Wacera Kieha

Hello good people.

I hope you have started the new month with a smile and had a lovely easter.

The long weekend is coming to an end and what better way to end the easter season than with scrumptious cupcakes.

My friend and photographer, Antony from Minnies bakery shared this easy-to-prepare cupcake recipe last year and I thought I should repost it.

Whisk away.

Quantities - 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients.
-200g Sugar.
-160g Margarine.
- 3 eggs.
-200g milk/butter.
-1/2 tsp preservatives.
-1/2 tsp vanilla.
-350g flour.
-2 tsp cocoa.

Method.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.
2. Beat sugar and margarine together until whitish and creamy.
3. Add in all preservatives and eggs.
Mix well then add milk and vanilla.
Make sure all ingredients are well mixed.
4. Fold the flour; gently, just enough for the mix.
Sieve and add cocoa.
Make sure there no lamps of the flour in the mix.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups so that each is about two thirds full.
6. Bake, rotating the pans halfway till cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
7. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely.

Flavors:
Chocolate.
Red velvet.
Vanilla.

To decorate.
Frost your preferred frosting; dark chocolate or vanilla.

1. Spoon Method.
Place a generous amount of frosting onto the top of the cupcake.
Using the back of a teaspoon, gently rub it in a circular motion into the frosting to make a indention.
Frosting will squish out the sides and cover most of the cupcake.

2. Piping Method.
Place your tip of preference on the piping bag and starting about 1/2 inch from the edge of the cupcake, pipe a ‘nest’ in the middle of the cupcake.

Enjoy your cupcakes.

Life is a kitchen, put on your prettiest apron and whip up something incredible.

When you try out the recipe, kindly share your thoughts about it and your favourite recipes on the comments box.

FUN. LEARN. SHARE

BAKING IS LOVE MADE VISIBLE.

SEVEN SEAFOOD & GRILL- NAIROBI'S PREMIER SEAFOOD DESTINATION.

CAKE FESTIVAL MEMORIES.

EASTER CUPCAKE RECIPE.

On Monday morning my grandmother wakes up after dawn is dead. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday she will still do the same. Even on a Sunday! Why would she wake up early yet she has no one to educate or feed? She is a sexagenarian. So, her children need to pay ‘being brought up taxes’.

It’s not expensive really, so long as they buy her milk and tea leaves, she will keep smiling for a billion years.

My grandmother makes some seriously thin tea, it’s as if the milk is used for coloration. That weird moment when she offers you tea and you put on a tight lipped smile with a lot of chest pains as you gaze at the huge size of the mug! Then you remember she doesn’t take sugar in her tea and she didn’t even bother to buy some for her visitors. Heck! the sipping journey lasts miles yonder.

Granny makes a lot of tea, what? She guzzles two thermoses of that thinness an entire day. Even if you give her more milk, she will still pull a more elaborate thin one as if to teach you a lesson.

I know how she makes her tea. She will mix gallons of water with just some droplets of milk and place the concoction on the burner. These days, Granny rarely uses firewood, times have changed I tell you.

Just near boiling, she will scoop a serious handful of tea leaves and add into the sufuria, then, she will bring the whole mixture into a two-minute boiling time. When it’s served, I actually never know whether it’s the bitter taste or the non-existent taste of milk that gives me an eye popping face.

She makes tea in the same way her parents taught her I tend to think. Her children also make tea the way she taught them only that this time, they use more milk. That more milk tends to dilute the bitterness is no brainer.

Technology might have brought changes to the method of making tea, but the process has refused to grow up or people have vowed to remain timid to change. Is tea supposed to be boiled or brewed? You just tell me.

In improvising we bring the same process of making tea to coffee then the narrative has it that coffee is bitter. But, its time the lion learnt how to write, the hunter cannot always be praised even when he is cowardly.

If you identify coffee with bitterness, there is a problem. If you view coffee time as a chance to indulge in sugar, you might as well eat it raw. 10 spoonsful of sugar in a single cup under the pretext of coffee is an insult to the gods.

Bitterness is not a taste rather a result of bad process of making your coffee. Also, a pattern decorated coffee drink in a café is not prove of the awesomeness of a coffee drink but mostly simple gimmicks to play with your mind. What matters most is; how you prepare your coffee at home and in the case of a café, how they bring the right components together in making a drink.

When at home, you might not have knowledge on coffee brewing so in order to graduate to brewing, at least take your instant coffee in a civilised manner.

Bring your water to boil and turn off the burner, then add your Nescafé and stir, if you boil it together with the water, you are burning your coffee and it will be bitter as the taste of hell. Then, and this I implore veins pooping off my face; sugar is your enemy now and forever thank me when you are seventy-five.

Use one or two spoonsful of sugar maximum. You will not only be saving your teeth but also preparing your taste buds to adapt to the richness and aroma in coffee. This is the only way you will be able to enjoy what Java offers.

Come to Kahawa Number one. Damn! I won’t comment on that coffee. Why are you buying it? Okay, if you like it so much, let me say something on it since this is not my blog and the owner gave very specific instructions.

Bring your water to boiling, turn off the burner. Scoop two spoonsful of coffee per cup. If you are making ten cups, twenty spoonful’s of kahawa number 1! Add to the already 100 degrees’ hot water, Stir and let it brew for 5 minutes while the lid is on. The aroma will be heavenly, chapatti and eggs goodness. Sieve this Ethiopian Drink and serve, remember your Nduma on the side or Ugali. Ha ha, Ugali and coffee are sweetie for someone I know.

The two brewing methods of both instant and ground coffee are standard for all the other top tire coffees. But don’t you think a top tire coffee deserves to be brewed differently than a Nescafe or Kahawa Number 1? More on this ill fill you in later.

How else would you know that a coffee drink can taste crispy or lemony, or chocolatey? Why is it that Kenyan grown Coffee is known as Gourmet or rather speciality Coffee? Why are Europeans so gaga about Kenyan Roast coffee beans? Well, you have never tasted coffee from your own country Kenya have you?

Guess why! On the one hand, Nescafe is coffee grown in other countries so your chance at tasting Kenyan coffee is blocked. On the other hand, Kahawa Number 1 is the last tier quality coffee, so If you love it, just Imagine which planet you would find yourself in, if you moved up the ladder to top tier coffees? Don’t you worry, I got you.

Till we meet again, I am the coffee lover cum Coffee enthusiast @nairobicaffeine on twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Or my Aroma Lab www.nairobicaffeine.com

Hey. “If you make me coffee in the morning, ill love you forever, or at least until the coffee is gone”. Have a caffeinated Week!

THE AROMA LAB. (Part 1)

Hello good people.

I went out for yet another awesome date with an amazing being called Kev.Kelvin . This one is a bit different and interesting. This was my first coffee date as I happen to hate coffee. My date being a coffee lover he insisted we have a coffee date at his favourite café. I met this guy mid last year at his work place. We were very formal until few weeks later when we became friends. The kind of people you talk to and you just like and later thank God for meeting someone as crazy as yourself. He says that for you to be his friend you must be abnormal as he is, I am not sure of my abnormality state (haha). He is very passionate about coffee and tries to turn everyone into a coffee lover, he has failed with me but he hopes to convert me on this date. I pray that one day I will be as passionate about what I do as he is about coffee. He recently started a coffee blog that I think everyone should check it.

This is how the date was-

DESCRIBE YOURSELF BRIEFLY

I love coffee and I am passionate about coffee. I think coffee is love and a girl (that never tells a guy No). People say I am weird, I think I am okay. It is only that I am passionate and when you passionate about something people think you are mad. What I think about myself is that, I love coffee, I am a coffee enthusiast, I love meeting new people and visiting new places and I love weirdness in people. I have no problem with people being who they really are gays, lesbians, outspoken. I am open- minded and I love reading, I always feel jealous when I hear someone say, ‘wow I read an incredible book’. I want to know what is in that book.

WHO IS NAIROBI CAFFEINE?

It is simply a brand talking about coffee. It does not matter if it is bad or good coffee we talk about anything coffee. Whether it is the farmers, baristas, we bringing everything into one whole conversation around coffee. It is a coffee blog creating a caffeine conversation. Getting people to love their coffee and giving knowledge about coffee.

WHY BLOG ABOUT COFFEE? I AM SURE YOU HAVE OTHER PASSIONS.

Coffee is my main passion. Coffee is love and love is the greatest thing in the world. For me, coffee is just below breathing.

When I retire it will be coffee, if I meet a girl it will be through coffee, when I marry it will be through coffee, when I start a business it will be coffee and what I will leave behind with my children as inheritance it will be coffee.

YOUR TAKE ON THE CURRENT COFFEE CULTURE IN KENYA

I am sorry, it is rubbish. People love to show off. You meet find people saying that instant coffee is crap, nescafe is crap, dormans is crap. When they walk into a coffee house they have no idea what Espresso is. I came to love coffee through those things they say are crap. Our culture is picking up and people are drinking coffee because Java and Artcaffe are there and the experience is amazing. It will start to get serious when people start to understand what they are drinking. We need to understand what Dutch and Drip coffee are. Cafes start to train their Baristas how to make good coffee. It would not hurt to have coffee with whiskey, medicated weed (like Denmark). If people start to appreciate coffee then our farmers will benefit from it.

WHEN DID YOU BECOME A COFFEE LOVER?

I cannot remember. I found myself loving coffee. I grew up in a place where I would see coffee when I wake up and see coffee trees as I go home. I never thought I will come to love coffee this much. It was while I was surfing, back in High school, the life in Europe and I came across these beautiful cafes set outside. I started to love coffee back in college (KCA), I used to take Nescafe (the ones coffee lovers hate) and I would get excited. I wondered why I loved this drink, I would take six sachets a day. I sort to research and it just licked.

YOUR FAVOURITE COFFEE AND WHY?

It depends on the season. When it is very hot I love Dutch, because it is strong and cold and Iced coffee. When it is cold I love Cappuccino and Drips or brewed coffee.

AT NAIROBI CAFFEINE, WHAT ARE YOUR OBJECTIVES?

NAIROBI CAFFEINE came about not because I love blogging but because I was trying to be malicious. I want to set up a coffee chain that is unique. Specifically I want to set up speciality cafes, meaning we will only deal with special coffee depending on the regions they come from. I decided to set up the blog so that when I interview people they can tell me how they like their coffee. I have realized that people do not know about coffee so we educate people. Anyone who wants to know what Espresso and drips are they should check out my blog. Building a coffee culture before setting up a coffee shop.

YOU COMPARE COFFEE TO A GIRL, WHY DO YOU?

I don’t compare coffee to a girl, I compare coffee to love. Love is mostly synonymous to girls. Friends meet for coffee and they spend hours talking that in itself is love. When you ask a Barista to make you Hand drip coffee, they spend 5-7 minutes making a single coffee, putting their passion into it. Coffee brings people together. But when farmers harvest they see money not love. It is very hard to see a single person sitting at a café feeling miserable.

YOU GOING OUT ON A DATE WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL LADY, BUT SHE DOES NOT TAKE COFFEE, KINDLY INTRODUCE HER TO COFFEE AND RECOMMEND.

First of all, I will tell her that she has to take coffee. I know many tricks, so I will not tell her to take the usual coffees like Cappuccino and drips. I will go for something fancy and seduce her by telling that coffee is interesting. Tell her about Frappes, Espresso, Cremoka (this can make a guy get kissed). We will start with Frappes and slowly graduate to a time when she can take brewed coffee and add syrup to make it sweeter.

APART FROM COFFEE, DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?

No. They think I love coffee too much. They find me sophisticated and weird. Coffee is a lifestyle, so you will see me hanging out at cafes and not Uhuru park.

USING COFFEE, DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL LADY.

I love my coffee strong, meaning most of the time I take my coffee on a double or drip. I love the natural taste of coffee and for you to understand that you must be sophisticated enough to appreciate the real taste. To compare that to a girl, I like her to be weird, normal is too boring because when you are abnormal and weird you tend to pursue your passions. She should be authentic, hot when I say hot I don’t mean her dressing, she can be hot from her brains downwards. She needs to be very strong and love weird and craziness and she needs to be traveller. She does not need to love coffee, I will make her love it, it is my duty.

COUNTRIES KNOWN FOR THEIR COFFEE THAT YOU WISH TO VISIT

Italy, Turkey and France to visit Paris. I think people from Turkey are very bitter, as they only take Espresso most of the time. I want to understand how they take strong Turkish coffee. If I go to Italy I would visit Venice and Florence. In African it is Ethiopia, they have beautiful girls as their coffee.

YOUR TAKE ON THE COFFEE FARMING INDUSTRY IN KENYA, WE HAVE SEEN DISAPPOINTED FARMERS CUT DOWN COFFEE TREES.

I am also disappointed. Kenyans should consume their own coffee, which they do not. Government gives us Kahawa no. 1 as coffee. This is simply playing with our hearts. We have the best coffee and Kenyans need to enjoy this. We are used to Nescafe, what the hell is that? Where does it come from? The trade should be a bit relaxed, where farmers can sell directly to cafes and roast it within cafes establishment. Lowering the legalities within the industry as it is controlled by cartels. It should be like Sukumawiki, where farmers take them to the market for people to buy. If I set up a coffee shop, I should go to Nyeri and look for a farmer who will be supplying coffee cherries/berries and I roast them to make coffee. A farmer gets Ksh 20 for a kilo of coffee cherries while I pay Ksh 300 for a cup of Cappuccino.

CAN YOU GO A WHOLE DAY WITHOUT COFFEE?

No Never.

THEN YOU ARE A COFFEE ADDICT?

No. I am not. I am a coffee enthusiast.

HOW IS YOUR DAILY CAFFEINE SCHEDULE?

I do not have a specific schedule. My first cup is around 8.000am at the office and office coffee is pathetic. Depending on the day, sometimes I feel overwhelmed and I can take two cups at the same time. At around 11.00am I will take another cup and at 2.00pm and if you call me for a coffee date I will still take another one. I am a big fan of coffee, wake me up at 3.00am and I will take coffee.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CAFFEINE?

It gets you to be creative, if you are on a date it helps you make a girl smile.

It has anti-oxidants.

Coffee reduces risks of several cancers.

For girls it is known to reduce weight.

Coffee helps reduce memory loss in old people.

Coffee does not have side effects it only does when you take like 10 cups a day.

YOUR TOP FIVE CAFES?

1. G-CAFÉ at Mountain mall along Thika road.

2. ARTCAFFE- they have turned coffee into a lifestyle. They have salsa nights.

3. JAVA

4. MAMBO ITALIA

5. LEAF AND BEAN

APART FROM COFFEE, WHICH OTHER DRINK DO YOU TAKE?

Peroni-an expensive beer that I do not get in my local bar. I like beer but not as much as coffee. I take Peroni and if I cannot find it, I will take Tusker malta.

Wine-red wines. I am very much acquiring a taste in wines.

DO YOU TAKE TEA?

My mother used to force me to take tea when I was younger but now she doesn’t. I converted my mum to love coffee. If I converted my mum to love coffee, then which girl can I not? None. I take tea when I am at my grandmother’s, because she is old and does not understand what the hell coffee is all about. For any other person, if I come to your place and you give tea I will refrain and take water.

YOUR WORST AND BEST COFFEE EXPERIENCE?

Worst- I went to an establishment here in town and asked for a Latte. Half the cup was froth. It is a coffee shop but they sell Ugali more than coffee.

-I have to take office coffee.

Best- G-CAFÉ all the way. I can have Denmark coffee here. I love the place.

Coffee Lover

YOU ARE ALSO A POET DO YOU HAVE ANY COFFEE POEM?

Yes I do.

COFFEE.

When I think social, coffee comes to mind

I am so in love, addicted to myself

Every single morning, I imitate myself the whole habituation process has coffee.

That look on my face when I have just had coffee,

The drink has no surrogate

I don’t believe it has a variant either

People say it has a variant, I don’t subscribe.

Hot Black strong

No sugar.

What happens when a man like myself meets a reflection of me? A woman who loves the romantic mirage of coffee

My mind gets fixated, it is as if the drink I love transforms itself Into warmness of a human being, I can easily get addicted.

The essence of life is love.

Love is what bounds us, creates us and keeps us together

People don’t hate each other; they get frustrated with each other Frustrated that neither is willing to sit and discover love.

Let’s have coffee, is all it takes

Wars are fought, people seldom love, and smile less.

If we believe coffee is a culture

Let’s go for a date, lets wary parties enjoy a cup, lets brew love.

All hail to the one drink, that will be here after we are long gone

All hail to all the coffee lovers

All hail to the culture; coffee is culture, coffee is humanity Coffee is love.

KELVIN KEV

GIVE US FIVE COMMON COFFEE VOCABULARIES THAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW APART FROM THE COFFEE LOVERS, LIKE BARISTA AND PALATE.

Batista-the person behind a counter making coffee. Coffee maker is the machine.

Palate-taste buns. They should develop to a certain level where you can tell the contents of coffee by just tasting.

Plunger-a flask like equipment, people can use to brew coffee at home at ksh 900 only.

V-60-a cone shaped apparatus used to hold coffee paper filter and ground when making hard drip coffee.

Frappes-cold coffee drinks that come topped with whipped cream flavours.

Espresso- it is when you pass hot water through fine grounded coffee. It is used to make other coffees.

CLARIFY SEVERAL COFFEE MYTHS LIKE COFFEE IS A DRUG

1. Coffee can make you horny- that is a lie

2. Coffee make you energetic- this is a lie

3. Coffee is for the rich. Anyone can brew coffee at home.

YOU ARE ALSO A BOOKIE, HAVE YOU READ ANY COFFEE BOOK APART FROM COOK BOOKS?

We have a problem in Kenya and our bookshops have a problem too. You find that, because we do not have a coffee culture you find that bookshops do not stock coffee books. If I need a coffee book I will have to order it from Amazon. Cafés have not written anything about their coffee and history. I think I will be first one to write about that. A whole country known for coffee do not have coffee books.

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAFES AND BOOK READING? YOU LOVE TO READ AT A CAFÉ

I would classify it as the relationship between a church and the Bible. You can read peacefully without any disturbance. I cannot walk into a bar, drink beer and read a book, it is very noisy and I will be looking at the girls.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR?

I am currently reading the 48 LAWS OF POWER. It is an interesting read and I like it.

My favourite writer is Paulo Coelho. I have read everything about him. I have to read his books twice a year. They are very inspirational.

WHAT ARE YOU HOBBIES APART FROM COFFEE?

Watching documentaries, reading a book by the waterfall and nature walks.

ONE OF NAIROBI CAFFEINE’S INTENTIONS IS TO TURN PEOPLE WHO DO NOT TAKE COFFEE INTO COFFEE LOVERS, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO DO THAT?

By telling people things they do not know about coffee.

YOU ALSO DO CAFÉ REVIEWS, HOW HARD OR EASY IS IT TO APPROACH A CAFÉ OR BARISTA FOR A REVIEW?

Baristas are the easiest to approach because they are open minded and love to speak about the art and passion. Managers are hard to approach, because of the culture where bloggers review cafes and critic about the café.

COFFEE SEEMS LIKE AN EXPENSIVE LIFESTYLE, CAN AN ORDINARY KENYAN AFFORDABLE A QUALITY COFFEE REGULARLY?

Yes. It appears expensive because of the cartels involved. If we had many cafes all over from Turkana to Mombasa then we would have competition and thus reducing the cost of coffee. We only have the big two: Java and Artcaffe but coffee can be cheaper.

DO YOU HAVE ONE PARTICULAR CAFÉ THAT YOU DREAM OF REVIEWING?

Locally no. I view all as the same. I have not reviewed Java and Artcaffe and am not planning to. I love to review small cafes as they are the ones improving the culture like G-CAFÉ.

Internationally, I dream of reviewing Italy’s cafes. I am made to understand that wazee at Old Town in Mombasa take their coffee communally, I would love to review such. I cannot review a coffee shop that gives me nescafe and hot water as coffee, NEVER.

WHO ARE THE NAIROBI CAFFEINE’S TARGET AUDIENCE?

It is everybody who needs to have a coffee conversation. I want a cult following, where if I review a café everybody runs to take coffee there.

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON COFFEE IMPORTATION INTO KENYA WHILE WE HAVE OUR OWN COFFEE?

Kenyans do not appreciate their own coffee because they have no knowledge about it. I do not blame Kenyans but I appreciate the cafés we have as they use our coffee.

WHAT ARE BLOGGING CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED SO FAR?

Website. Website. A coffee blog should be interesting. Because we did not have any coffee blog mine was the first one, designers have no idea what I want. The first has crashed and I was very sad.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE KENYA’S BLOGGING INDUSTRY?

I had not realized that blogging has really gained some boost in Kenya. When I started blogging, I got researching and I realized that there are so many bloggers. People can blog about anything from under-wears to cows. Bloggers are like journalists, they are able to bring to light things that people are not aware. I admire bloggers who write about corruption.

WHERE DO YOU SEE NAIROBI CAFFEINE IN THE NEXT 2-5 YEARS TO COME?

It will very big. Everything coffee. Others brands will be advertising with us. We will start to sell coffee apparatus and Kenya’s coffee.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVOURITE COFFEE QUOTE?

Yes I do.

-I do not understand this decaffeinated (coffee without caffeine) coffee, it is like sex without the sex.

-Until such a time that there are strong men in the world, women will always be encroached to take strong coffee.

-Friends and coffee are a perfect blend.

-It is better bad coffee than no coffee at all.

YOUR ROLE MODEL COFFEEWISE?

I don’t have a role a model. I am my own Republic in coffee. I have not met any other person as crazy about coffee as I am. I am very proud of the best Barista, Martin Shabaya, in Kenya he works at Artcaffe. The fact that he can be the best Barista is an honour and travelling the world to show your passion is great.

YOUR LAST COFFEE WORDS

If you do not know what an Espresso is don’t order it ask the waiter what it is. If you have no idea what a cappuccino is ask, do not order the word. Coffee is not always bitter. If you have a sweet tooth you can have the frappes For the coffee lovers you can have the real romantic drips and brews.

Thank you for passing by and enjoying this date with me. I am officially a coffee convert. I had no idea coffee could be this interesting. The next time I am invited for a coffee date I will surely attend. Check out NAIROBI CAFFEINE for coffee reads and experiences.