Cup cakes, Jam Squares, Birthday Cake

The plans of mice and men.... 

Vanilla and strawberry 4-layer cake

I am no man and am, certainly, no mouse, but in the past two weeks my plans have gone awry. No, not in a 'all going wrong' kind of way, I just did not get to do some of the things I wished I could do. There are reasons why, I am but one person, I got tired, I had the Master to attend to etc. But, despair not, dear reader, I do have quite a lot to share....now that I think about it, we may have to do this in two instalments.

I have got to the point where I just cannot wait to get out of the office, because there is always something exciting waiting for me to do in the Miskit Kitchen. The excitement of doing my orders for my friends, who are now in the list of 'first customers'. I spend the week, collecting most of what I need, so that I have very little to do at the shops before heading home.

Two Fridays ago I had an order for cup cakes, jam squares and a birthday cake from different people.

As excited as I was to get on with it, I thought, I could do with some company while I work. Two people came to my rescue, namely Mmule and Lucky. Their job was to keep me company, keep me entertained while I baked so that I could wake up early and ice the cake and cup-cakes.

Only when the work had started, did I remember that Lucky actually was no stranger to the kitchen, as he did go to Hotel school. So in moments when I needed a second pair of hands, he was my man.

 

Pans ready for the mix



Most of the conversation that night was about our Mothers, their antics in their kitchens and the things we miss about those.  It is surprising that the things we found most irritating about our Moms in the kitchen, are either the rules we follow now, or the stuff of fond memories. Besides chatting and providing the, much required, libations,Mmule and Lucky greased the pans and kept the place in working order.



Vanilla sponge into pans, mark the Blackberry in the background



All done, waiting for icing

The cup cakes and jam squares were easy enough to do. The adventure here was to be the birthday cake. Thank fully it was not a character cake, seeing as it was for someone's Mom, cos that would have been an epic battle due to skills shortage. I had decide to raise the bar, somewhat and do what I always wanted to do, i.e. bake a pink strawberry flavoured sponge. This was to be a 4-layer cake with alternating colours.

Research (no, not scientific) had yielded little I was confident in, but I decided to put together ideas from different sources. Firstly, I added the colouring to the buttermilk. I then chopped up some frozen strawberries (could not find any nice fresh ones) and added them to the mixture. It worked like a charm. Yay, me!!

Lyk lekker pienk, ne?

Looked and smelled yummy, confidence levels very high!

                             

And the next day dawned, bright and beautiful, with just the right lighting in my kitchen to inspire happy colours on my wares as I iced ( Note to self: If I ever move, I must ensure natural light just as good or better). But first off  to market to get ingredients for my next personal challenge - Quiche. I had to go there before finishing off the order as they close at 10h00.

I got back and started making pretty. While I was working, I remembered that I actually had received a lazy-susan some years ago as a gift. Boy did that Suzy come in handy! Actually, there are things I have bought in the past and received as gifts that are really showing their worth on this journey. 

Fun with icing, colours and sprinkles!

Susan ain't lazy! She really stepped up! 

 In the end, I had happy customers, all smiles and rushing off to enjoy their purchases. Me? I was tired, I was happy.

Zuks, off to school function

Linda, Mama will be very happy with B'day cake

                 

The quiche did not happen, I simply could not face the oven, nay the kitchen any more. But I will share one last picture from that weekend, that of the quiche waiting to happen:



Quiche ingredients, most of which come from my favourite Farmer's Market in Shongwein



Sunday was a day of shopping. Having spent all that time in the kitchen, I had made a list of certain pieces of equipment, I needed to have if this is to be any fun. Yes, the Master and I had fun shopping, me mostly. Cookie cutters, spatulas, cooling racks, etc....a certain department store was a few hundred rand richer.

Next time, I will tell you all about Shrove Tuesday and the quiche...

The week that was....cont.

Wednesday - in some circles known as Klein Saterdag

Dawned as normal a day as you would have it...but by 11 pm I was still going, and what a buzz! I had two urgent orders, one for cheesecake and one for jam squares to be delivered Thursday, so I can make time for the Saturday deliveries. No, no Sterdag in sight. 

The concept of Klein Saterdag (Small Saturday), came from colonial times when Wednesday was a half day, for some odd reason. In fact when I was a student in Alice in the Eastern Cape in the 90's, some of the businesses in that town still operated under that system.

Clearly mine was no half-day. I had promised the Master that we would cook supper together, a promise I could not re-negotiate, so Mac 'n Cheese it was to be. Besides his enthusiasm to be in the kitchen with Ma, I was just excited to finally use the cute baking dish I bought a few weeks ago. 



Mac 'n Cheese with bacon & Mushroom



Master grated the cheese, chopped the herbs, cut the bacon and mixed the whole thing when the sauce was ready. It may sound like he did a lot of the work, but if you have ever worked with a small person in your kitchen, you will know it can be taxing. We did have lots of fun however. It is also his job to listen for the timer, and yell, "Mama, oven is ready!!" at the top of his lungs in our small flat.  and I always worry whether he will eat the food we make, because he is something of a fussy eater when it comes to foods unfamiliar. No, my boy was not going to disappoint this time, he dug in and enjoyed every morsel.

With the Master fed, we had a few minutes of reading time before I sent him to bed. The urgency, of course, being that I needed to use the food processor, which is no friend of his. Then my fun continued.

I love jam-squares! They remind me of my Ma. We always had them in the kitchen, my Tata (who will intermittently be referred to as Hubby), loved them and had them with everything at anytime, his coffee in the morning, his coffee when he came back from work - before supper and with custard or ice cream when he felt like random dessert.

Before they are cut...they sit there innocently

I have not always loved jam-squares, they were, for the bulk of my teenage years and early adulthood, the bane of my existence, yes, a thorn on my side. Both parents working, one girl in the house, who do you think ended up baking those things, day after day? They cramped my style! I would bake, what I thought was, a week's supply but then the friends, brothers, cousins and family-circle kids would sommer waltz in and head straight for the cupboard, Hubby in tow, and just munch! The next day Mr Ntanga would still expect to have his jam-squares, thank you, very much!

But I obviously have a forgiving heart and yes, absence does make the heart grow fonder, the squares take me back to a happy time.

Jam-Squares: All ready to go!

So I made a batch of jam squares, and a cheese cake. By the end of it all I was tired but ever so elated!

In store for this weekend, another order for jam-squares (can't seem t escape them) a batch of cup cakes and a birthday cake...this is gonna be such fun!! Oh yes, another try at the Red velvet Cake

Enjoying the ride, bumps and all!

The week that was...

Oh, how I have missed this page, It's only been a week but am already having withdrawal symptoms!! I think I'm going to have to schedule a regular update. Right now, I have so much to write and after the evening I have had, not sure if I my fingers will manage. But....we die trying!

The fire in the kitchen has not died, though after a few hiccups this weekend, and an epic migraine, there have been a few set backs. Just to show that I really am enjoying this, I have not done what I normally do, (curl up in a ball and play dead) here I am soldiering on.

Where to start??? Well since taking the baking classes, I have decided that each weekend, I will do some of the work covered in class, i.e. bake some and then do one big challenge. The challenge could be something I have always wanted to try or something I see on a site or blog.


The last time the red velvet looked any good...

 This past weekend I made some yummy savoury biscuits, with cheddar, pepper and rosemary...I dare say I done good! Then came the challenge...over confident I decide to try a red velvet cake...'nough said! it was an epic disaster... Suffice to say after trying a new technique with vinegar and 'baking soda' it went pear-shaped.
Thank the Lord for the people in my class, we went through some of what could have been my mistakes and  I now have the courage to try again.




Lucy stirs the custard while I take pics

 Class on Tuesday as great fun...we made tarts...love that word 'Tart!' First was a quiche with smoked trout and capers. then the sweet stuff. after the abuse from my GrandMa and great Aunts, I thought I would never make custard from scratch again....Lucy (our Teacher) has changed all that! what with her coconut milk custard....mmmh to die for. So there is another thing I now have the strength to do. The tarts came out beautifully, can't wait for the weekend to try them on my own.






Ms Kags at the stove stirring custard like my life
depends on it - NOT!

 


1st batch with kiwi, and 2nd with figs...all to die for!

 
 



This we shall call the Miskit Lemon Cheesecake - a house specialty 



In the midst of it all I had promised a colleague I would make a cheese cake for her, so that had to be done too. Am happy to say I had to enlist help for these and my trusty Elizabeth (to be referred to henceforth as Bete) came to the rescue and did most of the work.  I take full credit for the candies lemons on top! Stroke of genius right there!

Am still waiting for the external review (from said customer)...will let you know



Since taking this ride, it has felt like a runaway train, a roller coaster, and all those things...what I do know for sure is that I am loving it! For the forst time in a long time I am just happy in myself. I feel like I have found something that I have been searching for for years, but didn't even know I was looking for. Guess what, it has been right under my nose the whole time. 

As my head gets bigger I may forget to acknowledge this one person....

Mama, Thank you...your hard work was not for nothing after all! 

The Kitchen Goddess was on fire this weekend!

Here's the next installment...ideally this should be accompanied by pictures, we'll see if I can do that successfully, it is worth a try.

Last week was quite exciting. I attended my first lesson at a baking class in Durban. This is not because I don't know how, but because I want to take it to the next level. I did learn quite a few things in those three hours, and the interaction and camaraderie was most welcome. It is also comforting when your much acclaimed instructor keeps reminding you that she did not study this, but loves it and has perfected the art overs years of practice and sheer courage.

Of course I also started my blog on Friday, and am getting quite a buzz from navigating this new world.

What I want to focus on in this post are my culinary adventures over the weekend. I must credit the assistant chef, The Master.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and saw the Master and I take our cherished drive up the hill to the Shongweni market. This has become quite the tradition in our household. Besides what I want to see or buy, the Mater has a very simple plan...get to market, look through the stalls, buy cup cakes from Madeleine's and chipolatas from the breakfast stall, sit on haystacks to enjoy said goodies and then go 'jump'. The 'jump' is a trampoline based contraption where he feels like he'll touch the sky - no trip to Market is complete without the jump.

Planning to have a bake-a-thon the next day we got fresh eggs from the Egg Lady and went off the nearest shopping centre for the rest of the ingredients. Our business done it was off for a visit to our friend, Mamsie's.



Tender steak with onion and port



Here I found the madam had bought some great looking steaks and I could not resist the urge to offer to prepare them myself. A year ago I would not have touched the stuff. Steak was a challenge for me to the point that I convinced myself that I did not like it. Late last year, I remembered a conversation I once had with my Ma where she was defending my Dad, because we had said he is not a  new-age man and just sits there with his newspaper (teenage rantings that had nothing to do with the man's character). In her spirited defence for her beloved, she told me how it was he who had taught her how to cook stiff-pap and how to prepare a perfect steak. It was in that conversation that she gave me the theory...more than 30 years later I remembered and decided to try it, just a s she had said it. It worked! I then decided to give it some more and so added onion , mushroom and wine/sherry/port (subject to availability) to make a sauce...can I say jus?

I was mighty chuffed with the results, and the diners were indeed happy. Tough critics these are, so this is a huge plus for me. Having set the tone with my steaks the evening went off splendidly!

As Durban weather goes, Sunday was just as beautiful a day as the previous. We rushed off to holy mass...8 o'clock is not easy when you have to content with a four-year-old.  We came back to start our bake-a-thon. On the plan, were cupcakes and a vanilla sponge cake (practice from my class on Tuesday) and a granadilla/passion fruit cheese cake (recipe copied from a blog on the net). Master was excited, I was keen to go and so we started.



Master crushes and mixes the base for cheesecake

 First job for the master was to make the base for the cheesecake. he had a great time crushing the biscuits and mixing it all up with the butter. Once he had finished that and we placed it in the fridge to set, he went on to grease all the pans we would need. What I had not counted on was that he is terrified of the food processor, in fact anything that makes that kind of noise. That is when I dubbed him "The Fugitive Assistant Chef" Each time I had to start the machine, I had to tell him so that he could go and hide in the other room away from the noise. Once we got that out of the way, we got our rhythm and carried on. It is the job of the assistant chef to sift flour and he rose to the occasion.

The cups came out alright and so did the sandwich sponges, though I must admit I was feeling a little insecure about them. The cheesecake looked good. Assistant chef went off-duty leaving Ma to figure out the decorations.



"I know what to do, Mama, I can do it myself!"



"Must I put for all of them, Mama?"

The decoration may seem a simple enough task to many, but this is not always the case. There were  a few new factors for me, in fact, I was glad the Master was out of the way.

1. This would be the first time I would be using my piping bag for anything
2. I had learned a new way with glace icing. Mine had always gone too runny or too hard
3. This was my first cheesecake attempt ever and did not want to traumatise the poor child when I wailed at the failure
4. I had never successfully used colouring

The results, I am happy to say were not bad at all. I am as pleased as punch. The feedback from the tasters who are also my first customers (at the office) has been encouraging. I already have an order for cupcakes for a birthday next month.



The fruits of my happy toil!!!

Thank you to all my beloved who have shown faith in me so far, even when I had none in me. Today is one of those days I feel like I could conquer the world!!!

The first step

You would think that a person like me would be comfortable starting a blog and getting on with it...it is not so.

Right now, I am posting this just to see if I really can. At this point I don't even know what I want to say in my intro post. Do I just tell people who I am, but then they are who they are, why would they care?? Do I start blabbing about all the things I want to do, what I have done and what I am interested in?? The question here is "Where do I start?"

Well, what I do know is that I have had a good look at what I love to do, and have decided that perhaps now would be a good time to do those things more, derive more pleasure from them and who knows, maybe I will finally live off it. So the blog is meant for me to share with like minded people and people I can learn from. The challenge here is what I have seen on the bloggosphere has intimidated me somewhat.

You will meet Kags who (like most people) is a lot of things.

• A Mother (a proud and doting one, I might add) to Xhanti, who shall forthwith be referred to as the Master - more about that later
• An aspirant patisserie chef (just the sound of that is scary...maybe just stick to "Bakes awesome cakes"
• A student - this I have not done in years, but have taken it up again this year, seems the brain does rust after all
• Fencer - this sounds odd, I only started fencing last year (2010) but I actually love it.
• ...and so on including being a single urban chick (the challenges of this role may require a blog of their own, so we will leave it at that)

So, I will share my thoughts, ask for advice, learn from this experience and most importantly, I am determined to have fun doing it all. Otherwise, what is the point!?