I have featured Torta Cebuana, a recipe from Mrs. Gertrudes Ybanez-Noval, the baking teacher of my mom. This is another Torta version of Mrs. Noval called Torta Banawa. Banawa is the place where Mrs. Noval lived and where she held her baking classes.

2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
3 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup corn oil
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp. aniseeds
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup sugar

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Posted: November 15th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes.
Comments: 2

The original leche flan recipe was from my Mom but my sister Lorna reconfigured it to fit her tastes.

The perfect flan is such that when you slice through it, it barely quivers like jello. There is very little syneresis, that is, no weeping (or lots of holes in it!). I am sharing this precious recipe so you may prepare it for your family.

5 eggyolks
2 eggs
1 can condensed milk
1 can water (use the condensed milk’s can for measuring)
1 tbsp. vanilla to add to the mixture
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup sugar for caramelization

These are the cooking times:

For the first 45 minutes: 325 degrees Fahrenheit
For the next 20 to 25 minutes, until the toothpick test shows that the flan is done: 350 degrees Fahrenheit

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Posted: November 1st, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes, Pastries & Desserts, Filipino Delicacies, Recipes, desserts.
Comments: 21

Sorry for the minimal posting these days. My house got flooded by Ondoy last week and it’s only this week that we are back to normal operations at home. (see Ondoy damage to our house.) We are all safe. Damage was minimal in the first floor. Our oven got busted but the refrigerator is in working condition. In the meantime, let me share recipes tested in our Sally’s Bake Shop. Our family bake shop, Sally’s Home Bake Shop, had always been the home of the company’s White King Test Kitchen’s nutritionists in the 1970’s during their visits to Cebu. I was a teenager then when they would test in our kitchen and I was always around to assist them.

If you have kids who don’t like to eat their vegetables, introducing chayote (which is a type of squash) as a dessert item without telling them what it is might dispel their misgivings about becoming vegetarians.

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Posted: October 7th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes.
Comments: 1

It’s the time of the year when one needs to plan for the holidays. As early as September, I already know what to bake for Christmas. A childhood memory that never fails to remind me of the Christmas season is Fruitcake. I used to bake a lot of fruitcake in the past but the girls never really got around to acquiring a taste for it. They preferred the Gingerbread Man Cookies because of the story behind it after I bake the first batch. That’s my then 16 year old daughter, Lauren when she helped me with my fruitcakes a few years ago. Fruitcake flavor is best when it has been aged for a few months in a cool place (preferably the refrigerator in the Philippines).

For those of you who want to bake Fruitcakes for the Holidays, here is a recipe which I call Golden Fruitcake. I’ve modified this based from my mom’s original fruitcake recipe. My Golden Fruitcake does not have a strong taste of brandy nor is it too sweet. Anyway, there’s a lot of preparation so make sure you run down the list carefully.

Here is my Golden Fruitcake recipe

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Posted: September 9th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes, Pastries & Desserts, Christmas.
Comments: 5

I suddenly remembered my mom’s Binangkal recipe after a recent visit to Cebu. Well, Binangkal is round , shaped from dough and covered with sesame seeds and is a popular Cebu delicacy. Here is our recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla flavor
1 teaspoon butter flavor
Seasame seeds
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Posted: August 20th, 2009 under Baking Recipes.
Comments: 2

I’ve shared recipes on Torta Banawa and Torta Cebuana. My sister who is now based in Chicago shared me these torta recipes. Torta is quite a popular baked product in Cebu and all of Visayas. Here is a contribution from my sister:

My managing editor at Filipinas Magazine, Gemma Nemenzo, is rarin’ to try the Torta a la Argao. Since the Torta’s secret is the use of tuba, I’ve been putting off making this particular treat especially since it is so cholesterolific. She has the “hulmahan” or the molds — which are actually brioche molds, if you want to order them at Sur La Table. The challenge will be to find a close cousin of tuba in the US. I’m thinking about a light beer, which is slightly fermented. I’ll update you all with my experiments.

A reader shared this I would suggest instead of tuba for the torta visaya, some sparkling wine, such as ricadonna or asti spumanti, or even a sparkling rose if you dont want it so sweet. – Thanks Tony!
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However, for those of you in the Philippines, you have no excuse. Go ahead and try this one!

This recipe was contributed by Annie Osmena Aboitiz. It is found in Nora Daza’s cookbook, “A Culinary Life: Personal Recipe Collection.”

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Posted: August 16th, 2009 under Baking Recipes.
Comments: 5

I can’t remember where I got this recipe but I think it might have been a TV cooking show with Nora Daza. Oh well, it doesn’t matter how I got the recipe. This recipe is one of the family favorites. The basic shortcake recipe is good for other fillings like Strawberry Shortcake.

If there is no mango available, try canned peaches.

SHORTCAKE:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsps. sugar
3 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter (1/2 bar)
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup full cream evaporated milk
1 tbsp. vanilla

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Posted: August 2nd, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes, Pastries & Desserts.
Comments: 2

I had the original Filipino recipe for Cassava Cake but my overseas readers often want the equivalent measurements to use in America. Here is Cassava Cake with Egg Topping recipe often called Bibingkang Kamoteng Kahoy originally from Filipino Guardian’s Gourmet’s Kitchen cloumn which my sister and I innovated a bit.

Ingredients

2 packs frozen grated cassava ( you can get this at local Filipino stores) or 1 cup grated cassava
2 cans coconut milk (or frozen pack coconut milk)
2 1/2 cans condensed milk
2 eggs (beaten)
1/4 cup macapuno or sweetened coconut strings
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
2 egg yolks, whipped
1/2 condensed milk
Mix and blend the egg yolks and condensed milk

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Posted: July 10th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Bibingka.
Comments: 2

Cheese cupcakes is now sold commercially in supermarkets for kids to bring as “baon” to school. It is not quite the same Cheese cupcake mom used to bake in our bakeshop. Cheese cupcakes are supposed to have that distinct “cheese” taste. Here is a recipe that’ll surely give you that tasty cheesy cupcake.

Ingredients

1 bar margarine (225 grams)
2/3 cup white sugar
grated cheese (around 125 grams/ less than half a box of 225 grams cheese pack. Leave some for toppings)
4 pieces whole eggs
2 cans condensed milk
5 cups all purpose flour
Vanilla flavor (mix with milk)

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Posted: June 16th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes.
Comments: 17

One all-time favorite breakfast menu I love is eating fruits along with Banana bread and cottage cheese. One thing great about Banana bread is that it contains fiber and that’s what we all need to start a day. Why not have banana bread for breakfast. Baking Banana Bread is so easy even your teen-aged kids can do it. This was the first recipe my daughter baked. Try it

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups mashed bananas (lacatan variety- You can even use super-riped bananas)

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Posted: June 2nd, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes.
Comments: 3

Mommy used the book, “Recipes of the Philippines,” compiled and edited by Enriqueta David-Perez as her guide for making her Bibingka recipes. Bibingka reminds me of those early bakeshop days in the early 1970’s when my sister and I had to help grind the rice into “galapong” and dump them into clean plastic pails, knowing (by smell) the difference between fresh and rancid galapong. Mommy also taught us how to pre-mix the “secret” part of the recipe (the combination of dry ingredients) which was stored in plastic bags at the locked stockroom in the “dirty kitchen.”

Mommy was also one of the first advocates of ALMEDAH Food Machineries Corporation since the famous inventor himself, Benjamin Almeda Sr., taught Mommy how to use his bibingka machines. I used to accompany Mommy whenever she visited Mr. Almeda in Manila.

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Posted: April 6th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Bibingka.
Comments: 8

I don’t know if you drink that Milo Chocolate drink as a kid. Milo is added to hot or cold milk to give it a malted chocolate flavour and extra texture. I love also eating the Milo on a teaspoon. One day, I experimented with the Milo Brownies recipe just so I can get my dose of that Milo flavor again. It does not have the chocolate goodness apparent in most fudge brownies but it has its own unique flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted margarine or btter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup Milo
1/2 cup Chooped nuts

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Posted: April 4th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes.
Comments: 2