Cake Figures

In the cake decorating world that I am trying to get into more, they say that being able to make your own cake figure is a must to be a really good cake decorator.  To be able to create figures as specified by your customers and make it more personalized.  I grew up getting cakes from known bakeshops in the Philippines where you get a plastic cake decors that you can keep as a remembrance or maybe play with. Up to now you can still get those and ask from your local bakeshop to provide such on your cake.  You can pick what you like depending on the theme of your cake.  It is somewhat customized but you definitely know that somebody else would probably be ordering the same decors for their cake.  So, with cake decorators who are able to make figures for your cake you will be able to really customize what you like. From a wedding cake where you would like the figures to really look like the bride and the groom or from a simple cake with a flower on it.  You are sure that the cake was really made super special just for you.

Treats for Friends

There are days when coworkers would be scheduling food day at work.  This means  a looooottttt of food to eat!  It's a fun day and we would be looking forward to go to the office on these days. :)   Our, meaning mine and hubby's, teammates would always tell me to bring spring rolls (lumpia) for food days.  If you know what this is you would know that spring rolls are good when eaten immediately after cooking.  So that means I need to make this in the morning, at least fry, before going to work.  And with almost a hundred to make in one batch that would mean waking up by 5 am!  And there are days that I am not in the mood to do that.... so what do we resort to on those kind of days???  Well, aside from buying Krispy Kreme Donuts I would just whip up something real quick and pop it in the oven the night before. ;)

So for todays food day for my hubby's team... I baked them some chocolate banana cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and some cinnamon rolls.  I guess these were still a hit since hubby came home with empty containers. But I must say not as hit as spring rolls! :)

I was able to send some of these to a few of my good friends in Minnesota.  Hope they enjoy these!

Pinoy Treats

Being born and raised in the Philippines, I grew up learning to eat all kinds of food and delicacies.  But one thing for sure aside from our fresh fruits I love eating Pinoy treats... mga kakanin at pang meryenda.  Being away from home for more than a decade now, I miss eating these kinds of food.  So what better way to resolve this other than paying big bucks to go home and just pig out?  Of course, find out how to make it yourself! Sometimes it is difficult to make it because not all ingredients are readily available here in the U.S.  And sometimes you will have to find substitutes to make it kinda work.  Good thing for internet and people who cares to share the how tos in making Pinoy treats... it makes easy to remember my childhood memories once I take that bite. Yum-o!

Ensaymada! One of my favorite pastries back home. I must admit this one that I made didn't quite made it to what I am expecting.  So I am still in the hunt for that easy to make ensaymada recipe. :)

Turon!  Very easy to make but be very careful about the banana.  The ones you use here are the plantain bananas. So it has to be ripped before being cooked, otherwise it will taste nasty.  Add some jackfruit and a little sugar, wrapped in spring roll wrapper and into a frying pan... Presto! You've got yourself a very yummy snack.  O how I remember those days at work in Manila, every 3 pm "Manang" will be at our food pantry selling this yummy treat.

Puto at Kutsinta!  Another favorite of mine.  When I was growing up these treats usually appear in our dining table when there's a birthday party.  Puto especially is always paired with some noodles for everybody to enjoy.

Suman at mangga!  Sticky rice and mango as what the Thai restaurants here sell.  I would always wait for my mom to come home from the market because she would always bring home some suman for me to snack on.

Puto bumbong!  Now this one is special.  We used to only have this during Christmas time.  Vendor would sell this outside the church, waiting for parishioners to finish hearing the midnight masses during the holidays.  My mom would pre order this from one of the vendor so after mass she will just pick it up and pay for it avoiding the long lines.













Pandesal!  Now this one is never absent from every Pinoy's household every morning.  It's the staple food for breakfast.  You have to get this from the street corner bakery early in the morning to be sure that it's freshly made.

And once you get it on your plate, all you need to have is some butter and coffee.  Dunk that bread in the coffee and enjoy!