I have some new kitchen companions: a bigger and stronger robomop and a smaller and more controllable hand-held electric beater. Both are wonderful and simple to operate, and were put to very good use today during and after a baking session with GP Friend’s teenage daughter (I’ll call her H2).
H2 and I had spent four hours baking together in my kitchen. I enjoyed all of it, from working out the best recipes, planning a timetable and printing out the recipes in an easily readable format. We had pizza, salads and iced water for lunch, short conversations and then it was time for her to pack the items and go home.
The dishwasher was run twice, supplemented by hand washing. I don’t mind that. What I mind is cleaning the floors, which needs to be done daily in an ideal world. I bought version 1 of my current robomop eight years ago (two of them) and they still work very well. However they are slower and the floor space covered is also smaller. They will now be dedicated to wiping the bathroom floors, for which the new robomop is way too big.
I have always had a hand-held electric beater, from my student days. Even when I bought the free-standing Kitchen Aid mixer I still retained an assortment of hand-held beaters. None of them ever worked well (and I accidentally burnt the side of one of them) and consequently all were given away.
But I missed having one, and know how useful it is to have on a short trip away from my kitchen. In the end I decided to get the KitchenAid version and this is one of the best kitchen equipment decisions I have made. The best feature is that it starts at level 1 which is very slow and gentle, and then moves all the way to level 9. Even at level 9 the hand unit does not shudder like all my previous hand-held beaters, which had a tendency to start at shockingly high speeds.
What did H2 bake? The morning started with putting a Vanilla Chiffon cake into the oven (I need to write up this recipe). Whilst that was baking, a Madeleine batter was made, which had to be chilled before baking. Then it was Tiramisu which had to be chilled for taking home. The pizza went in the oven whilst making the Ultimate Banana Bundt batter. Whilst the Banana Bundt was baking, a chocolate ganache was heating gently on the hob, followed by the miso pecan topping in the oven towards the end of of the bundt baking time. Whilst the bundt was cooling (I had to use the fridge to speed things up), the chiffon cake was unmoulded, sliced and filled with vanilla cream and strawberries. Finally the madeleines were baked for 10 minutes just before going home time.
Photos below. The tiramisu recipe needs updating with new photos, which I hope to do soon. I have made it several times these past few weeks, but I was always in a rush (it is very easy to make) so missed taking fresh photos. And the tiramisu always got eaten up so quickly I could not take a photo of it plated up. Leftovers? They were packed home by our guests!
Madeleines
Ultimate Banana Bundt
Vanilla Chiffon with Cream and Strawberries
Look away now if you cannot stand mess. This is a photo of how my kitchen looked at the end. This is why I am so pleased with the new robomop. Whilst it cleaned the floor, I cleared the kitchen counters and set the dishwasher again. The bonus? We have a portion of tiramisu, chiffon cake and banana bundt for dessert tonight. It’s a good start to the weekend.
