Baking a Cake

Separating whites and yolks

            On Tuesday I sat in on a lesson with the girls on how to make a cake and “kone.”  Yesterday, I was able to sit in on the actual cooking lesson in the kitchen!  Fun was had by all. 

            The girls all had to wear kerchiefs on their heads (Keloke, the lone boy, had a baseball hat on), and I had to don a hat before I was allowed in.  The girls explained quite seriously that it was to keep hair from falling into the cake batter.  Makes sense to me.

Sherley jumped right in!

            As I watched and listened, I thought back to my childhood and my mom teaching me to bake, especially chocolate chip cookies.  My best friend Leslie Hanson and I would get set up in our kitchen, and Mom would walk us through making the cookies.  I remember how hard it was for me to remember what to pack down and what to just put in the measuring cup.  We sure did have fun.  Even today, making chocolate chip cookies brings back great memories. 

            If I hadn’t been such a putz as teenager, I probably would’ve learned a lot more from my mom, a master chef.  I’ve matured a lot since then, and I turn to her regularly to figure out what to cook, how to put meals together, etc.  In fact, I can call my mom or any of aunts for help on cooking and baking.  I remember once calling Aunt Louise when I was in college because I had screwed up the batter for something, and over the phone she talked me through how to fix it.  I think I was making dough for sugar cookies; anyway, they turned out great thanks to Aunt Louise!

Many hands make light work?

            The girls (and I) learned how to separate egg yolks and egg whites.  Actually, I already know how to do it; I just learned another way of doing it.  The kids weren’t allowed to practice separating the eggs, but they all took turns beating the crap out of the butter.  Seriously, that took a good 25-30 minutes.  Probably doesn’t take that long with an electric beater, but there is no electricity in the kitchen.  Once the butter was deemed ready, then went in the eggs and what they call “essence.”  I couldn’t smell it, but I’m thinking that was vanilla?  More beating.  The kids’ eyes widened when a whole cup of sugar went in.  I don’t think they’ve ever seen that much sugar at one time.

My turn!

            I thought my mom’s flour sifter was old school, but they just use a colander and their fingers to do what needs to be done to the flour.  Then some baking powder and salt.  That is all then gently mixed together before going into the batter.  It’s just how my mom taught me—butter and sugar first, then the wet ingredients, and then the dry stuff.  At this point, we were still beating the crap out of the batter, and I got to join in.  This cake really was a group effort! 

            The final step was to fold in the whisked egg whites.  Keloke was ready to starting beating them in as they did with the butter, but Doreste, the nanny, stopped him in time.  Whew, would not want to ruin the cake at this point!

Keloke really went at it!

Sifting flour

            We get to eat the cake today at the end-of-summer-camp party.  It’s sure to taste yummy.  No matter what, though, the process was the best.  I hung out with the girls who were learning the basics of cooking.  I learned some new words, and I learned how to make a cake!  I also got watch the guesthouse and orphanage cooks prepare their meals.  Cooking is hard.  But, cooking in Haiti is really hard.  Everything is ground up in a mortar and pestle.  Beans and rice are boiled in big, heavy pots over the gas burners.  The kitchen is HOT, which is why it’s in a separate building from the other rooms (just like “back in the day”).  The girls were learning life skills very much needed to survive in Haiti where nothing is pre-made or frozen or processed.  Most everything is cooked from the raw ingredients.  They would more likely be able to survive in the U.S. than I would be able to survive on my own in Haiti. 

Ready to bake!

            I had another experience today of women coming together in community that I hadn’t really thought about before.  It takes a village of women to get the hair done, from taking it out of the braids to putting back into braids.  I helped undo braids today for the first time, and it took me forever!  Kids help each other; nannies help.  And, the interns and I helped!  And then the process of braiding hair for about 25 girls begins.  And they do this every week.  It’s not the same as braiding anglo hair.  Anglo hair is too easy to braid.  Here, they often sit in a circle or a line with everyone giving and receiving.  I never thought of it as bonding time until I sat and took out braids for Maryse and Olguie.  We chatted.  We laughed.  Pretty cool.  Nothing competitive about it . . . just taking care of each other.