Sans Rival -AFF Philippines~Pinoy Bakes #3

I heard of this dessert many many years ago, from a fellow blogger friend Anne. From then... it was my 'dream' to bake one myself as I was intrigued by the layers of cashew nut dacquoise filled with french buttercream and topped with more cashew nuts... a nutty delight!

Nowadays there are many flavours of Sans Rival in Philippines, like mango, coffee and chocolate. But I guess I'll just try the original flavour, that's just with nuts.

French Buttercream

I thought... French Buttercream will taste heavy. Maybe heavier than Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Not really. I actually enjoyed this more than SMBC. But too bad it's far less stable in our tropical room temperature. Light and smooth.....almost like ice cream. Melts quickly like ice cream too.. if the room is too warm.

The major difference of French Buttercream with Meringue Buttercreams is that the French method uses egg yolks and the meringue method uses egg whites. Hmm.... maybe that's why. Ice cream is made with egg yolks as well :-)

Crema de Fruta - AFF Philippines , Pinoy Bakes #2

Creme de Fruta is a popular dessert in Philippines. It's sponge fingers (known as broas in Philippines)  with custard, topped with canned cocktail fruits and clear jelly.

You can choose to make this with a homemade sponge or store bought sponge fingers, and I also saw some using graham crackers. I used a recipe I previously used to bake sponge fingers and baked this in a sheet form and cut out the sponge according to the size of my serving cups. Usually creme de fruta is set in a large glass tray, but I also saw some in individual servings. I also chose to spoon the custard over the sponge while it's hot, because this way, the custard will set better. I don't want to disturb it too much, afraid it will turn runny, and warm custard hydrates the sponge much better.

Filipino Caramel Cake -AFF Philippines~ Pinoy Bakes

After a week of simple cakes.. this week, we indulge in more indulgent ones.

Caramel cake is quite a common thing. But in Philippines, they have a version of their own that uses evaporated milk.

One of the most famous Caramel cakes in Philippines is from Estrel's.

I made this cake in  a large tray, instead of a round cake because I wanted to skimp on the baking time, hehehehe.

Taisan Cake- AFF Philippines ~ Merienda Cakes #3

Taisan is a chiffon loaf, that is sugary and buttery, originating from Pampanga. It can be easily found at bakery chains like Goldilocks and Red Ribbon in Philippines.

I tried baking it with a recipe that was said to come from Goldilocks. The cake was moist and soft, salty and sugary at the same time. A delight to eat. But yet, I do not know how close it is to the original Goldilocks version. To compare a Goldilocks recipe, I think I need to eat one loaf made by Goldilocks to know.

And then my wish came true....

Calamansi Muffins - AFF Philippines Merienda Cakes #2

1st recipe

Calamansi muffins is famous in the beautiful island of Boracay, Philippines. Just do a google search and you will know.

I am crazy! I made this muffin 4 times!

First time I used a mixer to do it, whacking it too much causing the muffin to be so fluffy! Not right! According to Swee San, it's supposed to be dense and moist, with a cake like texture. It wasn't as tangy as I will like it, kind of bland in terms of zing. And it had that fine texture that sticks to parts of your mouth and will need some effort to swallow, you know what I mean?

It's this type of texture, the main reason, I don't enjoy certain cafe muffins. Shenny, my reader friend will vouch with me on this.

Inipit - AFF Philippines- Merienda cakes #1

Inipit is a specialty from the region of Bulacan of Philippines.,created by Eurobake bakery.
It's like a sandwich, made with chiffon cake layers and filled with a potato custard.

When I saw the video on how it's being sandwiched.. it seems that the cake is very thin. And the custard mixture was kind of brownish orangey... something like as if it's made with sweet potatoes or has hints of caramel. Oh well, I just followed some online recipes and made it. It may not look the same as the one from Eurobake, and I couldn't get a taste of the real thing, so I can't comment much about how close it is.

Maja Blanca @ Coconut Pudding with Corn - AFF Philippines~ Merienda #2

Maja Blanca is a popular merienda/meryenda (tea time snack) from Philippines. The taste isn't unfamiliar to us. And the topping Latik (fried coconut curds) gives it a wonderful touch, although looking deceivingly unimportant, but I do not recommend leaving it out as it imparts a beautiful flavour and textural contrast to the merienda. Latik is what we locally know as tahi minyak found on top of kuih kole kacang.

Cassava Bibingka - AFF Philippines~ Merienda #1

July is the month of Philippines delights! Hop over to Swee San's blog to read up more about our event this month.

For the past few months you have been reading so much savoury recipes on my blog and this month I'm going to turn sweet tooth. I know many of my fellow Facebook friends are waiting for this month.