By batch 12 I had stopped hoping and started measuring. The tray came out of the oven, cooled on the counter while everyone pretended not to hover, and then the whole family gathered around it the way people gather around a campfire.
Dad tapped the top first. He always does. He likes to hear the crackle before he commits. Mum went in for the first bite, and then my sister, and then the room did something it never does in our house. It went completely quiet.
In a family this loud, that is the highest compliment there is. Nobody said a word until the plate was empty.
Two changes got us there. We switched to a gentler fruit sweetness, which let the cacao stand up properly, and we added a pinch of sea salt right at the end. I also pulled the tray earlier than felt comfortable. That last one turned out to matter most.
What I wrote down
In the notebook, under batch 12, I wrote two words and circled them twice: good sign. I have been trying to live up to that circle ever since.