White Chocolate Blondie

With still half a package of cream cheese to spare, I browsed the recipe book on what to bake. I zeroed in on the White Chocolate Blondie for 3 reasons. I have all the ingredients needed for the recipe, from the cream cheese to the maple syrup. Second was, I love white chocolate and lastly, I haven't eaten a Blondie yet. The closest I have been to having one was at Ruby Tuesday, but it was too expensive that I backed out.

Since I don't know how a Blondie should be, taste-wise, texture and all, I over baked it, especially on top. With help of course from my malfunctioning oven. The last five minutes of the Blondie in the oven, the top was still jiggly, but the bottom was already done. Thus, I decided to put it in broiler. Hence, the crusty top.


But I still like, I especially like the crusty top because it's as sweet as caramel.
My sister & I even fought for it.


The Blondie reminded me of a pancake in taste because of the maple syrup and a Japanese cheesecake in texture. But was also buttery, softer and creamier than both. Also lighter, since it has less sugar but richer, because of the cream cheese, butter and white chocolate.

A recipe I would love to make again, but this time with more white chocolate (melted and in chunks) in it.

Happy Eating!

Brazo de Mercedes Ice Cream

Last Sunday, my mother brought home a container of Selecta's Limited Edition, Brazo de Mercedes Ice Cream. We ate it for dessert that same day.


It is an ice cream, flavored after the infamous Brazo de Mercedes cake, with bits and pieces of pastillas de leche and marshmallows, in a light custard.

It tasted the same as the cake but lighter & fluffier.

The marshmallows will remind you of the texture of the egg white/meringue part of the brazo cake. The presence of pastillas de leche was a welcome addition to the ice cream. You'll look forward for it with your every spoon.

It's a good ice cream flavor, one that should be a permanent addition to Selecta's variety of flavors.

Happy Eating!

Burgoo

To celebrate my niece's birthday, the whole family spent our Sunday lunch at Burgoo in MOA. I have eaten there several times already, but it always feels like the first time

We ordered the Extra Supreme Nachos P265 (large), Cheesy Beef Baked Macaroni P255 (large), Seafood Linguine P295 (large), Shrimps and Ribs Platter P695 (large), Chicken Fingers P335 (large), Rice Pilaf P40/cup, Oreo Shakes and Extra Servings of their Toasted Breads .

The Extra Supreme Nachos are crispy corn chips, topped with taco beef, pico de gallo, jalapeno slices, grilled chicken breast and black olives. It is served with their cheese sauce.


It was good, especially the cheese sauce. It was practically gone in 60 seconds.

Another appetizer was the Chicken Fingers. They were chicken breast strips, breaded and deep fried to golden.


It was also good, especially when paired/dipped on their ranch dressing (which you can ask for free).

Next served were the Cheesy Beef Baked Macaroni. It is ground beef in Alfredo sauce with penne pasta, oven-baked with Parmesan & mozzarella cheeses.


It is similar to the baked ziti of Sbarro but better and also cheesier.

The Seafood Linguine is a combination of shrimps, calamari, clams & mussels over linguine pasta.


Fresh seafood, perfectly-seasoned and at the same time a very light pasta meal.

The Toasted Bread that comes with the pasta was sooo good. It was buttery & garlicky. We can't seem to get enough of it.


For our main course, the Shrimps and Ribs Platter is a combination of barbecued baby back ribs, Cajun spiced fried prawns and sausages, with bell peppers and mushrooms. It is served with french fries and corn on the cob.


The ribs were very tender and have a great barbecue taste. everyone liked it, especially my niece ( also the birthday girl, and who ate almost all of it) and my sister (who had a bad first time experience with the ribs of Tony Romas).

The Cajun-Spiced Prawns were very tasty too & another favorite of my niece. Which she also hoarded a lot of, same as myself.

The Rice Pilaf was also good, it is similar to a Java Rice in taste and appearance.


For dessert and as a beverage too, we had the Oreo Milk Shake. And as anything with Oreo in it, it was very good.


This was one dining experience we would like to do again. Everything from the food to the company was good. Except the temperature that is, it was hot inside the resto. Which according to a staff, was due to the mall's malfunctioning ACU.

Happy Eating!

A Tale of Two Chicken Sandwiches

On a single day I bought two chicken sandwiches from two different fast food chains to try.

First was the Xtra Long Chicken Sandwich P95 (solo) of Burger King.


It is chicken patty with mayonnaise and lettuce on a long sesame seed bun.

I found it too salty, plain-tasting and also expensive.

Next, was the Zesty Garlic Chicken Sandwich P39 of Wendy's.


It is chicken patty with garlic mayonnaise on a regular bun.

This was way better than the sandwich of Burger King, cheaper too.

The patty was juicy & perfectly seasoned. Good use too of the garlic mayonnaise for the added flavor.

A good alternative to the chicken burgers & sandwiches of KFC, which I still think serves the best chicken anything.

Happy Eating!

Magnolia's Choco Peanut Butter Treat

One of the new Mega Summer Flavors of Magnolia Ice Cream. Good combination of chocolate and peanut butter, with the peanut butter as the prominent taste and with added texture from the nuts.

Happy Eating!

Italiannis

I was very hungry yesterday evening that I can't hold it back no more to go to Greenbelt for dinner.

I settled then for the Parmesan Crusted Fish Fillet P495 of Italiannis.


It is a white fish fillet, breaded in Parmesan cheese & topped with white wine caper sauce. It's served with rosemary potatoes and mixed vegetables.

The fish was fresh and soft, almost creamy in texture. It's similar to the NY Fish and Chips of Fish & Co (italiannis was Parmesan crusted, fish & co has a cheese filling), but better because of the creamy caper sauce. The potatoes and mixed vegetables were crunchy & perfectly seasoned.

Overall, the Parmesan crusted fish fillet was good, but quite expensive. Since an order is only good for one.

While waiting or rather as soon as you sit down, they'll give you complimentary breads with mixed olive oil and balsamic.


The ones given to me tasted stale and were almost rock hard. Good thing they're free =p

Happy Eating!

Cheesecake Brownies

I still have a lot of opened cake and pastry ingredients at home, and since I don't want to throw it away, just yet, since they're still in good condition, I opted to bake brownies instead.

I chose the cheesecake brownies recipe I got from the net. The recipe called for a brownie mix, a package of cream cheese, egg and granulated sugar.

Since, I don't have any brownie mix, I made one from a fudge brownie recipe that I also got from the net.


Instead of using the entire package of cream cheese I just used half and also used brown sugar instead of granulated. A mistake on my part, since doing so had a different effect on the taste and color of the cheesecake brownies.


The cheesecake brownies were good, dark and fudgy. I only had a problem with the cheesecake top. The egg was overcooked & resembled omelette instead of cheesecake, plus it is darker in color =p

Maybe I should have also used half an egg when I decreased the cream cheese in half. And also used granulated sugar instead of brown (lazy me, I don't want to open yet another package of granulated sugar, since that would mean I should consume it right away. Just like what happened with the big can of condensed milk I opened. I partnered it with almost every breads and pastries possible. At last I'm down down to the last 1/2 cup).

Happy Eating!

Marble Bundt of McCafe

I like the Mud Pie Cake of McCafe. It's cheap and good at the same time.

Sad to say they were out of it when I came by yesterday. So, I became adventurous (am I not always?) and bought Marble Bundt at P55 instead.


It is a liqueur flavored bundt with white and dark chocolate drizzles.

It is not airy, it's moist and compact and with a slight kick from the liqueur. Good combination too, both taste-wise and visually of the dark and white chocolate.

An okay cake, a light dessert to have after meal of for snack.

Happy Eating!

Frostings Cupcakes

I was looking for Segafredo inside Rustan's in Glorietta but found Frostings instead.
According to a staff they're the sister company of Lemon Squares. So if you like their product, you'll most likely to enjoy frostings too.

Frostings sells cupcakes & chocolate coated marshmallows. They have regular, premium, fruity and super premium cupcakes. For premium their best sellers are the Belgian and Swiss chocolate, the blueberry and carrot for fruity and tiramisu for the super premium.

Since I just wanted to try one, I ordered the Belgian Chocolate Cupcake at P50/pc from the premium selection.


The cake and frosting were made of dark Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with nuts.

When I was eating it, I wasn't bowled over by its taste, but when I got to the middle there was a surprise, a lava center.

It was like a fountain, the fireworks kind, not the one with water. That after the fireworks , the party's over. The same thing goes with the Belgian cupcake. After the lava center, the party's over too and back with the plain-tasting cupcake.

If you have P50 to spare, you can try it out for yourself. But based on what I have tasted, it's not on the same league as Sonja's (taste-wise) but they're priced almost the same.

It's more of just a high-end version of Lemon Squares' cupcakes. Though I would love to try their Strawberries & Cream and Trifle next time, just to see if it'll be a different experience.

Happy Eating!

Ozeano Restaurant by Tamayo's Catering

Last week my family and I went to Ocean Park in Quirino Manila. And as part of the ocean park experience, we wanted to try the fish spa. But since there's a waiting time of 45 minutes, we chose to spend it having late lunch at the Ozeano Fusion Restaurant.

Before we went inside the resto, the cakes on display outside caught our attention. We bought a piece of Fruit Pastry P50 to try.


Inside, each one of us settled for a different set meal, since the lunch buffet's already closed. In my case, I ordered the Chef's Combination Set D at P200.


It consisted of 1/4 chicken, pasta pomodoro, 2 pieces of won ton and a small slice of cake.

Although the serving was too little for its price and was served a little bit cold, the taste was quite good. Especially the pasta pomodoro and the blueberry cake.

It was said on the menu that it was pasta pomodoro but it looked and tasted like bolognese to me.

We all enjoyed our orders and planned to go back at ocean park just for the food.

On our way out, we bought 2 pieces of the Chocolate Mousse P50/pc and another of the Fruit Pastry P50/pc.


The mousse was good, not too sweet nor rich. The chocolate cake at the bottom though was crumbly and dry. But, overall the cake's good.


The fruit pastry has a custard and fruit filling inside . The pastry has the right sweetness and best when eaten with the filling.

Happy Eating!

Ozeano Fusion Restaurant
Level 2, Manila Ocean Park,
Luneta, Manila

Jipan's Denmark Danish Bread

I often visit Jipan's in Glorietta whenever I'm in the area. I like looking at their different selections of breads and pastries. I have also bought quite a lot, from the Japanese cheesecake to the chocolate croissants.

That day I saw something new, the Denmark Danish Bread P100.


Denmark Danish Bread is a bread with almond cream filling and topped with almond slivers.

It was like an almond croissant but thicker. It's good to use as the bread for puddings, but in my case I dipped it in condensed milk, yummy!

Happy Eating!

Jipan
2/F Glorietta 4,
Ayala Center Makati

Pepato

Makati has a lot of restaurants, choosing where to eat can sometimes be a predicament.

That night, I chose Pepato. I have always wanted to try their Green Ravioli P190 (for tasting) and the Il Fiato P185.

The Green Ravioli is made of fresh pasta stuffed with crab meat & crab roe duet on a calamansi cream sauce.


I thought that 5 pieces of it for tasting would be okay, since I can get by with half an order of ravioli from CPK which is just 6 pieces. But when it was served on my table, I was surprised with its size. It was half the size of a normal ravioli, it was also very thin almost fragile looking.

The taste though were another story. It was good, from the combination of the crab meat and crab roe, to the calamansi cream sauce. The calamansi subdued the fishy taste of the crab meat, it also made the sauce light and refreshing.

Since it was written on their menu to allow 20 minutes for their Il Fiato to be served, I ordered it ahead of the pasta. It came just in time, just after my pasta meal.

It was one of the 21 Sinful Desserts of the Manila Standard Anniversary Supplement.
Il Fiato or Chocolate Breath in English, was chocolate souffle with a shot glass of white chocolate sauce and crushed macadamia nut brittle.


The chocolate souffle has the consistency & texture of a chocolate cake batter but with a crusty outer layer, while the white chocolate sauce resembled condensed milk in taste.

While waiting for my meal, I was given complimentary flavored bread sticks (spinach, beets, etc.) & breads, with whipped butter & olive oil.


The way they served the breads was different, it was on a stand, covered with white cloth to maintain its temperature.


The breads were soft & creamy (pandesal) and crusty (spinach). The flavored bread sticks & flat breads were also good.

All in all, the food's good, just a bit expensive for their size. It was also one of the rare occasion where I came out of the resto still feeling light, not stuffed as I normally do.

I guessed I have to train myself with this kind of eating, especially at night.

Happy Eating!

Pepato
Greenbelt 2,
Makati City

Pizza Hut's Lava Cake

I have always wanted to order the Chocolate Lava Cake Ala Mode P90 of Pizza Hut. But it was only last week that I had the chance.

While waiting for my order, I saw the server taking an already baked lava cake from the chiller at the outside dining area. I was dismayed by what I saw. It only means that what they'll serve me won't be freshly-baked but just warmed-up =(


The result, it was closed to being rock hard. The center which should have been a "volcanic lava of chocolate", was not that much, just a minute part of the cake.

What redeemed the dessert was the vanilla ice cream on crushed Oreo cookies that came with it, it was good.

Happy Eating!

From Long Life Bakery

I love eating siopao asado, I also like the mongo pao of Chowking that they removed from their menu a few years back, which up to now I still hope they'll bring back.

To digress from that, I saw the Steam Pao P20/6pcs, while looking at the products of Long Life Bakery. And I bought it on the spot, already thinking of the many fillings I can put inside.


It was soft and sweet, just the way it should be.

Since I was craving for an Estrel's Caramel Cake since December of last year, but haven't had the extra calories up until now (estrel's don't sell mini cakes and their cakes should also be consumed the day purchased), I just settled for the Half Moon P28 of Long Life.


It is a round sponge cake, filled with caramel then fold in half, thus resembling a half moon.

The sponge cake was moist, soft and creamy. While, the caramel filling tasted like yema.

A delicious alternative for an Estrel's Caramel Cake, for now that is.

Another product of Long Life, and also new , is their Carrot Cake P49.


It is made of whole wheat flour, carrots and raisins.


Delicious on its own or with condensed milk, and healthy too =p

Happy Eating!


New Long Life Bakery
311 N.S. Amoranto corner Mayon Sts.
Quezon City

Chocolate Cake by Classic Confections

While at the Greenbelt 5 area, I went inside Classic Confections, without any intentions of buying, just looking if they have any new products.

I have tried and liked all that I have bought from there, from the Almond Crunch to the Chocolate Oblivion.

But, while looking at the cakes on display, guessed who came out of the counter & entertained me, no less than the owner herself, Baba Ibazeta.

She was describing almost all of the cakes and even recommended that I try the Chocolate Oblivion and the Mocha Sans rival.

Since I have already tried the Chocolate Oblivion, I asked her what's better to have between the Lemon Torte and the Chocolate Cake. She said that, personally she prefers the Chocolate Cake. With those magic words I was sold and ordered the Chocolate Cake P100.


It is 2 layers of chocolate cake filled and iced with chocolate fudge and decorated with semi-sweet and white chocolate designs on top.

The box said to store it at room temperature but I kept it in the refrigerator overnight. The result, a hard chocolate cake. I forgot that it's made mostly of fudge. So keeping it in the ref is not advisable, as also said on the box.

So, I left it to warmed-up at room temperature for a few minutes, but that was after sneaking in a couple of bites. And I can say that eating it at room temperature was far more pleasurable.

The cake was soft and moist. The fudge icing was not too sweet nor too rich.

A good chocolate cake, but still not as good as Polly's.

Happy Eating!

Classic Confections
2/F Greenbelt 5, Makati City
and at
4/F 87 West Capitol Drive,
Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Tel Nos. 746-2773 / 490-7896

Becky's Kitchen

I was supposed to eat at Solomon's Guest House for lunch a few days ago, but was greeted with a sign that read, "see you next semester".

Hungry and disappointed, I thought of Becky's Kitchen, which was just a couple of blocks away.

There, I ordered all of my favorites, the Swiss Chocolate Cake P45/slice, Tofifay P9/pc, and the Cherry Walnut Fudge P9/pc.

The Swiss Chocolate Cake was also one of the 21 Sinful desserts in the Manila Standard Anniversary Supplement.


It is 2 layers of chocolate cake with toffee crunch and toffee cream in the middle, enveloped by white icing.


It was very good, also not too sweet.

A total package on its own. I felt like I was having coffee with my cake, since it did taste like coffee and it's a cake.

The Tofifay is made of toffee and chocolate chips.


Good combination of the strong coffee flavor of the toffee and the sweetness of the chocolate chips.

A good pick me-up for the mid-day slump.

The Cherry Walnut Fudge is a brownie made of cherries, walnut & chocolate.


Soft, chewy and of course, fudgy (as its name connotes).

I left the store feeling rejuvenated, ready to face the scorching heat outside.

Happy Eating!

Becky's Kitchen
1061 P. Ocampo (formerly V. Cruz cor Baustista Sts.), Singalong, Manila
Tel No. 525-1648 / 523-4245

A Paseo Experience

While out yesterday, I passed by Paseo Center in Makati, where I saw Pasto Cafe.

I was supposed to eat at their El Pueblo branch a few weeks back, but they're closed from 3pm-6pm. Fortunately, their Paseo branch's open all day.


Since they're known for their desserts (which I was told were made by TRIO), I wanted to try one. But as luck would have it, there's no delivery yet of cakes. They only have Verona (a cake made of graham crust, fresh mangoes and cream) & Panna Cotta (Italian cream custard topped with seasonal fruits).

Not intrigued by both desserts, I settled for a pizza order of half Tutta Carne and half Bianca for P265.


The Pizza Bianca is a pesto-based pizza with clams, mussels and shrimps.

I liked the combination of ingredients, they were also perfectly seasoned. Nutty & cheesy pesto sauce and fresh-tasting seafood.

The first time I had a pesto pizza & I liked it a lot. Just the aroma of the pesto can make one hungry.

The Tutta Carne is an all-meat pizza of Italian sausage, smoked ham & pepperoni.

This one, I wasn't that fond of. The sauce tasted of canned sauce, not of freshly made one. Both the smoked ham & pepperoni were bland-tasting. While the Italian sausage, was reminiscent of a pork sisig in taste.

Both pizza flavors were on a very thin & crispy crust, almost paper-thin.

For dessert, I went downstairs for the Caramel Crunch P60 of Claudette's.


Layers of sponge cake & butter cream with caramel syrup and crushed meringue on top.

It was surprisingly light, not too sweet, just the once in a while interjection of the richness of the butter cream.

An okay dessert, one that I wouldn't mind having again & again.

Not yet satisfied with the Caramel Crunch, I went to Sugarhouse in Glorietta and bought a package of Caramel Crunch P120 (what a coincidence).


Unlike Claudette's, Sugarhouse's Caramel Crunch is a candy, made of sugar and milk, broken into chunks.

The color is very appealing, almost golden. While the taste, it's very sweet, like that of a flower icing. So a little goes a long way.

Happy Eating!

Triple Chocolate Cake by Red Ribbon

I used to love eating this cake. It used to be fudgy & delicious.

I don't know what happened, what made it dry. Or maybe, tasting Polly's Chocolate Cake raised my chocolate cake standards?


It may look delicious, but it's not.

The chiffon was dry and there's not much icing to go around.

Good thing for the chocolate curls on top, or else I wouldn't have finished it and that would be the first.

Happy Eating!

Reminiscin @ Racks

We (my friend Cehl & I), often ate here & ordered this, during our practicum days in Glorietta.

It has been several years since, and I'm glad Racks is back.

I ordered the Beef Ribs (quarter rack P275), served with baked beans, corn bread, sweet country relish and a choice of side dish (in my case, gravy fries).


Everything was good except for the ribs =(

The ribs in spite being fall-off-the-bone tender, were dry, rubbery and bland. It wasn't what I remembered it to be.

Even after a tremendous amount of their regular sauce on it, it still cannot hide its blandness.


The saving graces on my otherwise bland meal were the baked beans, corn bread and
gravy fries.

The baked beans were different from the canned versions, since they weren't too salty. They were soft and crunchy at the same time and also perfectly seasoned.

The corn bread was a cross between a butter cake and a corn muffin.

The gravy fries are my new favorite from Racks.

Though, their gravy's not as good as KFC's and their fries not flavored (just thick-cut, Belgian fries), I still preferred their gravy fries than the crispy fries of KFC dipped on their gravy.

They were lighter and the combination of flavors were more complementary than KFC's.

Happy Eating!

Dome's Carrot Cake

Now I believed what I have been hearing for a long time now about this cake from Dome.


CARROT CAKE P135

It is really good, the frosting and the cake itself.

It was moist and the frosting on top was not cloyingly sweet nor nauseatingly rich.

And, considering that it's from Dome, it was big in spite of being one of the cheapest from its menu.

Happy Eating!

Bo's Coffee

While passing time waiting for my family to finish their close to endless window shopping, I ordered the Marshmallow Fudge Brownie P50 from Bo's Coffee.


It is a fudge brownie with melted marshmallows on top.

The brownie was, surprise, surprise, fudgy. The marshmallows on top added an extra flavor and texture to an otherwise common brownie.

Happy Eating!

Ilustrado's Hopia

MONGGO HOPIA P15

It is a flat hopia with monggo filling.

You might expect it to be very tasty, since it is flat, thus you get to taste the filling more, but it's not.

The filling tasted more of ube than monggo. It also resembled a piaya.

Monggo is my favorite hopia flavor, I just wished they made a great version of it.

Happy Eating!