四十九：Goldilocks' Bakeshop Caramel Treats

Caramel so licky licky! Caramel so chewy chewy! Goldilocks so chewy caramely! That's what I remember from Goldilocks Bakeshop's Caramel jingle.

Goldilock's had this caramel treats promotions. They also have caramel cakes, caramel tarts, and other caramel pastries.

When I bought the cake I was given a free custard mamon. It's a sponge cake with leche flan on top and caramel at the bottom and it was delicious.

The Caramel Cake that I bought was huge and it was only around 350Php. It was about 3 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter. It has plain and mocha sponge cake which was dense but soft. It has a caramel filling and was covered in butter cream and a thin spread of caramel and caramel rosettes for decoration.

The caramel was not too sweet and the butter cream had a hint of mocha flavor which I liked.

The combination of sweet caramel and creamy butter cream was really good. It was simple yet delicious. You can even have a personalized message written on the cake. 

I highly recommend Goldilock's Caramel Cake especially for those who like butter cream frosted cakes and those who like caramel.

四十八：Sweet Baum Cafe's Baumkuchen

I got to learn about Baumkuchen through an anime entitled Yumeiro Patissiere. There was this one episode where they baked the pastry and they called it baumukuhen. The pastry is cooked by using a rotisserie and as the rod spins, the patissiere pours a batter evenly and waits for it to cook before he will pour another layer. It takes about 15 to 20 layers and once cut, it resembles the rings of a tree which explains its name.

I never thought I would actually find a store that sells baumkuchen in the Philippines but lo and behold as I was strolling along Eastwood City, I saw this cafe and I first thought that the "Baum" was for bum or buttocks. LOL! 

They were giving free taste of their baumkuchen. My friend and I tried a piece and it tasted like sponge cake. One small ring about the size of a saucer is 65Php and the bigger one as big as a plate is around 300Php.

I also noticed that they were selling cream cheese cake. The colors were nice. They have 3 flavors for the cakes, plain, green tea and chocolate. The baumkuchen have 4 flavors: green tea, chocolate, cream cheese and plain.

Plain, Green tea and Chocolate Cream Cheese cake.

If you buy 5 small baumkuchen slices you only pay 300Php and you can choose any flavor you want and for the Cream Cheese Cake you only pay 215Php for five small cakes.

The flavors of the baumkuchen were very mild maybe so it won't overpower the natural sweetness of the pastry. Their chocolate had a mild cocoa taste and I did not taste any cream cheese with the cream cheese flavored baumkuchen thought the two tasted nice. 

I then tried their cream cheese cakes. The cakes looked cute especially because of its pastel colors. I tried the plain one first and it was very light. It had sponge cake for the base and the cream cheese cake on top. I actually thought it was cream cheese all the way.

Unlike other cheesecakes, their cream cheese cake is fluffly, lots of air so it's soft and not dense. The flavor is very mild, a little tangy and sweet.

The chocolate flavor has the same taste as the chocolate baumkuchen. It has a mild cocoa taste. The base is also chocolate flavored spongecake.

Lastly I tasted the green tea flavor. It had plain sponge cake at the bottom and matcha flavored cream cheese cake on top. Again the flavor was really mild and it was not bitter as I expected.

I was told by the sales lady that their baumkuchen can last for up to 45 days without refrigeration and the cakes can last up to two weeks in the fridge.

I was not hooked with their pastries but at least now I know what a baukuchen tastes like. ^_^

Sweet Baum Cafe serves unique pastries that are worth a try. They are located in Eastwood City's Technoplaza just outside Robinson's Supermarket near the pathway going to Eastwood Mall.

四十七：XOXO Happy Heart's Day

Since it is Valentine's Day, I will be giving some Trivia about this special occasion and at the same time, enjoy some pictures from Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall's Valentine's Day decorations. XOXO

Valentine's Day is named after Saint Valentine, a priest who was imprisoned during the Roman Empire for performing wedding for the soldiers. The Roman emperor forbid weddings to his soldiers because he believes that single men are better soldiers than those who are married. Saint Valentine continued to perform wedding even though he was already in prison and even miraculously healed his jail guard's daughter's blindness which led to the conversion of pagans to Christianity.

It was said that after the girl whom he healed from blindness was able to see again, Saint Valentine cut papers into heart shapes and wrote letters to her with a note "From Your Valentine" which started the giving of heart shaped letters to our loved ones and the use of the phrase "Your Valentine".

In most of the Christian countries, Valentine's Day is celebrated by giving of flowers, love letters and chocolates to our loved ones. Usually the men are the ones who give gifts to women but in some other countries like Japan and Korea, the women are obliged to give chocolates to the men and the day is called White Day. 

A month after Valentine's Day is White Day and the men in return give chocolates and other gifts to women which should be more expensive than what was given to them. In Korea besides White Day, they also have Black Day which is a month after White Day and those who did not receive anything from the past two events eat black noodles or jajjangmyeon symbolizing their lack of love life.

In Islamic countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, Valentine's Day is not celebrated and is actually banned. Sometimes people caught celebrating Valentine's Day or even just wearing red can get them charged for violating the law. 

四十六：Mochi Ice Cream by Mochi Creme

To continue with the Chinese New Year celebration, I will be reviewing another mochi establishment but this time it's mochi ice cream.

Flavors of Mochi Creme: Red bean, Green Tea, Black Sesame, Blue Vanilla, Chocolate, Mango, Strawberry and Purple Yam.

I was searching for mochi on the web when I stumbled upon a picture of Mochi Creme. I have actually tried making my own mochi ice cream before and was planning to turn it into a business but unfortunate events with my supposed to be business partner came unforeseen.

Mochi is usually filled with anko or sweetened red beans turned into paste and then rolled into a ball. A mochi ice cream is mochi filled with ice cream instead of anko and is served frozen.

A rainbow of mochi ice cream.

 My friend and I were strolling along SM Megamall when we saw this establishment just in front of the Cinema Theaters. It will really catch your attention due to its colorful stall painted in pink and lime green.

A box is provided for those buying lots of mochi.

A mochi ice cream is 60Php and is small enough to fit in your palm. Currently they only have 8 flavors in total and the best sellers are Blue Vanilla, Black Sesame and Purple Yam. I chose Black Sesame and my friend chose Blue Vanilla.

Each mochi is placed in a plastic with their very cute logo and the mochi can be seen through the plastic bag with a cute mochi face. 

We waited for a few minutes before biting into the mochi to thaw it a little because it was given to us frozen. My Black Sesame mochi was good. The skin was not too thick nor too thin and the black sesame gave it a crunch which I liked. It somehow looked like cookies and cream.

My friend said her Blue Vanilla tasted good too though there was no added flavoring, just the color and besides it looked really cute.

Overall we liked Mochi Creme's mochi ice cream but it's a bit too expensive. I really liked their packaging and how they present their mochi in glass freezers which will really draw you onto their stall as if you're being hypnotized into buying one. 

Mochi Creme is at SM Megamall's 3/F Just in front of SM Cinemas.

四十五：Japanese Luxury Sweets by Mochi Sweets

Mochi Sweets: Japanese Luxury Sweets

Because it's Chinese New Year I would like to review a dessert that is usually eaten on this special occasion, mochi. Mochi symbolizes a very close relationship with your family and loved ones.  

Mochi is actually a Japanese dessert made with glutinous rice pounded into a sticky form. It is then rolled to about half a centimeter thick and is filled with anko or red beans then rolled into a ball. It is similar to the Chinese dessert more familiar to us which is buchi except it is not fried and has no sesame seeds. 

Their logo printed on their white paper bag.

I first saw the store while on my way to Robinson's Supermarket from Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City Libis. At first I thought it was a jewelry store due to its design. The store is painted in what seems like black lacquer with the mochi balls displayed in glass cases. I was intimidated to even get close.

A coworker told me that a piece costs 70 pesos. I was surprised that it was that expensive. I imagined the Chinese dessert buchi and I thought 70 pesos for a mere buchi is ridiculous though it would not hurt to try one.

Their red box in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

While checking some group buying sites one day, I saw a promo for Mochi Sweets wherein they were selling it half the price. I planned buying a 12 piece box with pre assorted mochi balls but I forgot to order.

Mochi Sweets logo

While at the office, my coworkers and I talked about it and since we were all curious on what it tastes like, we thought of buying the 6 piece box so each of us can taste 2 flavors. 

Instructions inside the box.

The mochi arrived really cold because they are given to the customers frozen. You need to wait for about 20 minutes in Summer and 40 minutes in Winter as per the instruction that is written on the box and on a wax paper. Since we have Summer in our country all year round, 20 minutes was enough.

The flavors are listed on a wax paper on top of the mochi.

The first two flavors that I tasted were Dark Chocolate and Caramel Macchiato. The Dark Chocolate had dark unsweetened cocoa dusted all over the mochi ball and it was filled with dark chocolate flavored anko and a chocolate cream center. The Caramel Macchiato had cafe latte flavored mousse with caramel center. Both were delicious in my opinion.

Another paper for instructions.

I find the mochi good but still expensive but the following day when my coworker asked me to buy her mochi balls again, I bought 4 for myself just to taste the other flavors. I again bought the 6 piece box which is  by the way 380php.

The missing mochi balls were Blueberry and Mango Mousse.

I picked Chocolate Mousse, Sakura, Green Tea and Mango Yoghurt.

L-R Clockwise: Sakura, Green Tea, Mango Yoghurt and  Chocolate Mousse

When you buy mochi from them, they give tiny plastic forks. I actually do not know how to use it so I just poked the mochi and bite it. The mochi is really soft that pinching or poking it felt like I was hurting something like a poring. A poring by the way is a cute monster shaped like a droplet from the  MMORPG Ragnarok.

Chocolate Mousse Mochi

I first tasted the Chocolate Mousse mochi. It had creamy milk chocolate mousse filling with melted chocolate in the center. I imagined eating/drinking a hot chocolate drink. 

Poke!

I believe the fork is used to cut the mochi in half while still frozen but since the mochi is already too soft after thawing I just poked it. 

Chocolate Mousse with chocolate mousse filling and melted chocolate in the middle.

I never thought that mousse can be used as a mochi's filling but it tasted really good. It was not too sweet and the mousse was smooth.

Sakura Mochi

I then tried the Sakura Mochi. It's mochi skin is pinkish in color and has sakura flavored filling with sweet cream in the center. It is so cute, just put eyes and a mouth on it and it's a poring! :3

Sakura filling with cream center.

The filling of the Sakura Mochi is very unique. I believe it is made of white beans with shredded sakura leaves which explains the green specks. I am not sure what kind of cream is in the center but it was mildly sweet. I read some reviews that said the filling was a bit salty and I think it is because sakura leaves are soaked in water with salt overnight to remove the bitterness before it is used as a wrapping for mochi. 

Green Tea Mochi

Third is the Green Tea or Matcha Mochi. It has matcha flavored filling with matcha flavored cream center.

Green Tea flavored bean paste filling with green tea flavored center.

The green tea mochi was a bit bitter due to the matcha mixed in it but it was still delicious. The anko was still sweet with a hint of matcha but the creamy center produced the stronger matcha taste.

Mango Yoghurt Mochi

Last in the box was Mango Yoghurt Mochi. It has pale white mochi skin, yoghurt filling and mango puree center. I ate it last because I really like eating mangoes so I saved it first.

Looks like an Egg. Yoghurt filling with mango puree center.

Once you bite it in half, it resembles a soft boiled egg. It's tangy due to the yoghurt and sweet due to the ripe mango puree. It's a good combination. 

Every mochi that I ate was a unique experience. Thought it's quite expensive I had fun tasting each of the mochi and savoring the unique flavor combinations.

Mochi Sweets in Eastwood City Libis is at Eastwood Mall's 2/F along the pathway going to Robinson's Supermarket. A three piece box is 200Php, six piece box is 360Php and a twelve piece box is 680Php.

四十四：Best Pancit Malabon in the East

 

I like pancit Malabon very much. As the name implies, this type of pancit originated from Malabon where most of our seafoods sold in markets come from which explains why it is topped with lots of seafood such as shrimps, squid, and sometimes even clams.

Pancit Malabon is made from thick rice noodles and has sauce which is made from seafood broth and its color comes from atsuete extract. It's similar to pancit palabok but the difference would be the thickness of the noodles and the lack of tinapa topping. Both has chicharon and eggs for topping but pancit Malabon agains has lots of seafood.

I have tried different pancit Malabon like the Pancit ng Taga Malabon, Amber's and Mang Ado's Pancit in Pasig. All of those I said are equally delicious but when I tasted Dolora's Pancit Malabon, I was hooked. 

The noodles are firm and very tasty. The sauce sticks to the noodles but is not dry unlike in other restaurants. Their chicharon are also good because it is crunchy and has meat in it and not just plain popped pig skin. What Dolora's Pancit Malabon lacks is the other seafood ingredients like squid rings and clams. They only have shrimps but it's okay with me because it still tastes good. If you want more toppings, there is an additional fee. If I remember correctly, 20 pesos for extra chicharon or egg and 50 pesos for extra shrimps.

What I like best with Dolora's is the price. The cheapest would be 150 good for 3 persons and 850 good for 20-25 persons. They also have different branches but mostly in the East of Metro Manila but they do deliver for an additional fee of 70 pesos.

四十三：Life is Bene, Review of Caffe Benne

Caffe Bene

Caffe Bene opened in Eastwood City just a few months ago. It's a huge coffee chain in South Korea with hundreds of branches nationwide and even in foreign countries.

I like coffee and pastries so I had to try Caffe Bene. During our lunch break, I asked my friend if she would like to join me for lunch there.

So many pastries to choose from.

Their staff were friendly and upon entering, we immediately went to the glass shelves filled with their pastries and Korean drinks. They had Belgian waffles, honey toasts, cheesecakes, tortes and cakes. There were so many to choose from and since it was lunch time, we decided to order a savory dish first and some drinks.

We ordered the Garlic and Cheese toast (165Php), Misugaru latte (155Php) and Choco Chip Frappe (165Php).

Just beside the pastry shelves was the gelato section. A scoop is 95Php.

While searching for seats, we saw this display shelf of coffee cups, and other Caffe Bene souveneirs.

We also noticed this clock decor unfortunately it is not a real clock.

Here's our lunch. The misugaru latte is for my friend, the choco chip frappe was for me and we shared the toast.

Garlic and Cheese Toast

The garlic and cheese toast is a very thick slice of white bread cut into 9 squares and is covered with cheese and garlic then baked in the oven until the cheese melted. The bread was soft and the combination of garlic and cheese was good. It tasted nice though I did not find it special. It was like cheese spread on a thick slice of bread.

Our drinks.

Choco chip frappe

The choco chip frappe was also okay. It had bits of chocolates and it tasted like hot chocolate that was frozen unfortunately I found it to be too sweet for my taste.

Misugaru Latte

The misugaru latte was very intriguing. It was said to have some health benefits. It's made of roasted beans but not coffee beans. I tasted some crushed beans in the drink. It actually reminded me of the boiled monggo beans mixed with milk that we drink when I was young. 

Caffe Bene's mascot, Befy.

My first experience with Caffe Bene was not that special but I would love to try their Belgian waffles next time. My friend and I did not try it during our visit because our lunch break was almost over. 

I am not sure if their promo is still on going but we were given free upgrades on our drinks when we checked in at Caffe Bene through Facebook.

Caffe Bene is located at Eastwood City's Citywalk near the sports outlets such as Nike, Puma and Converse.