Monday, March 26, 2012

One for the past :)

Icing: for the 1st time


Few days back I was checking my orkut profile (after a year, I am a FB addict)  and saw my albums in there. I had pictures of the cakes I baked during college. That’s when I conceived with this new thought.

This post is to rekindle my memories related to food as a kid. When I was six or seven making mud-pies and flower curries was a daily routine with my neighbor friends. My grandparents had a big garden those days so it was fun picking flowers, leaves and small berries to play with. I used to steal flour, milk, vegetables from amma's kitchen for my cooking. It was fun till I got caught. Then my parents got me a new baby brother to play ( read fight) with and i stopped making pies :p.


Marble cake

 During most of my teens it was just making omelets and occasional fried Maggi. I did not like cooking at all. Going to school, finding friends, fighting with my brother, trying to study, watching cartoon and much more was going on then.

It was during college that the miracle happened. Amma got herself a conventional oven to bake cake. That's when I remembered a big fact that amma used to bake, when I was very small. I used to sit near her and watch her take out her big oven (round, somewhat an ancient model) and wipe it. It used to take up a big space in the cupboard. She also had a big recipe book from which most of her food came from. She would take out a big chunk of avin butter and slowly beat it into the right consistency. Then the eggs will be beaten for while and the other ingredients will go in after checking her book. Then she would place the cake mix in her oven and set the temperature. We would  sit near the oven and wait for the cake to raise and get shape. She would say that electricity is the most important thing and if the current fails the cake flops. Nostalgic, I can still smell the cake. All this will happen in the late nights, amma's specialty.


Banana cake

She also made butter biscuits, jams, squashes and her own ketchup. The saddest part is that no one in my house realized its worth. I did not eat the cake or the biscuits, it was not shop brought. She made them for me and I did not appreciate the value of it. Appa, I guess never bothered to tell anything. One fine day she packed all her equipments and sent them to the loft and never baked again. That's it, end of sad story :P


Oats cookies- hot from the oven!!


So after years she got the spirit back and this time she did not bake, I did. It was my friend Roobaja who gave me the idea. She got Nita Mehta's cook book from her cake baking friend Aliah Hoda and we were so tempted to bake one ourselves. So the operation 'cake-bake' began and it turned out well. We were jumping in joy to see our first cake raise and take shape, its always a joy for me to stand next to the oven see the fruits of my labor. Amma was really proud of me and my brother gorged the cake in two hours. What more do I need?


My birthday cake :)

So it started, my love for baking. All the birthdays in my family was topped with a home baked cake and everyone loved it. I always bake Oil cakes cuz they are much lighter than the butter cakes and I did not find any difference in the taste. Seeing my interest amma got me different molds to make cakes. She went one step further and got a Philips hand mixer which was a tad bit costly then. It's so special to me that I carry it everywhere I go. Even when I flew to Geneva I made sure it was traveling with me, not bothering mama's hesitation about the weight.


Love-cake for You-Know-Who

Geneva has been nice to me till date when it comes to baking. I tried my hands on so many things, not just cakes but pies, croissants, naans and stuffed buns. They were quiet a success I will say cuz mama got me three molds and a piping cone this valentines day :)



3 comments:

  1. i remember the days we used to bake together(grt time) :) and its always fun to have so many ppl who was willing to appreciate on our trails........... and grt piece of writing chells....... waiting for our time together agin wen u return..........

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  2. Madame, when is your next post. It is been a looooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg time

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