Ebai's Apple Walnut Cake

I try to shun away from walnut cakes, for all those I've tried were parchingly dry. But when we were in Baguio for a much needed pre-Christmas vacation, the head of our office branch in the city handed me a small box of what she labeled as Ebai Cafe's best. 

I accepted gratefully, but reserved judgement on its reputation. Ebai's owner had been a client of the agency I work for, and we had always supported her business, going to lengths to promote her products. But she had not been known foremost  for her culinary prowess

When in Baguio I always troop to Vizco's, for its distinctively local strawberry cake. But of course I will be very remiss in being a foodie if I don't give other cakes in the summer capital a chance, won't I, especially if it had been given for free. So we forced ourselves to avoid Session Road, and came straight to our lodgings after dinner to open the box and try a slice.

I believe you cannot cure a walnut cake, for it is naturally dry. But it can be moistened with fruit, so in this case, the apples - in great, soft chunks lounging in the crumb - provided the much-needed moisture and fluff. The cake is moistened further by the excellent cream cheese frosting, generously coating the entire cake, that was redolent of cinnamon.

And so I accept. Ebai's apple walnut cake is the cake to eat in Baguio City during Christmas. The spice, the apple-pie-a-la-mode affinity, are a festive match to the cold holiday air perfumed by pine needles, mint and pungent thyme. Great with steaming tea or coffee, but good enough, on its own. A holiday discovery that will haunt the rest of the year, and the next.

Happy holidays, everyone!   

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Eba's Cafe and Pastry151 Upper Session Road
Baguio City
Tel. No. (63-74) 4469722
Mobile No. (63-939) 9035593

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Hong Kong: Tim Ho Wan

I was in Hong Kong island for a three-day training program. Half of the seminar participants were Hong Kong residents, and right in the morning of the first day, during mid-morning break, I asked the natives where an out-of-towner might eat dinner.

As it was, the training program practically took much of the day, since we ended at five o’clock daily. Meals were provided, so that it was only during dinnertime that I got to see and explore Hong Kong island. But I soon realized that there wasn’t anything much to do after five, as malls closed at six, and I wasn't motivated enough to go all the way to Kowloon for the flea markets. I decided I’d just compensate by eating.

A classmate mentioned that there was this small dim sum place inside the IFC Mall, which was within walking distance from our training venue, that was always being mobbed by people, was Michelin-starred, and served actually good food. It went by the name of Tim Ho Wan, and was located by the level of the train tracks.

I had misgivings, for I distrusted malls. I decided to check it out, anyway, thinking I’d revert to my planned itinerary if it didn’t turn out promising.

Turns out it was most promising. Turns out it was a branch of the dim sum place Anthony Bourdain raved about in The Layover episode that I watched during my flight, and which had also popped up in my research. Turns out other people don't know much of the branch, for all the times I was there I never had to wait in a queue, just directed to a vacant table or made to share one with empty chairs left.

I almost missed it, though. The sign was exclusively in Chinese, and the open façade was very nondescript, looking indistinguishable from its neighboring food shops. 

The dim sum was unparalleled, though. The baked buns with bbq pork alone was worth the trip – I wanted to eat them again for breakfast the following day. Three small siopao, the asado filling caramel-sweet and familiar, but unlike the baked siopao in the Philippines where they could be hard and dense as rocks, the baked buns evoked coffee buns with their sweet, milky melted tops and flaky, airy crumb. 

steamed beef balls with beancurd skin

I wanted to try as much as I could of the other offerings, but I was alone, which proved a handicap in my ability to get a good sampling of the menu, however short it was. I had to go back every night to try one dim sum after another. When the other restaurants in my itinerary didn’t pan out, or I couldn’t find them, I went to Tim Ho Wan.

It wasn’t a pleasant experience going around Hong Kong Central and interacting with the locals. Tram drivers, restaurant wait staff, not a lot of them could understand and speak English, and instead of looking for other people to help they would just wave their hands away.

I had the same encounter at Tim Ho Wan right on the first day I was there. They had this checklist, in Chinese and in English, where you ticked your order.  I tried to ask first what was in this dish, and for how many people it was good for, but there was the language barrier, and the server just waved me off and growled. What I couldn’t understand was that this dim sum joint was patronized by foreigners – all the days I was there half of the tables were occupied by Caucasians – but there was no effort to have at least one server who could service the non-Chinese speaking customers properly. 

But I was enamored of the food, so I was willing to overlook this shortcoming. On the following days I just ticked what sounded interesting and handed my order slip with my mouth pressed tightly closed. My instincts were probably on alert, for most of my orders were exceptionally good. That is, except for the siomai (steamed pork dumpling with shrimp), which I found to be unremarkable pitted with the good ones in the Philippines.

The lotus-leaf-wrapped glutinous rice with chicken and mushrooms was large enough for at least two people, but it was so good I finished all of it. Desserts were equally remarkable, and they were visually arresting to boot. There were these squares of jelly that recalled embroidered Chinese silk, and tasted like the aromatic interiors of Chinese temples.  

tonic medlar & petal cake

The Pinoy lelot balatong was probably descended from the Chinese dessert of red beans and glutinous rice, which was milky and sweet.

On my last day in Hong Kong I had to go back to Tim Ho Wan to buy several orders of the baked pork bun to bring home. The cashier, to whom you pay on your way out of the restaurant, uttered, “Every day!” It was probably one of the very few English words she knew, but yes, I could eat there every day.

Wandering around SM Mall of Asia a few days ago I saw a tarpaulin covering a stall under construction announcing Tim Ho Wan to be opening soon. I hope it's a branch of this revered Hong Kong favorite. I'll be waiting in anticipation, to try all the other dim sum I missed, but mostly to have a taste of those heavenly buns again. 

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Tim Ho Wan
Shop 12A, Podium Level 1
IFC Mall
Hong Kong Central Station

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Other Hong Kong Posts

Strolling Around Sheung Wan

Sheung Wan Dried Seafood Market

Lin Heung Kui

Eating Around Sheung Wan

Yung Kee

Hotel Breakfast

Cliftons Event Catering

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Hong Kong: Sheung Wan

I arrived in Hong Kong famished. I had made the mistake of assuming that, since my flight was noontime and because my booking had said I would be served a meal, I’d be served lunch. It turned out a meal on a one-hour lunchtime flight was just a small piece of pork bun.

But it was just as well. I make it a habit to eat very light before I arrive at my destination, anyway. The stomach should have enough space upon arrival so it can cope with eyes so rapidly scanning all the new culinary treats within reach, and a mouth that chomps faster than a hand can feed it.

So I supplemented my measly bun with Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, which showed the Hong Kong episode, of course, and re-read my research notes compiled two weeks before. It was fantastic that the TV show reiterated my internet browsing. So as my plane touched down Chep Lak Kok I had a solid itinerary fit for the food gods.

But alas, I also have this absolutely resistant habit of staying up throughout the night before an international trip, packing, repacking, checking things, and generally tarrying about everything. So always, always, I arrive at my destination loopy and ready to drop for lack of sleep.

After managing my way around the massive airport terminal, changing currencies, buying tickets, sitting out the one-hour bus ride to Hong Kong Island, and walking two blocks from the bus stop to my hotel, it was four o’clock and getting dark, and my knees felt like butter. By the time I had checked in and left my things in my hotel room I was starting to shake from hunger.

I had to scrap my itinerary, which involved managing to find the tram station to get into Hong Kong Central, as there were no subway trains servicing the area I was billeted in. It was also my first time to navigate Hong Kong island, being more familiar with the Kowloon side. I didn’t have the energy to look for the restaurants recommended in my research, but I had to find food fast.

So I decided to make it an opportunity to explore the neighborhood I’ll be in for the next four days. It was the right decision, for walking just a few meters I was rewarded with the sound of a heavy knife whomping on a wooden board. The glass window revealed cold chicken being chopped, then peppered with seasonings from several bottles. One wall showed a framed shot of a long line of salivating buyers from what I assumed to be the original outlet, and a rendering of an organic-looking chicken in a farm. 

I promptly fell in line, and when it was my turn I was told that the minimum order was half of a whole chicken. I didn’t care, as at that point I felt I could finish a whole pig. There was no dining area since the entire establishment was just a take-out counter, so I walked back to the hotel thinking I’d just eat in my room. A block after I found myself in the midst of noodle shops sitting side by side, in front of which were enticing pictures of steaming bowls perfect for the cold weather. 

I went to one that had a lot of people inside, hunkered down to their bowls. Interestingly, this noodle shop did not have tempting photos on its façade. No photos in the menu, too, and I was getting worried after I had been given a table. Good thing the owner, who, typical of the Chinese, minded the cash register, noticed at once and gave me a translated version. 

I ordered the roasted duck noodles, and the first thing to land on my table was a glass full of smoking hot water. My mind reeled. Was I supposed to dunk in the chopsticks and soup spoon that came soon after, to sterilize them, as is typically done in hole-in-the-wall carinderias in the Philippines? But in my country, though, spoons and forks come in already immersed in hot water.

So I had to ask, and the waitress gestured that the hot water was for drinking. Ah, ok. I had ordered nai cha, too, so after the hot water, the hot milk tea, and the scalding noodle soup I was all toasty and warm, relaxed as if I had lain in a hot bath for hours. I was also full, because the noodle shop owner graciously allowed me to eat my steamed chicken along with my hot bowl of noodle soup. Bliss.

Afterwards I had to fight off sleep, because walking back to my hotel I saw this dessert place that offered shaved ice. Never mind the winter cold, my belly was on fire from all the hot things I had eaten and the desire to eat more.

The flavors for the shaved ice were quite interesting, like marshmallow and durian, but I settled for the soya, which I thought to be quite Chinese.  

And so my first day in Hong Kong ended finely. It did not go according to plan, and I did not get to sample right away those restaurants that made such a flash in the radars of foodies. But I had quite an adventure all my own, spontaneous, unstructured, and fulfilling.  

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Casa San Pablo - Lunch

I never had any second thought about getting the full-board package at Casa San Pablo. I was there for relaxation and rejuvenation, so I didn’t want to be out in the city looking for food during mealtimes. And it’s most economical, too. The overnight charge includes breakfast, but for just an additional P200 per person lunch and dinner will be included. That’s an unbeatable deal, considering a hundred pesos per meal per person when eating out these days will not get you anywhere near something decent.

And it certainly will not get you anywhere near what Casa San Pablo serves for meals. Served family-style, on huge platters and in arrangements that stimulate lively conversation, each meal is a nourishing and soul-comforting experience.  Nothing fancy there – whatever is available and bountiful at the market that day, coaxed to life using time -bound recipes from lola. So it’s not fiesta fare, but home-bound food you grew up eating, that you miss, and crave, when you’re away.

Unlike most hotels and inns, check-in time at the Casa is 11AM, and check out time is 10AM the following day. So when you get the full-board package your three meals start with lunch and end with breakfast the day after.

Refreshments begin with this cool, refreshing, power-booster of a pink drink upon check-in. Danica the receptionist waited until we all finished our glasses – the kids asking for seconds – before telling me what the welcome drink was made of, wrongfully thinking we wouldn’t take it if we knew. Other guests must have balked upon learning, and prospective guests may, too, so I’m not broadcasting it here, so the secret remains with me and with those who have been to the Casa. All I can say is, it’s a common ingredient across these isles, and I can easily replicate it at home.

Our lunch proceeded with warm macaroni soup sporting a green cap of what looked like pesto, but which turned out to be blitzed malunggay leaves. I forgot to ask if it’s fresh, because I’ve cooked enough malunggay leaves in my lifetime to know that the leaves turn dark green with heat, and these are still bright green. I’m thinking maybe they’re the powdered kind. The soup also tasted of chicken cubes.

After the soup, though, and after the minor shortcomings, it was all homey and country-style. There was lemon-grass scented roasted chicken, cooked through but still moist, and almost adobo-like. 

And there were thin slices of tambakol in a thin gata, the banana leaf wrapping perfuming each steak. I don’t buy tambakol  at the market for I rarely find them fresh, and I get queasy with the red flesh. But the steaks we had for lunch tasted like they were freshly caught, with no hint of lansa. I could not detect ginger in the dish, as is common in many ginataan to cut the fishy taste. Here it was not needed, and it was one of the most delicate fish steaks I’ve had. Skill, and home-cooking expertise, was evident in the preparation and execution of this dish.

A side of ensaladang talong – grilled and peeled eggplants that were diced along with some tomato wedges, in a sweet vinaigrette – paired nicely with both chicken and fish.

Rounding the meal off was ginisang kangkong, which tasted differently from the ginisang kangkong we have weekly at home. There was something aromatic in there, without the somewhat acrid, though very subtle, note that I’ve come to associate with kangkong. I was enjoying it so much I forgot to ask Danica what was in it. Perhaps it was just the freshness, and the waters from which they grew are not as polluted as in Cavite, or elsewhere.

The only available drinks were softdrinks, which my family does not consume. I found the kitchen short in this aspect. Don’t people in Laguna drink local fresh fruit juices? Or herbal teas? But a pitcher of the pink drink can be ordered, so I was appeased. And there was free-flowing purified water, too, which was enough.

Dessert was an entire llanera of the smoothest, chewiest ube halaya on earth. I’m not sure if malagkit, maligat properly translates to chewy, so if it does not then it is not the right word. Not sticky, either, though it does stick to your gums and molars. However short my vocabulary is, it does not diminish the qualifications of this halaya. Or perhaps it leaves me speechless. I suspect powdered glutinous rice was mixed in it, to make it so malagkit. We finished it off, and the kids were eyeing the remains of the entire llanera a couple at the next table was not able to finish (it seems one entire llanera is served per room), so I sent them out to ride the bikes. 

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Black Summer

"goma" sundae

The proliferation of Korean and Japanese restaurants and food outlets in metropolitan cities is affording us a glimpse into the food culture of our Asian neighbors. One that I couldn't fail to notice - much because it is not common in the Philippines - is the use of black sesame. 

I only know of one Filipino dish that uses linga, and that is palitaw, boiled sticky discs of ground glutinous rice flour eaten sprinkled with grated coconut meat, sugar and white or toasted sesame seeds.  But the use of linga is not an absolute - not all the palitaw I've eaten around the country boasts of sesame seed topping. 

In Pangasinan, for example, we don't use it, but there is a variant made by my in-laws that submerges the dough discs in a viscous sauce aromatic with toasted linga and does away with the dry toppings, called masikoy. But the sesame seeds used are white, toasted in a hot pan to bring out the nuttiness and for color. For a while I thought all sesame seeds were white, and the brown and black ones were only according to toasting preferences.

I'm curious, though, because the children's folk song Bahay Kubo speaks of sesame plants flourishing all around a countryside backyard, and yet indigenous Filipino cuisine doesn't seem to have much use for it. Of course now sesame is in much use, the seeds as topping for burger buns, and as coating for buchi. I liberally use sesame seed oil as flavoring for noodles and vegetables. And in Asian restaurants we have battered fried meats and stews sprinkled with sesame seeds. But all these are rooted in cuisines outside our country.   

black sesame milk tea

This summer was explosive with black sesame seeds. The nuttiness was ground and made into a tar-like  paste to top the goma sundae at Pepper Lunch, while a sprinkling of white sesame seeds ensured that the flavor is unescapable. It is heavenly, akin to eating cold, melting palitaw that does not sink as a rock in the gut. 

I don't like Serenitea milk teas that much, but the selection is so varied that I go there intermittently to taste-test. The  black sesame milk tea caught my eye, and tongue. With a choice of roasted tea or assam as the base tea, it can be had hot or cold. I prefer the cold version, of course, in this heat. The black sesame is not even a flavored syrup, but real seeds that have been ground to a coarse powder so the drink comes out gritty. It is similar to the goma sundae, in melted form, and drinking it is like drinking a liquid palitaw.

Outlets of the Korean bakery Tous Le Jours sprouted like mushrooms all over the metropolis, enlightening Pinoys to French goodies with a Korean/Asian touch. It is like a trendier, and more expensive, version of pioneer Bread Talk, without the floss. 

Several pastries sport black sesame seeds atop, like a crown of sparse cropped hair, but remarkable is one of their bestsellers, sweet black rice bread with black sesame cream cheese. An immaculate bun gets an ebony spray, and cradles inside a generous filling of cream cheese pocked with the seeds that shatter with crunch and nuttiness with every bite. 

It's like palitaw and siopao and cheesecake all in one. 

At katsu Japanese specialty restaurant Yabu the condiment tray adorning every table invites diners to season  and spice the otherwise insipid battered fried meats and seafood. But served with the entrees is a small bowl with notched interiors for grinding the spoonful of keyboard-hued sesame seeds. Grind to preference, then ladle in the gooey, dark-brown dipping sauce that's reminiscent of worcestershire and teriyaki. 

The sesame salad dressing with black sesame seeds peeking out is slurpable, and is excellent both with the katsu and the unlimited shredded cabbage. I've found a similar salad dressing at the supermarket under the Kewpie brand, and it is just as good, and maybe even better, since I can have it at home to douse on whatever I fancy. 

Among all the sweets mentioned in this post, the Mochi Sweets' black sesame mochi is the closest in taste and texture to palitaw. For of course both are made with ground rice dough so they have the sticky, chewy feel. But least of all is the black sesame taste tasted here, for it seems the filling is extended with black beans or dyed sweet potato. Which is unfair, considering the price of this small treat.

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Unda-Unday

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Bahay Kubo

Bahay kubo, kahit munti
Ang halaman doon ay sari-sari
Singkamas at talong, sigarillas at mani
Sitaw, bataw, patani

Kundol, patola, upo’t kalabasa
At saka meron pa, labanos, mustasa
Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya
Sa paligid-ligid ay puno ng linga


Roughly translated as:

Bahay Kubo
(Filipino folk song)

Nipa hut, even though small
the plants surrounding it are varied and many
turnips and eggplants, winged beans and peanuts
yard-long beans, hyacinth beans, lima beans

wax gourd, sponge gourd, bottle gourd, squash
and there’s more, radish, mustard
onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger
the surrounding spaces filled with sesame

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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Bacoor

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St. Michael the Archangel Church

Gen. Evangelista Street, Bacoor, Cavite

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The church in Bacoor has a narrow nave, with very thick outer walls made from large stone blocks, making it dark inside even during the daytime. Being inside the church is like being transported in time - the dark, the cold air in spite of the hot summer outside, and the echoes bouncing on the stone walls let me imagine how it is to live in a medieval castle.

The church isn't medieval, though it's old relatively by Philippine church standards, having been built in 1752. Fr. Mariano Gomes, one of the three priests (the Gom in GomBurZa) executed on charges of leading the failed Cavite mutiny in 1872 that fueled national fervor in Filipino revolutionaries, was parish priest of the Bacoor parish for forty years until his arrest by Spanish authorities.  

Historical Significance

Bacoor was the first seat of the Philippine Revolutionary Government after the declaration of independence in 1898. A stone's throw away from the St. Michael church, a hundred meters or so back along Gen. Evangelista St., is the house that served as the government's headquarters. It can be recognized with the  Philippine flag that flies on its front and an identification marker at the ground level, but it's not publicly accessible as it is still used as a residential abode.

Pit Stops

- Just by the side of the church, at the war veterans' memorial, is a cart full of pans of still warm cassava pudding that's not to be missed. Sample slices are sold for Php13 each, while a full pan costs Php100. The cassava is unctuously malagkit, as with the creamy, caramelly topping. I rooted for the burnt topping at the edges.

- Within walking distance from the church is the Digman sitio, where several establishments serve up Digman halo-halo with a dozen ingredients. Walk down the street (J. Ocampo) fronting the cassava pudding kiosk, passing about three corner alleys. Turn left at the dead-end. The halo-haluans are clustered in the near corner.

- Farther along Gen. Evangelista Street, just before it turns left onto Mabolo is a pasalubong center of OTOP products. Very Kabitenyo are the tahong and luyang dilaw chips, but there are other flavors - carrot, malunggay, ampalaya, saluyot. Crispy tahong in pouches and bottled adobong tahong and various pickled vegetables complete the line-up.

Directions

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From Manila

By Private Vehicle

- Bacoor is approximately 17 kms. southwest of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas) and a very short span of the Aguinaldo Highway. Towards the end of Coastal Road in Las Pinas take the fly-over going into Aguinaldo Highway by taking the right turn. After the Shell gas station the Aguinaldo highway turns right then curves to the left. Take the first right corner (Talaba) and drive straight onto Gen. Evangelista Street. You will pass by the Bacoor public cemetery and the Eternity memorial park, and a Ministop convenience store. The church is on the right side, just beside the war veterans' memorial, and in front of the city hall across the street.

By Public Transportation

- Board an air-conditioned bus passing by Aguinaldo Highway (signboards Tagaytay, Mendez, Imus, Dasmarinas, Nasugbu), which get passengers along EDSA from Cubao/Ortigas, and along Taft Avenue, Quirino and Roxas Boulevard from Plaza Lawton. Get off at Talaba, Bacoor a few hundred meters from the flyover at the end of Coastal Road passing by Shell gas station. Board a jeep waiting just at the  mouth of Gen. Evangelista Street, with the signboard Binakayan. Ask to be let off at the Bacoor church.  

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The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia

St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit

Holy Cross Church, Noveleta

San Roque Church (Shrine of the Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga), Cavite City

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Rosario

Santa Cruz Church, Tanza

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church, Naic

Buttermilk Maruya with Langka

Sultry afternoons are forever slick with the grease of fried meryenda crowding a bilao carried on the head of a tia, who sashayed along sidewalks accompanied by tireless, endless hollering that starts as a bass and ends in a clarinet.

I've had buchi, holed donuts, green bean lumpia, turon. And of course maruya, banana fritters dredged in sugar, eaten hot, the cooking oil from which it had recently been spluttering slowly tracing jaw and neck and the insides of my hand and arm.

Immense, rotund, odoriferous ripe jackfruits squat on pavements of market stalls in various stances - whole, slashed, sectioned, quartered, flayed and bagged - their pungent sweetness sitting heavily in the idle air. 

I stand inert, breathing in the scent that paints pictures of kineler (ginataang bilo-bilo) and turon. 

Turon, and maruya, don't seem to be popular in Cavite. I have yet to come across vendors carrying them, while native kakanin are present year-round. Not that I would buy, of course. There are always bunches of small saba on sale that boil into large thumbs of sweetness, and are particularly dulcet fried. What's more, the ratio of banana-to-langka in the innumerable turon I've eaten I've always found to be unfairly favorable to the saba.

So my home-made turon is pungently aromatic and sweet. And because a friend handed me a section of the sweetest tree-ripened langka from her backyard, I put langka in my maruya, too.  

I hear that in the Bicol region maruya is made with rice flour, which makes the snack unbeatably crispy. So I use rice flour in my maruya, too, but not all the time, because a few hours would irreversibly harden them. 

We make maruya as early as breakfast time, and we make a big batch so the kids, who are home the whole day now with the summer school break, can snack on them anytime they want. So it's imperative that the maruya remain softly chewy until sundown.

I like my maruya in a thick batter, cooking into discs that are like dense, chewy pancakes.  Filled with slices of saba and strips of langka, creamy with a splash of buttermilk and some butter. When cooked, they are sprinkled with brown sugar for a touch of caramel sweetness. A smear of condensed milk  brings in a new creamier level.

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Chewy Balls

 Happy New Year 2013!

Chewy Junior Minis

*Small chewy balls of rice and flour dough, filled and topped with a variety of flavors and choice ingredients. Satistifies the requirements for sticky and round.   

Cakes to Give, and Receive

I’ve been giving these cakes throughout the year. To friends, on their birthdays, and as an alternative for Christmas when I couldn’t find the time to make something. To people I feel more or less obliged to – bosses, my children’s teachers after the school year or during school Christmas party, acquaintances who have extended favors. During potluck parties, for out-of-town hosts.

These are the cakes I also dream of receiving. But I dread opening cake boxes to find one of those I blacklisted three years ago, so to be sure I just buy one of these. Or two.

Each is worth buying whole, to share with the family, and expected - and unexpected - callers during the holidays. Though  a slice is also nice to have with coffee or tea in the afternoons during breaks from all the crazed shopping.

I also look forward to a calmer season, when all the festivities have come and gone, and I could sit in a lounge chair with a book, by the garden, lulled by the sound of running water from the fountain. I’d have a slice of one these cakes beside me, with iced tea, or cold milk tea, and sigh, with happiness and contentment.

Quezo de Bola Cheesecake

Chef Lau's Pugon Roasts (formerly BFAST)
Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati City 

The depth and sharpness of flavor from a properly aged edam cheese is mellowed  by the candied pili nuts atop this cheesecake. The sweet caramel crackle breaks into the silkiness that languidly coats the tongue, affording a wonder of enjoyment.

This is one of just two QDB cheesecakes I know of available in Metro Manila. The other one, which came out earlier than this, was so bland and boring that I banished QDB as an ingredient worthy of a cheesecake. Good thing I checked this one out. I finally found a better way – a much better way – of enjoying queso de bola for Christmas.

Chunky Monkey 

Chef Lau's Pugon Roasts (formerly BFAST)
Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati City

Just looking at that thick, gooey peanut butter makes me want to run to the Ayala Triangle Gardens to have a taste. Alas, I rein myself, because one slice is just too much for one, even for me. But I have the audacity to declare this is the best banoffee pie hereabouts - and I don't even think anybody has the right to be saying anything is the best anywhere. 

But I do love this pie dearly - it is so full of contrasting flavors and textures that it never ceases to hold my awe, to the last bite. There's a chewy layer of chocolate atop which is that tall crown of whipped sweetened cream - which is actually edible unlike that atop the cakes being peddled next door - and below snake slices of fresh ripe bananas so malagkit I can't fathom what variety they are. Then there's that luscious peanut butter oozing out of every cranny and enveloping the bananas - the intensity of the experience is just too much. I take a breath, and ponder how such a simple dessert could do this to  me.  

Happy Ever After

Bread Talk

My problem with the cakes at Bread Talk is the dryness – I can’t swallow the chiffon that’s the core and foundation of every one of them. But I had this cake at Buffet 101, and just one bite made my eyes grow round and lighten up like Gollum’s upon seeing his precious. The chocolate chiffon was light and soft – not too much, but at least not dry – but it was the hazelnut buttercream icing that decided it for me. Nutty, buttery, creamy, lightly sweetened to allow the hazelnut to lord it over. It's one of a kind - but try to buy this freshly made, and eat it at once.

Tiramisu

Illy - Power Plant Mall, Mall of Asia, NAIA Terminal 3

Again I'll be so bold to say this is the best tiramisu I've had in a long while - probably my whole life even - and I've had a lot, because my husband and I will always have it if it's on the menu. And I daresay tiramisu should be made this way, and this way only - pieces of excellent crispy broas or lady fingers not compact together but apart - spaced just so to balance one another, while in between are teardrops of sweetened mascarpone, the whole thing dusted with cocoa powder. Only upon serving is a demitasse of espresso poured on it, so that the broas are not soaked and limpid, but still possessing crackle and chew. The mascarpone is sufficiently sweet to stand up to the bitterness of the coffee, the balance enlightening me to what this dessert truly is all about. 

I don't know if it can be ordered to take home, with the espresso, and how the travel time will affect the cake. Best to eat it at the cafe, and an order is good for three to four people. But I shared this with a friend, after a hearty lunch, and we had no problem polishing the plate between the two of us, it was that good, really.

Chicago Cheesecake

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

I adore the simplicity of this untopped cheesecake. Silky, rich and lemony, it dares to be  unadorned because it is confident of the quality of all the ingredients that went into it. 

Yema Roll

Edna's Cakeland

Kapitan Pepe Subdivision

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija

(63-44) 4630387

Yema cakes are the "in" cakes in the countryside. It's the promdi version of caramel cakes. I've had great ones from Quezon province, Pangasinan, and from Cagayan Valley. But this one is remarkable, and stands apart because of the addition of one ingredient - a lemony accent. 

Eggs, butter and sugar boiled together becomes yema, which by itself is ambrosial, but is elevated to a whole new level of divinity when something citrus is introduced. The tang breaks the cloying sweetness, and perfumes it with zest. 

The chiffon  in this roll is so soft it is almost unable to withstand the yema it looks to be drenched it. But I am grateful for the excess, licking the yema from my fingertips.

Yema Sans Rival

A La Creme

Dolores, MacArthur Highway

San Fernando City, Pampanga

Yet another yema dessert, this one in the form of that impossibly thin layered cake that resurrects and resurrects in various forms. The difference with using yema is the structure and form - because it is boiled, it doesn't really melt. And because yema is the stuff of childhood sweetness, I feel gleeful biting into yema that cracks, crackles, and breaks. 

[Margie's Kitchen]

Chocolate Cakes

Everybody bakes, or sells, a chocolate cake, it seems. I even tried to bake some, and I realized how truly, honestly difficult it is to come up with something moist enough without being too sweet, and being powerfully chocolatey but still soft and light. So now I have great respect for bakers who can realize the impossible.

And they're not that many. Chocolate cakes that have impressed me are made by the following:

Nothing Like Homemade

21 Stella Street, Bel-Air, Makati City 

Tel. No. (632) 8960396

Panaderia Antonio

De Venecia Highway

Calasiao, Pangasinan

(63-75) 5220007

Margie's Kitchen

Butuan City

Dulcinea

Josiah's Catering, Inc.

I hope with this post I have made amends on that venomous blacklist that's perpetually on the Popular Posts bar of this blog. I hope it gets on that bar, too. And with that, wishing all of you a sweet and joyful Christmas!

More Cakes to Give

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)
White Chocolate Mousse, by Gateau de Manille (Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City)
Mango Cake, by Red Ribbon (with outlets all across the country)
Ube Cake, by Goodies and Sweets (several locations across Metro Manila)
Mango Charlotte by Sweet Bella (Dasmarinas Village, Makati City)
Strawberry Cake by Vizco’s (Baguio City)
Almond Chocolate Fudge Cake by Malen's (Noveleta, Cavite)
Caramel Cake by Estrel's (Quezon City)
Pinkie's Fondant Cakes, Pinkie's (Dagupan City)
Sans Rival, et. al., House of Sans Rival (Dumaguete City)
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, Calea (Bacolod City)
Mango-Layered Cheesecake, Sweet Ideas (Makati City)

Home-made Desserts
Food for the Gods
Kundol
Strawberry-Chocolate Float
White Tropicale Salad
Cathedral Windows

Crema de Fruta
Black Forest Cheesecake
Langka Cheesecake
Arroz Tres Leches
Floats

Buko Shake

Buko shake stalls now dot the metro scape and the neighboring provinces, and ever increasing. I say it's about time! The idea is quite a bit late, coming after those bubble shakes made of synthetic flavored powders, and bubble teas tasting of phony milk powders.

This one is all natural, all-organic, and omnipresent. In short effortless to make. It's a wonder we've only realized now that it's a steal to make buko shake commercially available.

Buko - young coconuts - has been ubiquitous from ancient times, I'm sure. I grew up eating the tender white, sweetishly creamy meat, and drinking the refreshing water, from mobile carts, market stalls, roadside kiosks, each "nut" opened only upon purchase. Only a sharp, glinting bolo is the required tool, for slashing through the fibrous bunot.

Through the years, innovations were introduced, like a bunot-less nut cold from lounging inside an ice-packed styrofoam chest. Then covered cups of buko juice with several slivers of young coconut meat were commercially available for a time, in malls and and roadside stores, but these were too sweet - they had to be sweetened enough to last for days. 

Buko deteriorates fast. I've made enough buko salad that turned sour to know that once a buko has been opened, the meat has to be consumed right away, or cooled at  once in the ref.

Buko is a natural thirst-quencher, as well as an effective cure for hang-over. It's also drunk for urinary tract infections. But we avoid having it in the afternoons, as it can induce, ironically, stomachache. Early mornings glugs of it is most wise.

I still have to find a stall that offers buko shake that I like, though. It's either the sugar syrup is over the top, or the coconut meat used is too mature that it should have been made into gata.

But that doesn't keep us from having too many shakes. Just a couple of young coconuts from the market, a cup of vanilla milk, two cups of ice, some sugar (or not!) and my trusty Oster, and there's buko shake for the entire family. We can have a white Christmas, after all!

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