A Festive Weekend to Celebrate Our Mothers!!!

Hi guys!!!

Welcome back. In a hurried moment, I completely forgot to give you guys the awesome recipe for last post's mango jam/jelly/marmalade; Sorry about that. Keep reading and you'll get it. Now, these past few days, there's been much on my mind. You can practically hear the gears of my brain turning, examining the possibilities I am open to now that I've decided to take the path of hope. I'd love to illustrate on this, however, this post would be pages long. 

But anyhow...I was home this past Friday after almost a week away and just in time, as I had a series of cakes to bake to celebrate our dear Mothers on Sunday. While I debated on what to make for our celebration, I was busy baking away vanilla cake layers to complete two Vanilla Caramel Cakes. I hope both of them were more than satisfactory to my customers, as I haven't heard from them. My grandmother has also gone into a making jam frenzy, as she also received a mountain of delicious mangoes. She made two different jams/marmalades/jellies; a regular, eat-with-toast kind of  jam and another, more dense, and yummier, eat-with-ice cream kind. For our Mother's Day celebration, which would take place at hers, she requested I make a sponge cake, very much like the cake used in rolls and roulades. I, on the other hand, decided to make a cake that would resemble hydrangeas, after seeing Amanda's beautiful creation on i am baker. It, of course, looked nothing like it. My brilliant mind wanted a frosting that would compliment the carrot cake I decided to bake, so my obvious first choice was a cream cheese frosting. I had a hunch it wouldn't work as ideally as I would want for two reasons. Firstly, the petals on the hydrangeas I planned to pipe require a denser consistency and secondly, the high temperatures we're experiencing, would in no way, aid the already soft frosting's consistency. This already was not going to work. To top it off, I procured the wrong food colorings, opting for darker shades instead of pastels. Now, don't get me wrong. It's not atrocity. It just didn't look like the cake I wanted. The flavor of the cake made up for all my errors. 

Grandma was reluctant to share it

I looked up on youtube how to pipe hydrangeas and I got two different method. I opted for the typical petals, using an Ateco #104 nozzle, as it's the petal tip. The other option was a D2 tip, one I don't possess. I had a similar, smaller one, but the result was hideous. I fixed 3 piping bags (thankfully I had 3 petal tips) and prepared three different tinted frosting bowls.  I kept refrigerating the prepared bags whenever I changed color, as the heat was destroying its stability. When finalizing the top, I realized, perhaps a bit too late, that the remaining frosting would not be enough to cover the sides in wannabe petals. At this point, my abstract thoughts kicked in, and I used dollops of the remaining tinted frostings, alternating them. Using a small palette knife, I swirled, dragged and simply made a sweet mess of the frosting. It did end up looking like a weird bouquet of hydrangeas and despite my reservations, everyone said it looked pretty. Not sure if they were being honest, or just nice. Now, I plan to decorate an upcoming birthday cake in the similar matter, changing the frosting to a buttercream (naturally...), to ensure the petals look beautiful and actually resemble the flower. 

Never again. Next time: Buttercream...definitely

After a festive and rather large lunch, came dessert. We had a delicious carrot cake, provided by moi, and my grandmother's delicious mango marmalade topping a vanilla ice cream scoop over a square of the sponge I made. Altogether: heavenly!!! A lovely cup of coffee accompanied us all on the sunny afternoon, reminiscing on our childhood memories and stories and come Sunday evening, I headed home, ready to greet the kitchen once again. I told you last time, I'd be experimenting with an Apple-Pear Chutney and due to the impromptu trip and short time, Sunday evening seemed the ideal time. In no time, with help from my mother, the ingredients were grated, chopped and measured. It filled the kitchen with a exquisite and exotic smell and I cannot wait to try it tonight!!! Because it was already late, I simply waited for it to cool down completely and filled the sterilized bottles, refrigerated them and dozed off. 

The new week begin and the sun is out, shining down on a beautiful day. I already have several orders for later on and I hope to keep experimenting with new things to try out in my messy kitchen. Don't forget to try out both recipes that follow. I'm sure you're going to like them.

Until next time.

xx

The Messy Chef's Mango Marmalade

It's packed with flavor and not overly sweet

Ingredients:

8 C. pureed, ripe mango

3 C. sugar

1/2 C. lemon juice

Preparation:

Combine ingredients in a non-reactive large saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium/high heat. Reduce the heat, and let simmer for 45-60 minutes. Note, the jam is not the regular stay put consistency. It will appear runny, but it will not stick to the pan. To store, you use the canning method or simply allow to cool completely and seal in sterilized jar. Refrigerate and enjoy!!!

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Apple & Pear Chutney

Adapted from Bon Appetit, October 1986

You'll be wanting to stick your fingers in
the pot. It's that good :)

Ingredients:

4 ripe pears (Bosc or Barlett preferably) chopped

3 Granny Smith Apples, chopped

1 small onion, minced
Raisins (as many as you like)

1 C. honey

3/4 C. cider vinegar
1/2 C. minced celery
1/2 C. fresh orange juice
1/4 C. fresh lemon juice
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 T. cinnamon
2 t. grated lemon zest
1/2 t. whole mustard seed

1 t. ground allspice
1/2 t. ground cloves

1/4 t. dried chili pepper flakes

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in heavy large saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened to chutney consistency, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Spoon into clean, sterilized jars; seal tightly. Refrigerate.