Mc Cafe Mud Pie

Layers of pie crust, chocolate truffle and whipped cream, topped with generous amount of cocoa powder (it's cinnamon according to the barista ).



I like the thin, pale, dense and chewy pie crust, the nougatine-like chocolate layer (I think it's in between nougat and a truffle in texture, it's chewy, nutty and chocolatey), the airy and sweet whipped cream and the bittersweet cocoa powder on top.


I just wish it has more of the chocolate layer and less of the whipped cream.




Happy Eating!

Turkey Eats - Pismaniye

It looked like a dinner roll but with the texture of a cotton candy. Unlike the cotton candy that is gritty (that leaves sugar granules on your tongue when it melts), the pismaniye doesn’t do that, it melts like cotton candy but smoothly, like a creamy milk that’s so smooth on your tongue. Also, it wasn’t too sweet, the kind that can give you a sore throat (like the cotton candy).


Pismaniye is a traditional floss halva from Izmit Turkey, made of wheat flour and sugar. It comes from the word “Pisman” , which means regretful. They said that you are “pisman” if you don’t eat it.


I like eating it after a day or two in the chiller, by that time the thousands of strands of the pismaniye have already stick together forming a dense ball, that when eaten tasted like milk, that’s so soft and creamy.





Happy Eating!

Frosting's Caramel and Carrot Cupcakes

Just when I thought that the Brazo de Mercedes was their best cupcake, I was confronted by their Caramel Cupcake.


Yellow cake filled and iced with caramel.

My friend and I were in unison, when we said that this has got to be their tastiest cupcake. The yellow cake base was moist while the caramel has just the right level of sweetness and creaminess.

To complete our order of pack of four, we added the Carrot Cupcake.


Carrot cupcake with generous amount of nuts, topped off with cream cheese icing.

Just as with any of their cupcakes, the carrot cake base was very moist, packed with carrots and nuts. The cream cheese icing was also good I can't seem to get enough of it. Tangy, rich, sweet and creamy.



Happy Eating!

Frozen

If I’m craving for a sundae or anything cold or frozen, these three always come to mind.
The Frrrozen Hot Chocolate of Serendipity 3, the Caramel Pecan Sundae of CPK and it’s knock-off that I make at home.

The Frrrozen Hot Chocolate $8.50 is my dream dessert, in my dream restaurant and in my dream city. I always dream of spending white Christmas in New York City, skating at the Rockefeller Center and indulging myself in a bowlful of Frrrozen Hot Chocolate in Serendipity 3 after. That’s heaven for me.







Thick hot chocolate blended with ice, topped with as much whipped cream as possible, finished off with shavings of chocolate and served with a spoon and two straws. Who wouldn’t like that?


I think of CPK’s Caramel Pecan Sundae P325 as the next best thing.
Three scoops of vanilla ice cream, topped with pecans, fresh whipped cream and a cherry, with hot caramel sauce.


This is an indulgent dessert, unforgettable too. Almost everyone that I introduced this to, never forgets it. They may forget the pizza, the pasta and the appetizer they had at CPK, but never this dessert. A testament to how good such a simple creation can be.


When I don’t have the time and especially the money to indulge in CPK’s Caramel Pecan, I just make myself a sundae similar in taste to CPK’s Caramel Pecan but way cheaper. I use magnolia’s Dulce de Leche Ice Cream ( to save myself the trouble of buying or making a caramel sauce), top it off with Reddi Whip Whipped Cream (their light version is as creamy as their regular but with less fat and calories), crushed pecans and a cherry.





This is soooo good. For the times that you want to have the real thing but can’t.

Happy Eating!

Grappa's Brioche

I got curious with Brioche the first time I saw it in one of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa episodes. It looked so soft and buttery. But since I’m not as skillful in the kitchen as Ina and that no bakery in the Philippines seems to offer it on their shelves, I thought that that was it. That I just have to use my imagination and pretend that I tasted it and be envious of Ina’s friends and of Jeffrey Garten.

But as luck would have it I saw some on Grappa’s Ristorante Shelves one Saturday evening and immediately bought the whole batch to try. I then find myself the perfect spot and savoured every bite of the buttery bread.


At first I thought that it was not what I imagined it to be. I thought it would smell of butter but it didn’t and just by the looks of it, you would think that it’s hard. But all that’s a total contradiction. The Brioche though didn’t smell of butter, tasted of it. Each strands of the buttery brioche roll were soft and creamy. It doesn’t need anything on it, no jams, butter or anything. It’s delicious on its own. I see it as a denser version of our ensaymada.


I ate everything in one sitting and still up for some more.


It’s cheap, just P8 a piece and delicious.



Happy Eating!

GRAPPA’S RISTORANTE
2nd Level, Greenbelt 3
Makati City

CPK

At last my prayers were answered.

I have been meaning to eat at CPK again (it's one of my fave resto) but something always comes up. One example was, just as we were entering the resto, they had to close it down due to electrical problems =p

Just when I thought it would never happen, it did, last Saturday.

We were supposed to eat at Charlie's, but since I was late for our meeting, my friends decided to just stay in the mall (Shang) for our lunch. They decided on CPK.

We had The Works P465 for pizza and Shanghai Garlic Noodles Pasta with Chicken P445 and Fettuccine with Garlic Cream Sauce and Chicken P445 for our pasta.

The Works pizza is one of their new pizza flavor.


It has sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, sauteed mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, mild onions, green peppers and black olives.


The pizza was on the sweet, soft and smokey-flavored crust CPK's known for. It's jampacked with ingredients, like everything but the kitchen sink kind of thing. But though it was good, well-seasoned and all its ingredients/toppings worked well together, my favorite's still the Original BBQ Chicken Pizza, even if it only has BBQ chicken, red onions, cilantro, smoked Gouda and mozzarella, its taste is still classically-good.


The Shanghai Garlic made use of Chinese noodles wok-stirred in a garlic-ginger sauce with snow peas, shiitake mushrooms, mild onions, red and yellow peppers, broccoli, green onions and chicken.


Basically, it was like the Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta of Yellow Cab sans the peanuts and the overflowing oil =p

The Fettuccine is your basic flat strips noodles topped with garlic Parmesan cream sauce, chicken and Italian parsley.


This is one of my favorite pasta in CPK, next to their Portobello Mushroom Ravioli in Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce.

Everything here was delicious. From the al dente noodles and tender chicken up to the creamy and well-seasoned garlic cream sauce.


It'll leave cream marks on your lips in your every forkful, a testament to how good and creamy this pasta is. On our table, it was gone in 60 seconds.

For our dessert, it deserves a post of its own.

Happy Eating!

P.S. On the table ahead of us is one of the members of The Journey. I got shy to ask for an autograph.


CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)
Shangri-La Mall, Ortigas