Sponge cake, by hand. New York, smoke and mirrors

I lived in the Philippines from 2011 to 2014, our last posting before Peru. It was hot and sticky and not always easy to live. Perhaps I just needed an excuse to reward myself with the monthly Bon Appetite magazine. It was my real treat and I enjoyed it very much. My thoughts escaped from the heat of Manila and travelled to the autumn in New York. I could picture the trendy restaurants of Manhattan, or the produce available at the Chelsea fresh market and of course, my favorite kitchen shop Williams Sonoma.

So NY was in my list of places to visit before you die for a long time. I dreamed about it and sure enough, idealized the city, as I found out when I went there.

A couple of weeks ago, when I was studying for my final exams, and with the impending visit of my sister in-law, her husband and their four beautiful kids, my thoughtful husband surprised me with two plane tickets to New York…and just two airfares. Double surprise, as you can imagine.

So Nick and I greeted Jane and Daniel with a welcoming pisco sour and two days later we were on the plane. I was utterly excited for the new romantic adventure but also a bit sad to leave my kids behind. It was the first time in eight years we actually had a holiday without them. However, once the plane landed and during the first three days in NY, I was absolutely over the moon - although I did remember to send a text or two to check whether the three children were fine and not at the hospital. I reminded myself, No news, good news...

At the airport, the taxi driver was a big man, with a golden chain around his neck and chewing something in his mouth. Wanna a cab? He yelled. I was intimidated by his very strong American accent and his aggressive way of asking. We went in as we were to tired to keep waiting for the bus. The famous yellow cab didn't go too far from the airport. Apparently, New York is also famous for the bad traffic.

Our hotel was not exclusive but had a fantastic lobby, with a massive chandelle hanging from the roof and a great terrace that invited crowds to enjoy the summer evening with cool cocktails. The best thing of this hotel was its location though, a few meters from the Central Park.

You would be pleased to know that we ticked some of the things to do list we had: run in Central Park,visited the Metropolitan museum, had breakfast and lunch at the Bouchon bakery of Thomas Keller - I use his cookbook a lot -,  ate at the Spotted Pig restaurant- young chef praised by Jamie Oliver, had fresh oysters in the Oyster restaurant inside of the Central Station, went to Chelsea fresh market after a fabolous walk in the Highlands, catched up with an old friend, checked Eataly of Mario Batali, watched a brilliant comedy in a cozy theater, listened some jazz music in a tiny bar and we walked in the 5Th Avenue, Madison Square where we did some shopping, of course - amazing bargains!

We didn't see the Blue Man group, the Statue of Liberty, visit the Madame Tussaud's attraction, the Guggenheim or have a meal in other well recommended restaurants. I have been told that you should always leave something to have a reason to come back.

In general, I can tell you that our heads were spinning at the start of the holiday. The city blew our minds. There was so much going on!!! We could not take our eyes away from what surrounded us. Not just the beautiful architecture of the buildings, the small quiet side streets away from the main ones, the fancy hotels, the bookstores, the shinny big ads, the mouth watering bakeries and the shops that made history with the movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was also the people walking by on the street. Strange outfits, rare haircuts and definitely, some of them, weird behaviors - like the old man of the photo bellow; he was wearing a summer hat, a beach t-shirt, undies, and a doll in his barket and riding the bike along the pedestrian walk, shouting oooohhhhooohh!!!
The interesting thing is that New Yorkers didn't look too surprised to see the show of this poor man.

By the fourth day, the New York experience was slightly like the metaphor smoke and mirrors. Don't get me wrong, I was having the best time ever! Perhaps I was missing the kids and the peaceful Lima. Maybe Nick and I realised that we preferred to take a wine tour in some wonderful vineyards in California instead of being a busy city like New York, with all its glamour and attractions. I don't know, the beauty of New York, New York was blurry by the end of our holiday. I felt I was coming down from a ride in a roller coaster.

I needed a quiet space where I could just relax.

Coming back home and hug the kids was special and comforting. We shared with them these photos and with Jane, Dan, Grace, Johnny, Charlie and Silvie in a big dinner table, with a delightful pasta and a bottle of Malbec wine.

Yes, there was a lot of noise over the dinner…but that kind of noise didn't bother me. I actually missed it.

At the Oyster restaurant in the Central Station

 Central station and the Empire State tower 

Chinnese dress made of gold. Metropolitan museum. Aurelia said : Mum, why don't you make it for you to wear it for the functions at home?

Great pub food, very British style and a fantastic atmosphere. We ordered common sandwiches, our mistake. I saw many plates with big mountains of thinly cut chips and... a burger - although it was hard to spot it behind the chips.

This shop was a reality show for me. Unbelievable. The expensive doll, an imitation of an American girl, had her own world inside the shop inciting the parents to spend a fortune in some pets, outfits, books…even a real hairdresser salon to pamper her, the Truly me doll. I saw mums with enormeous boxes leaving the shop. I must confess that despite my criticism, I left also with one for Aurelia who is playing right now with her cousin Grace, designing dresses from old materials and patterns I had in a box..

Obama was visiting New York to bond with one of her daughters and two of her friends. At the same time, there was a big protest next to our hotel and thousand of policemen checking the area.

Well, no words for this classic Macaron…with a touch of American taste

I spent three hours looking at this section of 387 cookbooks. I bought two: one from the Chelsea Market and the latest of Ottolenghi, Plenty More.

SPONGE CAKE, BY HAND

This recipe was part of my final exam of the subject Patisserie at the Cordon Bleu. We had to make a classic sponge cake or Genovesa, by hand, and cut it in three parts. I practiced this cake 7 times at home until I got sick of it. I have always made it in the KitchenAid very quickly but without this gadget, it will take you 15 minutes to beat the eggs, the sugar and fold the flour into it -your arm will be a bit sore, but stronger.
It is a perfect cake for birthdays or to absorb any liquid (for Tres Leches cake, for example)

• 3 eggs
• 90g caster sugar
• 90g plain flour (or 75g of plain flour and 15g of cocoa), shifted

Method:

Preheat oven at 180C.

1. Prepare a small saucepan with boiling water. 
2. Grease the sides, vertically, and the bottom of a 20cm round tin with melted butter. Keep it in the fridge, upside down.
3. Break the eggs and the sugar in a medium size bowl and place it over the saucepan of the hot water, and start beating with a whisk  until the color changes, the volume increases and the temperature reaches 40C (you simply touch the batter and it is hot).
4. Remove the tin from the fridge and repeat the step 2, dusting some flour over it, eliminating the excess and put it back in the fridge.
5. Away from the saucepan, with the help of a tablecloth underneath the bowl, keep beating  until it is very fluffy, light and you are able to make the shape of a laze when the mixture falls from the whisk.
6. Sift the flour in three parts and fold it over, from the bottom to the top, making sure there are not little balls of flour left behind.
7. Carefully, place the mixture into the tin, without moving the tin too much, and in the oven for 22 minutes.
8. When it is done, unfold the cake after 3 minutes.

I like it with cream and dusting sugar on the top.

PS: I did pass my exam.