It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted anything so MA-HOOSIVE apologies to you all. However fret not I have been far from idle! If you’ve been follwing my social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook you will have seen posts about two BIG pieces of news concerning Mr. Mom’s.

Firstly you may remember back in July of last year my post about a group called Kitchen Table Projects. These rather fab bunch of people are championing emerging artisan foodies and providing a much needed source of advice and interaction. In fact they provided Mr. Mom’s with some of my first PR coverage (thanks guys!). If you missed it you can read all about it here. Way back then their founder Tara Sundramoorthi explained the long-term vision of setting up a hub cafe where artisan foodie producers/ makers could showcase their wares. She also expressed interest in stocking Mr. Mom’s bakes there (evidently Tara knows a good thing when she sees it  or rather tastes it!). Fast forward nearly a year and it is with great pride (and a little trepidation) that I can say Tara has stayed true to her word and Mr. Mom’s cupcakes and brownies will be stocked in the Kitchen Table Projects Artisan Springboard Pop-up cafe at Old Street Tube Station. The cafe will run from June 22nd until September 13th. Not only will the cafe stock produce of Mr. Mom’s but also some other fantastic artisan food people – Black Sheep Coffee;  The Tea People; Knead; and Hush Hush Chefs. For full details of all the suppliers check out the Kitchen Table Projects website here. I can’t tell how grateful I am to Tara and the Kitchen Table Projects team for seeing something in what I do at Mr. Mom’s and be willing to showcase it in their venture. All the way from my humble kitchen to the bustling populous of a London pop-up. Why not come along and try out one (or more!) of my wares?

My other big piece of news is that you’ll soon be able to see me online, on Simply Good Food TV, baking up a storm. “Mr. Mom’s- The Bearded Baker” will be creating delicious treats from the classic to the quirky.  Simply Good Food TV is the brainchild of chef Peter Sidwell. As if filming numerous TV series (ITV’s Britian’s Best Bakery) ; doing demos on the foodie show circuit; and running a restaurant and cookery school weren’t enough, Peter has now set about creating a new online TV station, Simply Good Food TV, showcasing food videos from established chefs and new original content from a range of upcoming chefs and bakers- including yours truly! I can’t begin to tell you how chuffed I am to  be part of such a fantstic venture. For more information on this fantastic online TV food channel why not check out the Simply Good Food TV Twitter and Facebook pages. You can download the free app for Apple here , or for Android here. As well as being chuffed to bits about it I’m also slightly in awe in being featured along Peter and the other fabulous chefs and bakers- all of us who go to make up the rather gorgeous bunch fetured below!

On the home front I’ve also been busy doing what I’m know best for. A friend’s recent birthday saw a blitz of brownies; cupcakes and a celebratory birthday cake from Mr. Mom’s Kitchen. Cupcakes included Chocolate Cherry Cola: a baked twist on the classic childhood drink; Salted Caramel Popcorn: something to appeal to the grown-up in us and a rather indulgent Classic Chocolate. Brownie flavours included Classic chocolate; a Gluten Free Banana & Pecan and a nutty caramel affair packed full of toasted nuts and oozing salted caramel.

Along with these there was also a birthday cake comissioned. I decided to go with a naked cake featuring the recipient’s favourite bloom- the cornflower.  Sized at 2 layers, to suit the attending guests, I went with vanilla genoise with vanilla buttercream and Sicilian lemon curd to the lower layer and vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam to the top layer. As well as using cornflower blooms I also festooned the layers with roses and eryngium (purple thistle) blooms, and scattered darker berries.

Speaking of birthday cakes, I also had the recent pleaseure of providing the birthday cake for Twitter friend ‘Little Pink Kitchen‘ . To be honest I was rather nervous about doing this as it was the first time I’d ever produced something for a fellow baker – would it stand up to the challenge? As it was a particularly special birthday something particularly special was called for- I didn’t want to do a run of the mill sponge cake. Only two pieces of criteria were given – something on the “light” side and maybe hazelnut flavoured. So I got my thinking cap on. Then it came to me- “Dacquoise”!!! Well…at least that was the starting point! What I ended up with was the closest I’ve got to patisserie in anything I’ve ever baked.

I created a layered cake of genoise sponge with a thin layer of chocolate ganache, filled with hazelnut flavoured creme mousseline, with a middle layer of hazelnut merignue (the dacquoise influence). The assembled cake was then finished with chocolate ganache and toasted hazelnut nibs. Very proud to say that my final bake went down well and seemed to be enojoyed by all.

So that’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up with all the goings on in Mr. Mom’s Kitchen. There’s lots of exciting developments on the horizon and I’ll update  you all soon.

In the meantime,

“Remember Mom’s the word- that’s Mr. Mom’s!”