MumsKitchens NYC
“Wherever you spend your first night, is where you will live for a very long time.”
TM Walker was born and raised in Barbados. Throughout her life, she has travelled the world, won modeling competitions, and worked in management, yet she couldn’t stay away from her first love: baking. She started baking when she was eleven years old, learning recipes that were passed down through her family. The Walkers moved to the United States in the early 80s, and haven't left Queens since.
“I have always enjoyed baking and grew up baking from the recipes and the inherited knowledge that has been passed down to me through the generations of women in my family. My grandmothers and my mother were all bakers and made amazing cakes & breads! Growing up on a beautiful island is magical, challenging definitely, magical with amazing sunrises, sunsets and family all around.”
In 2016, TM Walker opened up MumsKitchens NYC, and has been operating via PopUp shops and their online store.
How has your Caribbean background influenced the items on your menu?
“Our Caribbean background is the backbone of our business. The recipes we are using today were passed down. Some of them are three generations old.”
“Our menu consists of items from home - Coconut Raisin Bread, Black Cake, Fishcake/fritters to name a few. We are attentive to our customers needs and have added other products, and those products are infused with spices and flavors from Barbados. Our menu has grown over the years and we are very proud of new products.”
Pictured: Grand Mama Cod Fish Balls paired with a Mango Pineapple Dipping Sauce and a side of Slap Yo Mama Cole Slaw.
What is the hardest part about running your baking business?
“Moving away from in person events, such as Food Festivals, PopUP Shops, Lobby Sales venues etc., to focusing on our web page: MumsKitchensNYC.com. We updated the pages, made them more streamlined, and worked diligently on the backend of the site to ensure every link was active and led you to the right page. We continue to take classes on how to optimize the site and drill down to understand our customer's pain points so we can remove them. Another obstacle we are working to overcome is conversions and we continue to work on solving this issue.”
Pictured: Purple Gift Box filled with Assorted Cookies
What is your favorite dish to make?
“Every dish we make, are dishes we love, the recipes were passed down so it is difficult to just choose one. However, when I am making our Coconut Raisin Breads - I have memories of watching my grandmother make them as well as my mother. My mother passed down the recipes to me and once I had mastered it, she stopped making them. She had passed on the tradition.”
Pictured: Coconut Raisin Bread
What is your favorite thing about Queens?
“Almost thirty years later after landing at JFK Airport - I would have to say EVERYTHING! Everything about Queens is great. The diversity, the ability to travel the world in one night through dining is amazing. The OG Mum loves it as she can walk to every place she likes (churches, banking, food shopping, doctors) and we are in the hub where mass transit converges. Queens is perfect!
There is a staying, wherever you spend your first night that is where you will live for a very long time.”
Pictured: Nutty Brownie Bites topped with Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
Nutty Zucchini Raisin Bread
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat eggs, applesauce, vanilla extract, sugar and oil. Mix well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter and lightly flour two 8”x4” loaf pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir gently to combine.
Shred zucchini, lightly packing it down as you measure it.
Slowly add the dry ingredients (about ⅓ at a time) mixing as you go – then beat well to fully combine.
With a rubber scraper or wooden spoon, stir in shredded zucchini, nuts and raisins into the batter and mix well.
Pour the batter into each prepared pan.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out cleanly. The bake time will vary depending on how much shredded zucchini you add to the batter.
Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks.
For the topping, use a cream cheese icing recipe
Ingredients
3 eggs room temperature
½ cup apple sauce
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups sugar
½ cup of oil
3 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup of raisin (optional)
1 cup of chopped nuts (Pecans, Walnuts)
(optional)
3½ cups shredded zucchini