First Grade Baking — the Chocolate Cake
When I was at elementary school, I used to spend most of my vacations at my grandparents’ house in Stara Zagora. It is a town located in central Bulgaria and is famous for its linden trees and ancient Roman monuments dating from 4–5 century BC. We played in the ancient theater with my younger sister. We used to perform a sketch or sing songs on the arena in front of our imaginary audience and grandma. We often played in the city garden and went with grandpa to the Zoo.
I loved going to my grandparents’ house because they allowed me to do things that my mother would not let me do. I could eat ice cream at winter time and play with the kids on the street until its dark. I was one of those children who are very curious. Tinkering in the house’s cabinets was so interesting to me. I found things like old watches, photo albums, fans, jewelry, little porcelain figures and played with them. My grandma always knew when I was tinkering because I never managed to return back the objects in the way they were placed.
In first grade, I spent the spring break at my grandparents’ house. One afternoon, my grandmother and I watched a cooking show in the living room. It was series about cooiking cakes and desserts. I was surprised because at that time in Bulgaria there were not many pastry shops that offered such cakes like those in that tv show — decorated with flowers and figures. I got inspired by the show and asked my grandmother if she has a cookbook. She went to the other room to search the shelf were her collection of books was. Grandma came with a recipe book with a golden cover in her hands. I was seven, so I had just learned how to read.
My grandma went to her bedroom to rest. I stayed on the couch with the book in my hands. I looked through the recipes and pictures of desserts and sweets. One of them caught my attention. It was the recipe for a chocolate mousse cake decorated with fresh raspberries and pieces of dark chocolate on top. I got the brilliant idea to bake this cake and surprise grandma. I thought to myself that it would not be that difficult and for sure I can make it. If only I believed in myself now in the way I did as a child. I wish I was that confident and brave to try out things I have never done before.
I went to the kitchen and put the cookbook open on the table. I put on my grandma’s apron, imagined myself as a cook and quickly read what ingredients were needed for the cake. I had to mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in one bowl. Stepped on a chair to reach the shelf, I almost fell but got a bowl.
The recipe said that eggs, milk, and vanilla are mixed in another bowl. I took another bowl and somehow turned on the mixer. My grandma heard the noise and came into the kitchen. “What are you doing, Lilly? What is this mess?” Grandma asked me, worried and amazed. “I am baking a chocolate cake,” I replied. She looked at the book and said that this a difficult cake to make and it is dangerous to use the mixer as I could get hurt. I wanted to surprise her, but that was the moment when I felt guilty and realized that I should have first asked her before doing anything.
“Please, Grandma, help me make this cake,” I asked her. She looked that I had already mixed to bowls with products and said that we have to buy baking paper, fruits to decorate it and some other ingredients. A smile appeared on my face. That was a typical reaction for me when I was a child. I always wanted things to happen in my way. Now I would not insist that much and ask grandma to make me a cake, because she may be tired. But then I was seven and all I wanted was the chocolate cake.
Later through the years, my grandma taught me how to cook the dishes she prepared for my younger sister and me. Like Banitza, which is a traditional Bulgarian dish prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of cheese between filo pastry. She was calm and patient enough to teach me. In school when the spring break was close, I could not wait to go to her house where we would spend time and cook something together. And when I prepare something sweet now, I always remember the times spent at my grandparents’ house.
With my grandma’s help, the chocolate cake was the first thing I have ever cooked. I was impatient to try it so that checked the cake through the oven’s window every five minutes. We could not find raspberries in the store, but we decorated the cake with slices of banana. While we were waiting for the cake to cool, I looked through the recipe book and chose the next pastry to prepare.
Liliya Radkova is third-year student in the American University in Bulgaria majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication. She is interested in writing about psychological and social topics; food and travel experiences.
