K.Esquivel-LWFC

Tita on the other hand had always been a
good eater1 she would eat anything.
There was just one thing Tita didn't like: the
soft-boiled eggs Mama Elena tried to make
her eat. After Nancha had been put in
charge of Tita's culinary education, she not
only ate ordinary food, she also ate jumil
bugs, maguey worms, crayfish, tepezcuintle
pigs, armadillos, and other things that
horrified Rosaura. That's how Nancha's
dislike of
Rosaura began, and the rivalry between the
sisters was now culminating in this wedding
between Rosaura and the man Tita loved.
Rosaura wasn't sure, but she suspected that
Pedro's love for Tita was never-ending.
Nancha was on Tita's side, and she was
doing everything she could to spare her pain.
With her apron she dried the tears that were
rolling down Tita's cheeks and said: "Now,
my child, we must finish the cake."
That took longer than it should have1 the
batter wouldn't thicken because Tita kept
crying.
And so, arms around each other, Nancha
and Tita wept until there were no more tears
in Tita's eyes. Then she cried without tears,
which is said to hurt even more like dry
labor1 but at least she wasn't making the
cake batter soggy, so they could go on to the
next step, which is making the filling.
FOR THE FILLING 150 yinn apr&of pane
150 ;raI1 ;ranll{ate aaar I, TO
PREPARE THE FILLING: Heat the apricot
paste together with a little bit of water1 after
the mixture comes to a boil, strain it,
preferably through a hair or flour sieve, but a
coarser strainer can be used if you don't
have either of those. Place the paste in a
pan, add the sugar, and heat, stirring
constantly, until the mixture forms a
marmalade. Remove from the heat and
allow to cool slightly before spreading it on
the middle layer of the cake, which, of
course, has previously been sliced into
layers.
Luckily, Nancha and Tita had made several
jars of preserves-apricot, fig, and camote
with pineapple-the month before the
wedding. Thanks to that, they were spared
the task of making the marmalade filling the
same day.
They often made enormous batches of jam,
using whatever fruit was in season, which
they cooked in a huge copper saucepan on
the patio.
The pan was set up over a fire, and they had
to cover their arms with old sheets to stir the
marmalade. This prevented the bubbles
from boiling up and burning their skin.
The moment Tita opened the jar, the smell of
apricots transported her to the afternoon they
made the marmalade. Tita had come in from
the kitchen garden, carrying the fruit in her
skirt because she had forgotten a basket.
She walked into the kitchen with her skirt
held up in front of her and was startled to
bump into Pedro.
Pedro was heading out to get the carriage
ready. They had to deliver some invitations
in town, and since the head groom had not
showed up at the ranch that day, the job had
fallen upon Pedro.
When Nancha saw him enter the kitchen,
she left, practically at a run, on the pretext of
cutting some epazote to add to the beans.
Startled as she was, Tita dropped a few of
the apricots.
Pedro quickly came over to help her pick
them up. Bending down, he could see the
part of her leg that was exposed.