Bored with the usual Fruit cake for the holidays? Well try out this recipe shared by CookBook Kitchen when they demonstrated selected recipes at the Maya Kitchen. This Rum cake is really festive and will add as a nice touch to the Christmas dinner. Here are the ingredients 1 c unsifted unsweetened cocoa 2 c boiling water 2-3/4 c MAYA All Purpose...

Next to Christmas , Halloween has got to be the most awaited holiday for my growing kids. During those internet-less days, I scrounged around for ideas from magazines just to make Halloween day wickedly fun. I served food with orange color themes, and even decorated my home with pumpkins and ghouls. After the trick or treat fun, my kids and their friends...

The Baklava is a scrumptious pastry. Who does not like this rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. I love baking more than cooking and I was delighted to be invited to this class on Greek dishes. Unfortunately, I overslept. I missed Cyma Greek Taverna Executive Chef Robby Goco who shared some...

Oatmeal cookies are the all time favorite cookies of my kids. There are many ways to bake Oatmeal Cookies. I have tried all sorts of Oatmeal cookies’ recipe but the best recipe is one that Lauren discovered in the internet called “Wyomings Best Oatmeal Cookies”. I made a little variation to the original recipe by adding nuts. Other than...

One of mom’s specialties in her Sally’s Bake Shop was Special Mamon or what Americans commonly call as Yellow Sponge Cake. Customers raved about the creamy and soft texture of mom’s Special Mamon. My sister shared this Mamon recipe which is reminescent of Goldilock’s special mamon recipe. According to my sister, this is Minna Picache...

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...

In the past week, I have shown you select recipes to be shared to you by the Maya Kitchen just to make Father’s day extra special. The Smoked salmon brings Eggs Benedict up another notch while the Traditional Beef Pot Pie is an unmistakable comfort food. Now for the dessert, we have Banana Cream Pie with Caramel Fudge which rounds up this simple but...

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...

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 column which my sister and I innovated a bit. Ingredients 2 packs frozen grated...

It is almost Thanksgiving day in the USA. Two years ago, my sister-in-law baked me a pumpkin pie. I loved it. I love the pumpkin spice. It reminds me a bit of fruitcake. One doesn’t even have to buy pumpkin spice if it is not readily available in your cupboard. Just mix 1 teaspoon ginger, 4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg...