My First: Basic Chocolate Cake

Clap!clap!clap! a pat on the back for a job well done! It was very fulfilling to nail a basic chocolate cake. Let me mark this as my first featured kitchen experience. This time guys, when I say "featured" it means that the recipe will fall under my "secret recipes". Not that I'm being selfish, it's for future use, maybe for a business. And it's understandable how important it is to be able to create your own name with original recipes not borrowed.

I would like to share that this wouldn't be possible without the help of my younger sister Les. We were "kinda" in the process of experimenting. An experiment that turned out right. It feels like a Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe was handed to us.

Key ingredient: Real chocolates

I wasn't able to make some frostings because I was missing an ingredient. Honey. All this time, I thought I have a bottle waiting. Without anything else to top my cake, I covered each square slice with confectionery sugar instead, it was pretty good too. The following day, it tasted even better. This made my week fantastic. It gave me more ideas on how to make our chocolate cake more attractive inside and out, for every slice and  for every bite. 

So Mom, let's start planning on baking our own cake for every occasion.

My Mango Float To The Next Level

Of all the Mango floats I've made this was the first time that I was able to get a slice where everything was still intact. I would often encounter bits and pieces of mango or graham crackers falling off. The nice part about this week's Mango Float making, was the fact that I didn't even use too much cream to hold it, but it turned out exactly how I wanted it.

Mango Float is one of the easiest desserts to make. We can all do it we even add a little something-something to make it our own. As for me, I always make mine sugar free. As much as possible, I always try recipes that doesn't require too much sugar or no sugar at all and even no use of sweeteners.

I let the natural flavor of the ripe mangoes combined with the sweet flavor of the graham crackers do the job. But make sure that your mangoes are ripe enough, if not, it's advisable to use sugar. On my next float adventure, I will be adding another ingredient, and of course, lots of cream to make it look more enticing.

The Original--- Cassava Cake

Orient, is the most famous Buko Pie seller in Laguna. Aside from Buko Pie, they also whip up some Filipino delicacies, like the Cassava Cake. Last Sunday, I was able to try a different brand of Cassava Cake. Then, yesterday my Dad who traveled again to Laguna dropped by and gave me another box of Cassava and this time it's from The Original brand. I was able to taste the difference. It only proves that Orient's Cassava tops it all.

Cassava is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates.

Cassava must be cooked properly to detoxify it before it is eaten.

Source

Food Trip Friday

Ginataang Mais

Ginataan/ Guinataan is any food or dish cooked with coconut milk. My featured dish is a famous Filipino dessert.

Ginataang Mais is composed of fresh sweet corn kernels, sugar, coconut milk.

• 2 sweet corns (scrape kernels off the corn cob)
• 2 cups malagkit rice (Glutinous rice)
• 3-4 Cups of Water
• 1/2 Cup to 1 cup sugar
• 4 coconuts (grated and coconut milk extracted)

How To:

• Boil malagkit rice (Glutinous rice)and corn kernels in water until thick. Set aside.
• In the very same pan, boil coconut milk then add the thickened rice and corn.
• Mix well. Low fire.
• Add sugar
• Mix until well blended.

Food Trip Friday: From Main to Dessert

Spicy Tuna Pasta with Black Olives

Just my usual Tuna Pasta. This time, I added black olives. Love olives by the way.

Mango Float

Franky was asking for cake. I told him that it's better and it's more fun if we make our own. Not the real cake though, but it sure is something cooler to enjoy on a very hot day.

Food Trip Friday

Food Trip Friday--- Homemade Turon

Turon or fried caramelized banana. Banana wrapped in spring roll wrappers.
Recipe Here

I prefer making Turon with white sugar. I coat the banana itself with sugar before wrapping it. Then, I will coat the whole wrapped banana again. I don't deep-fry my turon, I pan-fry them. That way, I have control on caramelizing the sugar. I would often buy Turon coated with burnt sugar and the taste is awful. And I also like making small, bite- size Turons.

Kutsinta

The recipe I used was from my mom. Borrowed it :D

With the kutsinta holding a simple recipe, my mom was still able to concoct her own.
I used tart molders instead of the typical round. I craved for this over the weekend. And since my mom's too busy to make some, she gave me her recipe. My sister helped me.

Served with grated coconut.