五十三：Gigi Coffee and Cupcakes

I'm not fond of cupcakes because I don't see it as cake baked in a cup so I would rather eat a slice from a whole cake but I don't mind trying some once in a blue moon.

I think it was around 2010 that we had the cupcake fad. Most home bakers would make cupcakes and sell them online and though I also bake at home, I did not join the fad.

I've never heard of a cupcake store in Eastwood City until a colleague told me about Gigi's cupcakes. She said it was delicious and not as pricey as other stores that sell cupcakes.

Since it was payday, I thought of trying some of Gigi's cupcakes and I bought their box of 6. Unfortunately only three flavors were left and lucky for me, they still had Red Velvet cupcake which was the flavor that I really wanted to try.

I got Butter Cream which is tinted blue, Red Velvet and Peanut Butter flavors. A box of 6 cupcakes is 235Php. A cupcake is 40Php so you save 5Php.

Butter Cream

Besides cupcakes they also sell coffee but I did not try it because I was about to go home already.

 Looking at the frosting, I knew it was made of American buttercream frosting which is made from powdered sugar and butter and it's too sweet for my taste because it is just powdered sugar mixed with a little butter. I prefer Swiss butter cream frosting like the ones put in cake rolls which is literally butter that is creamed though the American butter cream is very easy to make.

Red Velvet

When I got home I did not eat it right away because I was already sleepy so I placed it inside the fridge first and ate it the next day. 

The cupcakes were still moist even if it was cold. When I tasted the frosting, it was too sweet especially the butter cream flavor but the cake itself was good. It was moist and soft.

The peanut butter really tasted like peanut butter and was less sweet than the butter cream one but I liked the Red Velvet flavor the most because the cream cheese in the frosting made it a lot less sweet and the cake itself is delicious.

Peanut butter

Again I am not a fan of cupcakes but I am willing to try the other flavors of Gigi's cupcakes and their coffee because it's a lot less cheaper compared to other cupcake stores that sell their cupcakes at 60Php per piece.

Price Range (40Php - 100Php)

Location:
Felina Corporate Plaza Lobby, Eastwood City, 1110 Quezon City, Philippines
Contact No.:
+63 2 234 2842

五十二：Swensen's Ice Cream

I really like ice cream and ever since I was a kid, I had fond memories while eating ice cream. 

Before Swensen's came in the Philippines, we had Magnolia House and my parents would always bring me there on special occasions to eat sundaes. Unfortunately the original Magnolia House is gone and has been relocated inside the mall that was built there which is Robinson's Magnolia.

A few years ago, a Singaporean friend told me about Swensen's. We were talking about restaurants and she said that one famous restaurant in Singapore is Swensen's and they offer delicious cakes and ice creams.

I made a research and found out that it's an ice cream parlor from U.S. and its franchise has been really popular in Thailand they even made a Rice Ice Cream.

A few years forward, Swensen's opened their first branch in the Philippines at SM MOA. It's very far from where I live so I did not get to try it until their branch in Eastwood City in Quezon City opened.

Cute doodles

A close friend who also likes ice cream a lot came with me to try it out. 

We had a hard time choosing which ice cream creation to order. I think it took us about 30 minutes to decide until their waitress helped us by explaining to us that we can choose whatever ice cream flavor we like for the ice cream creation or sundae that we choose.

Pick your choice of ice cream flavor and toppings.

And so we decided to order one Oreo Brownie Basket (265Php) and Strawberry Stripes Parfait (255Php). Both have 3 scoops of ice cream each.

Oreo Chunky Basket

For the Oreo Chunky we got the Midnight Brownies, Rocky Road and Cookies and Cream flavors and for the Strawberry Stripes we got Bluberry Cobbler, Reversible Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake flavors.

Close view of Oreo Chunky

All of the flavors are delicious and very creamy but among all the flavors that we chose we liked the Reversible Chocolate and Blueberry Cobbler the most. 

Strawberry Stripes and Chewy Chocky Fancy at the foreground.

It's a bit expensive for ice cream but it's worth a try especially because the quality of the ice cream is superb and the flavors are quite unique.

Price Range (100Php - 400Php)
Location:
2/F Eastwood Mall Veranda E. Rodriguez Avenue
Bagumbayan, Quezon City