kitchen, it doesn’t matter how pretty the photos are.
That’s why we keep this log: so you can see that we don’t just publish and forget. We notice. We correct. And we don’t pretend it never happened.
Three we had to fix
These are the first three mistakes that made it into the world before we caught them. Not the biggest errors we’ve ever made—just the ones that slipped through first. Each one cost us time, trust, or both.
Here’s how they happened, who found them, and what we did to stop them from happening again.
The log of what we got wrong
- 1The oven temperature that lied
We published a recipe for a honey-cinnamon apple galette with an oven temperature of 375°F (190°C). It came out undercooked in the center for three readers before anyone noticed. The real issue? Our test kitchen had a faulty thermometer. Joelle Grimaldi found it when a reader emailed photos of their half-raw tart. We pulled the recipe, recalibrated every thermometer, and rewrote the instructions with a 350°F (175°C) bake—then tested it three times. Now every recipe includes a note: *‘Tested with an oven thermometer.’*
- 2The baking time that didn’t add up
A sourdough apple crumble recipe claimed a 45-minute bake, but our internal tests showed it needed 60 minutes. Joelle Grimaldi double-checked the original source and realized we’d misread the ‘plus 15 minutes’ note. We updated the time, added a timer reminder in the instructions, and made a rule: *‘No recipe leaves the site until it’s baked by at least two people.’*
- 3The ingredient that wasn’t optional
A modern take on apple pie called lemon zest ‘optional’ in the ingredient list. It turned out to be the secret to the crust’s brightness—without it, the pie tasted flat. A reader’s frustrated comment (‘*This is just a boring apple pie*’) flagged the problem. Joelle Grimaldi tested it both ways and confirmed: the zest wasn’t just flavor, it was the point. We removed the word *‘optional,’* added a note about why it matters, and vowed to *‘never mark an ingredient as optional unless it’s truly interchangeable.’*
What those three changed
These mistakes didn’t just get fixed—they rewrote how we work. No more guessing, no more assumptions, and no more waiting for readers to tell us what’s broken. Here’s what we learned from them:
Rules that came from mistakes
- Every recipe must be tested by at least two people before publication. *(From the baking time that didn’t add up)*
- No ingredient is ‘optional’ unless it can be swapped without changing the dish. *(From the lemon zest that wasn’t)*
- Oven temperatures and baking times are verified with a calibrated thermometer. *(From the temperature that lied)*
The people behind this
This is Joelle Grimaldi, the founder and editor of *Apple Recipes Pie*. She’s the one who signs the corrections, the one who tests every recipe twice, and the one who still winces when she remembers the first time a reader had to tell us we were wrong.
That’s the point: if you’re only reading the recipes and not the log, you’re missing how this site stays real.
Keeping a log like this isn’t comfortable. It means admitting you don’t always get it right, that you’ll make mistakes, and that the only way to prove you care is to show where you failed.
Joelle grew up in a kitchen where her mother’s rule was simple: *‘If it’s not perfect, we’ll fix it—and if we can’t, we’ll tell you why.’* That’s how this site works, too. The log isn’t just a list of errors; it’s proof we’re still learning.
There’s a small mistake she’ll never admit to publicly: the time she burned a batch of caramel apples because she misread the sugar-to-butter ratio. The whole batch went into the trash, and she didn’t even take a photo for the site.
That’s the kind of error you don’t brag about—it’s the kind that reminds you why the log exists in the first place.
If you find something we got wrong, don’t just tell us. Use it. Try the recipe again. Adjust it. And if it’s still broken, tell us—because the next correction might be yours.
There will be a next one
This log isn’t finished. There will be more mistakes, and when there are, we’ll add them here. If you spot something that doesn’t add up—a wrong measurement, a method that doesn’t work, a recipe that needs a fix—let us know. The contact page is the place to go.
We’d rather hear it from you than from someone who tries it and gives up.
The recipes are grouped by category: Appetizers, Beverages, Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Main Courses and Reviews.