Blueberry Cheesecake

Blueberry Cheesecake

I made this yesterday. It's a no-bake cheesecake meaning I used gelatin instead of eggs to combine all the ingredients together. My mom prefers this rather than your traditional baked cheesecake but me? I prefer the latter.

I guess this is good when you want to have a hassle free and quick dessert. It saves a lot of time too. Baked cheesecakes are baked under water bath and it usually bakes for about an hour or so. Then you have to cool it down and put it in the fridge overnight for it to set. Unlike no-bake ones, gelatin is your only ingredient to combine everything then you let it set in the fridge for at least three hours and you can eat it after.

The difference between the two is that baked cheesecakes used eggs to coagulate and binds all the ingredients togehter, aside from that, a little bit amount of flour is used too. In no-bake cheesecakes as I've said earlier the cream cheese mixture is gelatinized together by pouring over the gelatin-sugar liquid over the cream cheese mixture and mixing it thoroughly. Both methods also use cream and sour cream too. We do not use eggs in no-bake cheesecakes since the cake is not cooked, and it may cause Salmonella right? Very scientific! Haha!

I guess I should stop blabbering now. Hehe.

Caramel Apples

Caramel Apples

I made these yesterday since my sister has been bugging me about Caramel Apples. Me and my youngest sister are fond of SanFo Treats shop in SM (ShoeMart) that whenever we decided to hang out there we buy at least an apple to share. But the thing is, it is no longer there so yeah. Then I came across this recipe in the Food Network website and decided to make it.

It's really funny since my mom had this weird expression in her face when I told her I'm going to make some caramel apples for us. In the end, she also wanted one. I even joked saying I thought she didn't like the idea, then she replied back by saying she didn't say anything.

I decorated some of the apples with sprinkles and nonpareils. I love the ones with sprinkles/nonpareils, it made the apples more crunchier. And to tell you the truth, even with lots of sweets in that caramel, (maple syrup, brown sugar and corn syrup) it's not that sweet. Even my brother who rarely eats desserts except for cheesecakes, ate one. I guess the apples' tartness contemplates the sweetness of the caramel that makes the taste just right. So yeah, my mom ate two apples, I ate three, my sisters well I dunno. I made 11 caramel apples yesterday and there's only one left. Go figure. Haha.

Matcha/Green Tea Cheesecake

Matcha/Green Tea Cheesecake

I made these yesterday! Yay. Finally! But I didn't use the exact amount of matcha needed in the recipe, thinking that matcha is too expensive and it might be too much, and may become bitter in the end. I trusted my instincts and used only a teaspoon of matcha.

I know that matcha has a strong flavor and I'm right. Once the cheesecake was baked and I opened the oven, the aroma of matcha already invaded my nose. It smelled really good.

I love matcha, when in Starbucks, I usually order Green tea frappe, I drink green tea when I'm sick and I love Green Tea Ice Cream (it comes second from my all-time favorite Mint Chocolate Chip).

But I shouldn't have unmolded the cheesecake right away though, it made the sides messy. I should've waited for it to cool down and set nicely (overnight) then unmold it.

My mom gave me a thumbs up yesterday while smelling the cake, she haven't tasted it yet since she went out today. So maybe later.

I tasted it this morning since I placed it in the fridge overnight. All I can say is that it is good. It's tart-y, green tea flavored cheesecake heaven. I love it!

I also made the crust by myself! Hehe.

Always remember- cheesecakes are baked in Baine-Marie (water bath) for even cooking. Always use a good gelatin when making no-bake cheesecakes.

I also have a can of blueberry Comstock here at home. My mom bought it weeks ago telling me to bake a cheesecake. So yeah, I might bake another cheesecake and it's my other favorite! Blueberry!

Matcha Powder

I was able to buy Matcha (Green Tea Powder). Finally! I've been looking for this since I came back here in the Philippines. Tomorrow I'll be baking Matcha Cheesecake for the family. And I'm going to try to use this little by little. Why? Because it's so expensive! It costs Php 160.00 for every container. It only weighs 25 grams so technically it costs Php 6.40 per gram.

There are two convenient stores that sells Matcha, I bought this from a small cafe called Kozui which is located in Quezon City. The other one is in Ortigas and it's a Japanese convenient store named Konbini.

Kozui is located at 258 B Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City. Telphone number is 4132705. Click here to go to their site.

Ube Pandan Cake

Ube Pandan Cake

I made this cake last Friday, my mom told me to do it so I did. Haha. Actually, my mom has a lot of cakes she wanted to try out. So yeah, I have a lot of cake lined up for baking.

This cake is basically speaks for it's own. Ube (Purple Yam) and Pandan Chiffon Cake is used, the fillings are made of ube and pandan as well. I even made pandan water for this recipe.

I'm not fond of ube and pandan that much so I guess I didn't appreciate the taste and all. For people who are ube and pandan lovers, I guess they would love this cake. My mom told me it was okay, being an ube and pandan lover she is, she said it was only okay. So yeah.

I finally found the store that sells Matcha Powder. I've been looking for this thing ages ago and I'm happy that I've found it. I might go there tomorrow and then try to bake the Matcha Cheesecake I've been itching to bake!

Chocolate Custard Cake

Chocolate Custard Cake

My mom was ecstatic with this cake since she simply loves Creme Caramel or Leche Flan here in the Philippines. So when she saw this in the food magazine I bought a week ago, she immediately told me to make one. So I made one the other day for her and for the family also a taste test to see if this cake will benefit for my cake business. My mom loved it. So yeah, I also gave some to her bestfriend and she ordered one for tomorrow! Yay me.

The picture I took from the first one is not nice so I decided to take another picture earlier, this looks more presentable. So the picture you see above is the finished product. To tell you the truth, I was actually scared of making this cake because you're dealing with three types of things here, first is the caramel, where you cook the sugar and water mixture to the caramel point or when the sugar turns into golden brown or honey brown in color. Once it's done, you pour the caramel sauce into the cake pan. Then to make the flan or custard, mix egg yolks, evaporated and condensed milk, and cocoa powder together. Once mixed, pour it into the same cake pan by straining it to remove unnecessary solids that are annoying. Then make the chocolate sponge cake and also pour it into the same pan. Do not tap the pan, the tendency for tapping is mixing the custard and sponge batter together resulting to a not pleasurable thing? I don't know, I don't have the heart and money to waste a cake. Then bake it over Baine-Marie (just like cheesecake) until done. Remove it from the oven and let it stay in water bath until cool. Then unmold it.

I learned a really big lesson the other day too. Never-ever leave your phone away from you especially when you're starting this business and clients are there to call you. Since my friends knew that I don't like to text, or call anyone, I simply sometimes leave my mobile phone unattended back in my room and where am I? In the dining area. When I checked my phone the other night, I saw two missed calls. Then I SMSed the number and asked who is he/she? I didn't get any reply. The next day around 8 am in the morning, I received the call from the same number, I woke up from the ring of my phone haha! And asked if the number is from my small company. I told her yes and she asked me if there's any available cakes. I told her no since I bake prior to order. So yeah. I'm still waiting for her call again. Hahaha! I wish she would. So the lesson is, always keep your mobile phone beside you at all times and do not be lazy bringing them anywhere. Hehe.

For inquiries or orders, please contact Cupcakes Inc., the contact numbers are listed there. Cupcakes Inc. is only available for Metro Manila area orders only. Thank you!

Singaporean Rolls / Salted Fish Fried Rice

Singaporean Rolls

Our made made these earlier for our lunch. I thought it was just some ordinary veggie roll that I like to eat. Turns out it was a new thing she made.. Singaporean Rolls! I never had one of these before I have eaten different types of spring rolls so I'm ecstatic. Haha. Silly me, being ecstatic with a simple food. I love comfort food I guess. This is one of my so-called comfort foods at home.

The filling was made out of ground pork, cooked vermicelli noodles and carrots. A little bit of Salt and Pepper to taste I guess. It's really yummy!

Fish Sauce and Calamansi (Calamondin)

According to our maid, this spring roll is paired up with Fish sauce and Calamansi. And I have to agree, it really paired up well.

Take a look inside the spring roll.... Haha

Salted Fish Fried Rice

I have been eating this for quite sometime already. I haven't gotten any opportunity to take some pictures of it since my old phone doesn't take nice pictures. So here it is. I managed to have a sumptuous lunch earlier and I even told our maid to save the leftovers (which is a lot) for dinner and I also had a really happy dinner since I ate the same thing. Haha. Yeah, I'm not picky.

Chocolate Beehives

Chocolate Beehives

I've been spending time in the kitchen almost everyday recently. Either I'm baking cakes for orders or my mom is making me bake some stuff we found in Food Magazines I bought a few days ago (and I think I should buy more). Anyway, yeah. I found these in one of the food magazines I've bought. I've seen this type of dessert around the mall while I was window shopping. Hehe.

I followed the recipe itself and I'm pretty satisfied with the results, all except for one. I will tell you later.

The brownies' texture are pretty good, it's not all too fudgy, it's just right. I like it. I sliced them in 2" squares.

After baking and slicing the brownies, you need to do the Italian Meringue. I have to admit at first I was kind of nervous making it since it's been months since I last made Italian meringue. I got lucky and it turned out well. So pipe the meringue on top of the brownies in swirling motion for several times until it resembles like a beehive.

And last but not the least pour ganache over the top. I don't like the ganache of this recipe. Did you see the first picture? It's so thin. I should've used my own ganache recipe. But heck, I wanna try this recipe so I did. Whatever.

I put sprinkles on top since I don't have sliced almonds stocked at home. My sisters loved this dessert. The meringue is marshmallow-y in texture I must say! :D

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I just remembered that I haven't updated for weeks now. Haha. I've been busy baking in my kitchen since I'm starting to introduce my line of cakes. So I need to have some taste tests that's what's been keeping me up from blogging. Aside from that, I'm just a pure lazy girl who didn't want to update.

So I made this cake three times already, one for my taste test, another one for my mom's bff's her taste test and finally my mom's bff's order for her client's birthday. She works in a bank so yeah, I hope in the future, I could sell a lot of cakes.

I found this recipe on the food magazine I bought a few days ago, and my mom told me to try and make this recipe. So I made it last Sunday and it turns out really yummy. The only problem is, if you have no experience in baking and you just trust what the recipe says you'd be tricked. Since the magazine says that you bake the cake for 35 minutes, when I checked mine it's still a batter. I set my timer for another ten minutes, it's still the same, I did this three times until it became a cake and has cooked thoroughly. So it took about 1 hour and 5 minutes for the cake to bake perfectly. So yeah, those inexperienced bakers will be frustrated and won't try baking again since they give some false time. I think it depends on the oven or I think they purposely did that? I have no idea. But be careful!

Another thing is that the frosting requires a pound of powedered sugar, when I looked at it and thought about it for quite sometime I decided it's too sweet. I lessened the sugar content which is good since my mom said it's a little bit sweet but all in all it's good. So yeah, my judgement is right. So people, be always careful when measuring or just dumping all the ingredients all together, try to think the amount given and try to analyze if it will become too sweet or not. That's all! You can substitute any nuts as a topping, I prefer Hazelnuts, since I love hazelnuts. :D

So that's it for now. Wait for my next entry. I'm baking/cooking up something in the kitchen again. I might post it one of these days!

Devil's Food Cake with Peppermint Frosting

Devil's Food Cake with Peppermint Frosting

I apologize for ugly picture. I was so tired that day! I can barely think of anything. Haha!

Anyway, I found this recipe on the web and the word Peppermint caught my eye, so I printed out the recipe and start to buy the ingredients. I made this cake for two days since I still have to tutor my sisters once they arrived home.

The cake is made from Devil's food cake, I found the cake very hard so I think I need to find another cake for it's base. Then the fillings are made out of chocolate ganache and white chocolate cream with a hint of peppermint. Then the frosting is made out of Swiss meringue with a hint of mint (again). It's pretty good the only problem is the cake, like I said.

My sisters and aunt loved it. Yeah, they don't like the cake. (So I really need to look for another chocolate cake recipe)

Mango Icebox Cake

Mango Icebox Cake

This dessert is pretty easy. It's an icebox cake, so all you need to do is buy some all-purpose cream and condensed milk, mixed it all together and you have the filling. Buy some ripe mangoes, cut it into wedges or balls using a melon baller. Then graham crackers for the base of the cake and graham cracker crumbs for garnish. And voila! You have a no-bake cake! :D

Homemade Snickers™

Homemade Snickers™

I remembered one time when my brother and I were taking care of our parent's small store there's this one lady that came and is very bitchy... then she asked me in Tagalog, "How much is your SNAIKERS (Is-nai-kers)?" My brother and I tried to hold our laugh until she left. She's really funny. Anyways, I came across this recipe a few days ago and I tried to make it yesterday.

Nougat Dough

I realized when I was slicing the product before dumping it in the chocolate is that I should put it in the FREEZER. So that I can easily slice it and the dough and caramel wouldn't crumble and be sticky. Yeah, I discovered that when I was halfway slicing it. :)

Caramels

I substituted Pecan nuts which I personally toasted, instead of Roasted peanuts. :) It's better for me. :D Then I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips for the dip and added some butter for shine :D Why? Because when I read the recipe, I was thinking it's sweet enough already and I don't want over sweet stuff. :D Innovate and conquer! Whoot! :D

My sisters were amazed that it tasted like Snickers™ maybe I should name mine... SNAIKERS? Haha. :P

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Epic Fail Cookies

This happens when I get too over excited while baking. I measured the flour equal to the butter. That's why it looked more like a batter than an actual cookie dough. How stupid right? But hey, I learn from my mistakes and this epic fails are still good. My sisters ate them with their smiles in their faces. :D

Cookie doughs in the oven

So I made another batch again. That's where I discovered that I measured the wrong weight of flour hahaha! Yeah this cookie doughs are the right one. It holds it's shape and is not so wet when touched. :D

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the finished product. I added some walnuts since my mom likes them with nuts. Just to inform you guys, this is the best seller in Bewitching Desserts (my online pastry shop) for orders please go to our multiply site: Cupcakes Inc. I'm also trying to venture in cakes. I want to take it SLOW. Okay? :D Enjoy and DROOL.

Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers

I was supposed to be posting this yesterday after I baked these biscuits. Unfortunately, I had a headache. :( Well here it is, Ladyfingers or Biscuits à la cuillère in French.

This is the crunchier version since my mom told me to make it crunchier unlike the ladyfinger I made for my Tiramisu.

One of my sisters even finished the whole batch! That just means she has a sweet tooth! :D

Mint Chocolate Cake

Mint Chocolate Cake

I found the recipe on the world wide web. So yeah, I tried making it yesterday. :) I didn't use the chocolate cake mix that is stated in the recipe. I used my chocolate roulade sponge cake recipe that I got either from one of my baking books or from my chef's recipe. I followed the mint icing and mint ganache that's stated on the recipe though. :)

From my point of view, the mint icing is too sweet. So I think the sugar should be lessen since the chocolate cake and the ganache it just tasted right. I also opted for semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips for the ganache, so there. :)

My mom and siblings loved it. My sister told me it's like Andes Mint Chocolate, I agreed with her too. It's like Andes cake without the Andes chocolates. Ohh I love the smell of peppermint. :D

Tiramisu

Tiramisu

Tiramisu in Italian means "pick me up". I made this cake this afternoon, I was planning to sell cakes so yeah, I've been experimenting. :) The sides are made from lady fingers (or Biscuits à la cuillère), then the cake was made of chiffon and the filling is made of cream cheese. :) I sifted some cocoa powder on top. :) My sisters loved it. :) I also added some coffee to make the cake moisty. I didn't need to add more sugar since both the chiffon, filling and ladyfingers are sweet already. :)

While taking out the lady fingers in the oven I got burned... Here's the picture:

I also took the pick after I build up the cake, it was pinkish earlier and right now it is somewhat reddish... :( 

Peek a Boo!

My grandmother made this soup for us and we ate it during dinner last night. I really love this soup, my family even left the cute shaped fish cake for me. :D It's really tasty so as the fish/squid/shrimp/crab cakes. I really love this soup, I didn't even eat crabs with langka just for these. Lol, I'm a crab lover so yeah. It's big! :D

June 24, 2009

UPDATE: Here's the plated foods :D I'm so happy someone took a picture of it.. and yes I grabbed it from an unknown source! :D Woohoo! :D

My refrigerator looked like this, morning of 24th of June. :) My friend's sister who's going to get married today (I think) had her bridal shower last Wednesday. I bought the necessary ingredients the day before (the menu has salad in it so I have to buy it the day before). It's for 25 people and I have six different menus, since she wants it light and not heavy, I gave her these stuff to choose from: Sushi, Oriental Chicken Salad, Tuna Tea Sandwiches, Deviled Ham Tea Sandwiches, Egg Tea Sandwiches and Broccoli Cheddar Dip. :) Well, she ordered everything so there..

A week ago, I got to get a hold of her.. then I asked her if we'll meet up somewhere around Quezon City and gave her the orders but then she told me the Condo-hotel they're going to reserve doesn't allow trays of food to get inside their establishment, I can do it there. That's what she said. So I told her yeah, I can just go over there and prepare some stuff that can be prepared beforehand, then I'll just set it up there.

I decided to marinade the chicken breasts for the salad, made the tuna, egg and deviled ham and the dip and placed it in an airtight container after I've bought all groceries. :) It took me two hours to complete everything. I'm just thankful that I have the necessary stuff to complete it without confusing myself. Yeah, the costing chart in excel that I made for this project really helped me a lot and I've done the other stuff before, just for home use, but not for 25 people. During this time, I kept on thinking is this enough for 25 people? Then answering it.. I hope so. :| It's my first time doing this so I'm kind of scared! :P

I woke up 6 am, not for this because of my annoying father. I was planning to get up at 7 am to start everything. Unfortunately, my dad literally bugged the four of us out. My sister's classes were suspended so they were planning to sleep some more, but then my dad woke us up by nagging us and opening the stupid lights. Yeah, if you think mothers are the ones who nags a lot, well in my life, my dad is the one, and he nags 25 hours (I'm exaggerating but it feels like 25 hours). You know what's more annoying? After waking us up, he goes back to sleep and woke up around 9 am. Stupid isn't it?

I ate breakfast and drank a cup of coffee (I really need it, I'm still so sleepy). After that, I took a bath and you know what's next. I went back to the kitchen and grilled the chicken with our electric griller, let it cool and started doing the sushi. At first 30 pieces looks a lot for 25 people, but then I was thinking what if someone else wants to eat more? I decided to double it up and informed m friend which she agreed to add more sushi. So I made a total of 60 pieces. The extras? Well my family ate it lol. I told one of our made to shred the carrots, and fry the vermicelli (for the salad) while I chopped and let the Romaine lettuce dry. I placed everything in separate containers and tried to rest for a while since our meeting in the condo-hotel will be around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

The picture above are the sandwiches I made. I was in the Condo-hotel then. In Astoria Plaza in Ortigas... :D The place is pretty decent. :) I took a photo of it before slicing it. :) I arrived at Astoria around 4 pm it was raining and well we're expecting signal number 2 here in Manila, well it rained a little. So I immediately started since I want to get home as soon as possible.. during this time, I'm kind of sleepy since I woke up really early that day. My brother was with me since we met up in Megamall, while making these we were talking and joking around. My friend and her cousins went to the grocery to buy some serving trays for the food and drinks for them. One thing I hate in the condo-hotel. They said they have complimentary sponge and dish washing liquid. But I couldn't find it. It's pretty annoying and they sell a small liquid sachet for 65 pesos. Well it is a hotel after all.... oh well..

I've finally sliced the sandwiches... Tea sandwiches meant you eat them with a bite or two. So there I've sliced the egg tea sandwiches in triangles, the tuna in squares and the deviled ham in rectangles. I didn't have the tray yet, but then I didn't get to take a picture of my work since I'm kind of shy asking them if I can take a picture of it. :) Yes, I am shy. :P

Sorry for the messed up picture, the egg sandwiches started to fall of so I lazily placed it like that. ^o^

This is the sushi I made, it consists of ripe mangoes, cucumber and crabstick (I bought the one that's in good quality). I was starting to plate them. So I took it out from the fridge. :D I made them again yesterday since I have a lot of leftover ice. :D

I finished around 6.30 pm then my brother needs to buy some illustration board so we stopped by in SM Sta. Mesa. We got home around 8 pm. We ate dinner (we had taba ng talangka fried rice! yum!) then I took a shower and played in the net a little bit then went to sleep early, I slept around 10 pm. Woke up around 8 am, but then I still felt tired. Haha.

It was a good experience, catering. I guess it's my first time and I think I did it pretty well. I was scared, especially with the sandwiches since when I tried slicing them at home, the fillings kept falling off, but when I was doing it there they were behaving pretty well. I also thank PAG-ASA for declaring the classes are suspended that day, since I'm able to borrow one car and driver. I have no idea how to go home after that. Since I brought out my cooler, plus one big paper bag and another bag for the bread. Yeah, thinking about it, it would be awkward bringing home a big cooler with dirty stuff inside while riding a train. :|

I pretty much learned a lot from this experience. I just realize I can handle multiple orders at once, and just by focusing at everything I'm doing I can finish it pretty quickly. I really appreciate all my chefs who taught me everything, I think it really helped me out. And I think I credit myself for being attentive and being a hardworking student back then. :) I listened well and applied everything. Tired and sleepy, I think it's worth it. :)

Julie and Julia

Oh my! I want to watch this film! It's about Julia Child and Julie Powell. I know Julia Child (I wanted to have her books, but I can't afford it yet, maybe some other time) since I saw her "star" in California Culinary Academy's "Walk of Fame" hehe. I've studied in CCA (Baking and Pastry Arts) in San Francisco back in 2007 and I saw Julia Child's star (yeah, it's true). She's pretty famous in our school since she studied French cooking in Le Cordon Blue Paris (my school California Culinary Academy is tied up with the Le Cordon Blue North American Branch). I just saw the theatrical trailer of this movie and I think it would be cool if they show it here in the Philippines. :) It will be released in the Summer (US) according to Wikipedia, it's August 7, 2009. I really hope that they'll show it here, I really wanna watch it! :D 

It stars Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, it is based on true stories so I can't wait! Why? Because I like Meryl Streep (she's one of the most talented actress I like), I've only watched Amy Adams in Enchanted but I thinks she's good too, and it centers on cooking which is my passion so there. :) I got this promotional poster on Wikipedia, if you want to watch the theatrical trailer, click here.

Oh! Julie Powell has a blog too, click here.

Baked Penne with Bacon and Mushroom

Baked Penne with Bacon and Mushrooms

I made this dish last Sunday for my sister's birthday. I also baked a cheesecake for her (the Japanese one), my mom also bought fresh and live crabs and fresh shrimps for us to feast on. :D Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures of the shrimp and crab dishes, since we were all so hungry that once the plate came we immediately ate them. The crabs are succulent and sweet, really fresh! :D Yum!

The next few days will probably be the most hectic days for me, I need to go to the grocery store and buy most of the ingredients I need.. :) 

Japanese Cheesecake

Japanese Cheesecake

I made the cake yesterday... and now there's only one slice left. :D hehe... Yeah and I'm giving it to my aunt tomorrow. :D Most of my friends know that I'm fond of learning Japanese-style pastries so when I saw this recipe on the web, I printed it out and immediately studied it and bought the necessary ingredients. 

I completely forgot to buy some lemons when I went grocery shopping so I used calamansi (or kiamquat, I think) as a substitute. It turned out well. My siblings loved the cake especially my brother who's a big fan of cheesecakes. :) The procedure is fairly easy I guess. 

I'm going to try making Matcha Cheesecake again.... sheesh. I need to find Matcha powder. :|

Rum Cake

Rum Cake

I first tasted this cake back when I was still either in high school or in college. It's like one of the bestsellers in Starbucks. One of my dad's friends also gave him a box of these. I was bored this afternoon as I try and search for cakes that I think will sell here and for my target market where I came across this recipe. I was supposed to be making Japanese Cheesecake but I got lazy to go to the supermarket and buy some cream cheese. Lol. So I looked and study the recipe and saw that most of the important ingredients that are needed are available here at my home that's when I decided to try and test this recipe out.

It's pretty moist because heavy cream is added in the cake. And the cake is pretty heavy, with the butter, eggs and heavy cream-- it's heavy. I used my own rum cake syrup since the one in the same site rum cake syrup is shitty. Yeah.. it sucks. Well my sister's loved it -- my brother I don't know.. he's too ecstatic to go out tonight. Lol. I used my 6-inch cake pan and loaf pan since I don't have Bundt pan here at home which I think I need to buy if ever this cake works out.

I'm planning on selling Tiramisu, Japanese cheesecake, Matcha Cheesecake, Devil's food cake with Peppermint frosting and this one.. I'm still searching for other recipes that I think will sell in my market... Sheesh... tiring. :D So in the next coming days or weeks (depends on the errands that I need to run) I might post up some taste test cakes! :D I'm excited and giddy just thinking about it!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I finally used my mint chocolate chips that I got from the Guittard factory when we had a class tour back in 2007! Lol.. I ran out of white chocolate chips so I told my sister we just use the mint ones. :) It turned out to be pretty good. My brother who doesn't like sweets ate as much as my sisters did. Hehe.. I'm so happy. But now, I have to look for them in Rustan's or some fancy supermarkets or delicatessens here... sheesh. Guittard chocolates are really good. :)

I'm going to start and sell cakes soon.. hahaha right now I'm costing my target cakes to make. :) I hope it will click. Need to earn money.

Pasta Puttanesca

Pasta Puttanesca

According to Wikipedia... Puttanesca Pasta or Spaghetti alla Puttanesca means "Whore's Pasta" :D I don't care what it means but this pasta is so good. To bad I didn't put chili peppers since my sisters doesn't like spicy food. I made it for my sister's 11th birthday last May 31. It's like breaking out from our traditional filipino style spaghetti which I got tired of. :) This pasta is tangy, salty and supposed to be a little bit spicy. It's made out of tomato puree and diced tomatoes (I bought them canned courtesy of Hunt's), black olives, anchovies, shrimp and capers. Plus salt and pepper to taste of course.

It's my dad's first time eating this kind of pasta... all he knows is the filipino one or Spaghetti bolognese... hehe... :D My other sister's birthday is coming up. We decided we'll make baked penne with bacon and mushroom.. yummy!

AH1N1 virus is spreading rapidly... private schools here in my country are mostly suspended. According to the news it's increasing from time to time. I hope this disease will stop... sheesh!

Cupcakes for a friend

Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Sauce

I was planning to bake a Chocolate cake with caramel filling for my friend on his birthday. Unfortunately, I can't find the right cake box-- no, wait... I couldn't find any cake box with the right size for my cake. It's so frustrating right? So I decided to make Chocolate cupcakes instead... then I even bought the wrong box size or the wrong cupcake holder size. But I couldn't do anything so I just go with the flow... Sheesh.

It's a basic chocolate cupcake that I used in the past then I made the caramel sauce which I got the recipe from the book. Oh well, I took a lot of time in that. :) We celebrated my friend's birthday on my sister's birthday (my friend's birthday is May 30 while my sister is 31). I was supposed to make cakes for them but then with the cake box disaster I didn't and my sister chose chocolate chip cookies for her. I made both pastries the same day. I didn't take any picture of it since my sisters hogged the cookies lol.

I'm happy that I got a new phone. Now my phone is upgraded to 3MP camera... hahahaha... my pictures are not blurry anymore. But I still feel the need of buying my own digicam... sheesh.. have to save up money...

Bacon-Liverwurst Canapes

Bacon-Liverwurst Canapes

Canapes or Hors d' ouevres are food that are eaten in one or two bites. It's usually serve during cocktail parties or served as appetizers. In the baking world, we have Petit Fours which has the same concept but petit fours are sweet while canapes are savory or salty.

I made these just to see what it tastes like. My brother loved it, I think because he loved bacon and liverwurst. Lol. I don't have any idea. Anyway, the recipe is simple, just dump one can of liverwurst in your food processor then add some garlic, mayonnaise, salt and pepper then blend it all together. Once blended, put in on top of your pullman bread that is cut in circles (using a cookie cutter) or any designs that you want (it can be in triangles, crosswise, squares.. whatever. Then add some strips of lean bacon on top. Broil it until the bacon is cooked and crisp.

By the way, Broiling means cooking in the oven where the heat is on top. :)

It's June! Rainy season is here. The last few days have been rainy here because of the monsoon, there's even Tornadoes visiting the city (I really can't believe it... sheesh thanks to Global Warming Tornadoes are hitting unexpected areas. So people we need to stop it!) and I love it. But now it's back to humid again. :( Oh well.

Beef Teriyaki

Beef Teriyaki

This was supposed to be Beef Negimaki... where you used the beef like nori and wrap around the spring onions... but then.. the butcher in the supermarket sliced my sirloin into strips... I have no choice but to make this one. *sigh* It's pretty flavorful though, I got the recipe in my Garde Manger book that I bought back when I was in college. Hehe.. I spend my allowance for that book. Books are really good investments, I love to read and also explore new recipes. I actually look recipes either online, in my books then tweak it to make it mine. :D

Cupcakes! (again)

Chocolate Cupcakes without Sprinkles

Hehe... I guess I was so bored I just made these stuff.. It's chocolate cupcakes but I made different frostings... I made a Chocolate frosting and Cream cheese frosting. When I plated it, it looked like checkerboards lol. Black and White. I added some sprinkles to add more color. :D So there. Hope you like it! :D

Chocolate Cupcakes with Sprinkles

It's been a while since I last posted... :) That's because my laptop is still in the hospital. I'm really pissed off since I SMSed them earlier and they asked for my AR#, I gave it to them then they didn't even reply back. I SMSed them twice but no response. Stupid people. I wanna whack them with my rolling pin! Grr.. anyway.. I'm using our pc right now, I have to share it to my brother. I got a new phone so I got some USB cable to connect to (I used my bluetooth when I still have my laptop). Then uploaded some pics that I wanna blog. My brother is not home right now so I'm free to use this without any hindrances. (he likes to take the pc away from me) hahaha. :D Oh well.. 1st post it up! :D

Broccolli Cheese Dip

Brocolli Cheese Dip with Breadsticks

I was looking for some hors d'oeuvres recipe that I just felt researching in the net last night. I saw this recipe at Epicurious. :) So earlier this day, I went to the local market in Manila and bought some brocolli, the rest of the ingredients was bought in the supermarket (after I made some back and forth exhausting errands this afternoon, I also forgot that I haven't eaten lunch yet! :) I just realize it around 5 pm, I was really hungry. I bought some Jamaican patty by the way plus Fruit Magic's Strawberry Yogurt drink) since you wouldn't be able to find Yogurt, Sharp Cheddar or Cream Cheese in the market streets, well you might see one but I don't think it's 'safe'.

Anyway, I just made the dip tonight. When I first tasted the dip, it was really bland. I decided to add some salt (pepper was included it the recipe) to add some saltiness in it, a couple of teaspoons is good (taste, taste, taste). Then done.

My brother liked it, he said the saltiness of the dip contradicts the sweetness of the breadsticks that he liked. I like it too, I agreed to what he said, its like a match when you think about it. My sisters loved it too. :)

The dip itself has cream cheese and cheddar cheese (sharp) which contains fat and cholesterol but I think with some Yogurt, Scallions, Garlic, and Broccolli it evens out. It's a healthy-fun dip. I'm sure kids will love it.

I also added more garlic, my family loves garlic-y dishes. So there! :D

** You can also dip in Brocolli, Nachos, Pretzels, Chips, etc. :D

Crispy Water Spinach

Crispy Water Spinach

Or we call it "Crispy Kangkong" in my country. :) I don't eat vegetables that much when I was a kid, I was a picky eater back then (of course, you're a kid right?). We went to this party (which I vaguely remember) and they serve this as appetizer, my mom told me to try it, at first I was hesitant but decided to try one. I loved it, ever since then, whenever this dish came up I would be delighted to eat it.

I ate them last year when my friends and I celebrated our friend's birthday outside Manila (we went to Laguna, we stayed overnight). We went to a certain supermarket and decided to eat lunch there as well. :) I saw it on the menu and immediately ordered it. Then last night, one of my friends made these and told me online, I asked him the recipe and he gladly gave it to me. So I told my godmother to buy me two stalks of water spinach (which costs Php 20/stalk in Divisoria). I made the batter and cooked it as our afternoon snack.

The dip I made is Wasabi Mayonnaise, well, I really dislike the mayonnaise we have, it's too sweet so I decided to add some salt and pepper and wasabi. I like the combination of the two.

You can also substitute mayonnaise as your dip, sour cream is good, a friend of mine even dipped it in ranch too. :D