Cake of the Month
As the family marks my third child’s progress onto her first year, I will be celebrating her monthly birth day in this blog by featuring a cake. Lined up for the next twelve months, and hopefully on afterwards, are old-time favorites, reliable standards, as well as new discoveries, as I go on a quest for the best cakes around the country.
I first tasted Gateau de Manille's White Chocolate Mousse while I was in college, courtesy of my then boyfriend (my first, and also my last, "official" one, before the husband), who brought a slice to the university campus. I never forgot its creamy sweetness, a melt-in-your-mouth, snow-white mousse that was like vanilla ice cream but silkier, and with a denser body.
I never had it again, nor ventured to the bakeshop-restaurant for a repeat slice, for various reasons, though it was always at the back of my mind. Various issues occupied me during college, and the boyfriend and I parted ways. There were also a lot of hurdles - it was too far from the university campus where I lived out my four-year tenure, especially for a promdi who had no car (no public utility vehicles ply the area). And, as was true with most of us students back then, I didn't have the budget for it.
My mom taught me never to scrimp on food. But a cake was an indulgence. I lived in a ladies dormitory that provided full board weekdays, and during weekends my meals were mostly provided for during activities of my university organization. Needless to say, I learned, and practiced, thriftiness during my college life.
But a baby is a blessing, and every day she brings joy to the family, so that every month added to her still young life is a blessing worthy of a celebration. So while doing the list for this cake of the month series, that white chocolate mousse was a definite shoo-in.
And I made the trip to White Plains, reliving college life thru the restaurant's food that was the fad in my teens - waldorf salad, roast beef sandwich, teriyaki, chicken galantina.
And the white chocolate mousse was how I remembered it, although it seemed to have impressed upon myself that it was pure white, so I was a bit surprised to find chocolate (the real brown chocolate) shavings and brown cookie crumbles on top of the mousse.
But the lady at the counter said it is still made in the original recipe from when the bakeshop-restaurant opened in 1990, and it still is their bestseller.
Gateau de Manille's White Chocolate Mousse is a thick, 9" frozen pure white mousse with a thin crumbly chocolate brownie as base and top holding up the mousse, covered with a thin white chocolate shell, decorated with whipped cream rosettes, then finished off with grated chocolate (Php515). It also comes in mini size, 7" at Php415, and single serve in a plastic cup for take-out or served on a plate at Php80.
This mousse is unlike typical mousses with a chiffon or cookie base and a whipped cream topping. It is pure white chocolate mousse, through and through, from top to bottom. Every mouthful is creamy, velvety vanilla ice cream bliss. It has to be refrigerated, but it survived travel from Quezon City to Cavite without any damage to its form.
The bakeshop's cakes are mostly mousses or variants of their kind. The double chocolate mousse is white chocolate mousse with the bottom half in chocolate, while the trio has strawberry mousse packed between the white and the brown chocolate. Both are also great, in a play of flavors dual and triple.
The mousse also comes in cappuccino and mango flavors (Php495 each, mini Php415, single serve Php75). There is also sansrival and tiramisu. The only baked cakes are moist chocolate cake, sansrival, apple pie and cheesecakes with blueberry and dulce de leche toppings. Also pastries, like ensaymada (underbaked) and chicken pies.
I never had it again, nor ventured to the bakeshop-restaurant for a repeat slice, for various reasons, though it was always at the back of my mind. Various issues occupied me during college, and the boyfriend and I parted ways. There were also a lot of hurdles - it was too far from the university campus where I lived out my four-year tenure, especially for a promdi who had no car (no public utility vehicles ply the area). And, as was true with most of us students back then, I didn't have the budget for it.
My mom taught me never to scrimp on food. But a cake was an indulgence. I lived in a ladies dormitory that provided full board weekdays, and during weekends my meals were mostly provided for during activities of my university organization. Needless to say, I learned, and practiced, thriftiness during my college life.
But a baby is a blessing, and every day she brings joy to the family, so that every month added to her still young life is a blessing worthy of a celebration. So while doing the list for this cake of the month series, that white chocolate mousse was a definite shoo-in.
And I made the trip to White Plains, reliving college life thru the restaurant's food that was the fad in my teens - waldorf salad, roast beef sandwich, teriyaki, chicken galantina.
And the white chocolate mousse was how I remembered it, although it seemed to have impressed upon myself that it was pure white, so I was a bit surprised to find chocolate (the real brown chocolate) shavings and brown cookie crumbles on top of the mousse.
But the lady at the counter said it is still made in the original recipe from when the bakeshop-restaurant opened in 1990, and it still is their bestseller.
Gateau de Manille's White Chocolate Mousse is a thick, 9" frozen pure white mousse with a thin crumbly chocolate brownie as base and top holding up the mousse, covered with a thin white chocolate shell, decorated with whipped cream rosettes, then finished off with grated chocolate (Php515). It also comes in mini size, 7" at Php415, and single serve in a plastic cup for take-out or served on a plate at Php80.
This mousse is unlike typical mousses with a chiffon or cookie base and a whipped cream topping. It is pure white chocolate mousse, through and through, from top to bottom. Every mouthful is creamy, velvety vanilla ice cream bliss. It has to be refrigerated, but it survived travel from Quezon City to Cavite without any damage to its form.
The bakeshop's cakes are mostly mousses or variants of their kind. The double chocolate mousse is white chocolate mousse with the bottom half in chocolate, while the trio has strawberry mousse packed between the white and the brown chocolate. Both are also great, in a play of flavors dual and triple.
The mousse also comes in cappuccino and mango flavors (Php495 each, mini Php415, single serve Php75). There is also sansrival and tiramisu. The only baked cakes are moist chocolate cake, sansrival, apple pie and cheesecakes with blueberry and dulce de leche toppings. Also pastries, like ensaymada (underbaked) and chicken pies.
Gateau de Manille
117 Katipunan Road, St. Ignatius Village
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Tel. No. (632) 911-6547
Open daily 9AM-9PM
Also does catering services
From EDSA north-bound lane, turn right onto Santolan Road, driving across the entire length of the side of Camp Aguinaldo. Turn right at Katipunan Road, and it is on the right side just several houses away from the intersection, just about across the gate to St. Ignatius Village.
Cakes of the Month
Divine Chocolate Cake, by Divine Sweets (Puerto Princesa, Palawan)
Cakelines, by Jon-Rhiz (Cavite City)
Dayap Chiffon Cake, by Kiss Cafe (UP Diliman, Quezon City)
Belgian Chocolate Cake, by a La Creme (City of San Fernando, Pampanga)
Mango Cake, by Red Ribbon (with various locations across the country)
Ube Cake, by Goodies N' Sweets (several locations across Metro Manila)
Mango Charlotte, by Sweet Bella (Dasmarinas Village, Makati City)
Strawberry Shortcake by Vizco's (Baguio City)
Almond Chocolate Fudge Cake by Malen's (Noveleta, Cavite)
Caramel Cake by Estrel's (Quezon City)
Marshmallow Birthday Cake by Estrel's (Quezon City)
3 comments:
Will they deliver to San Jose, California or at least let us know where we can get one of those here. That looks so goooood. My mouth is drooling. Roz (Mrs. L's Mom)
You'd probably be better off with a Haagen Dazs ice cream cake, Tita Roz. ;-)
the food was good..
but the girl name rochelle dela rosa/rose as waitress told me the name..pedro gil manila.midtown.
she' needs to get fired..she dunno how to approch the custumer..
napakataray!
and the image is not good
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