Cutty

This cake is the latest craze during this pandemic, especially now that everyone is a home baker.  Being a baker myself, I also gave in, upon my husband's request.  I wanted to know what the fuss was about. I haven't tried the authentic one. But I searched all over for the most authentic recipe I could find. Based on what I've seen, these are the major differences:  the burnt top and sides, the sloping top layer, the custardy flavor and the absence of crust. I've seen a lot of hacks.  Some people baked it with crust.  Some people just torch the top layer to create that burnt top.  Some use NY-style cheesecake recipe.  But that isn't being true to the origin of this cake. Using the proper method is important because the flavor component of the burnt cheese produces a nice contrast to the custardy cake.  There is a toasty, nutty flavor produced by the burnt top.  The color of the baking paper is also a dead giveaway.  When yo...

I still believe that mangoes are seasonal.   This is the time when mangoes are at their sweetest.  I grab the chance to buy in bulk when it is cheap.  Last week, I was able to get 20 kgs of the Guimaras variety.  It was still unripe when we brought the them home.  But, I took care of them and waited until it is time to enjoy them.  The time has come. In the past weeks of the lockdown, I've made mango ice candy and mango jelly.  This week I am experimenting on a new cake flavor:  Mango Creme Brulee cake.  It is my take on the famed creme brulee cake but with juicy mangoes. It is assembled now and cooling in the chiller.  Here is a section of the cake.  It needs more mangoes, more custard and a more stable whipped filling. Yes, I also need to do the brulee part better.  I can't wait to have my own blow torch. I've also made a refreshing mango-chia seed pudding.  We prefer it as dessert.  It is one way for...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Joaquin's birthday party.  This time, I'd like to show you pictures of the party taken through Ces Kasilag's eyes. Ces has been our default party photographer for our last 3 parties.  She knows our preferences and I am happy with her work. Here are the Elmo centerpieces, towers and lanterns by Polkadots Other party details

I've been itching to set foot on an airplane and leave town.  Every one is talking about traveling.  Even my husband is leaving for a short trip to watch PacMan in Macau.  I just want an uninterrupted shopping experience.  It is very difficult to find time these days, when kids are in tow and when you have a baby inside you. Because I wont be allowed to set foot on a plane in the next two months, we have short holidays lined up. To make up for it somehow, this week has been a gastronomical journey.  Friday was Hotpot Night.  Sunday was a buffet lunch at Vikings.  Monday was Tea Time at Lusso. It didn't look too filling so we got another sandwich, which Vic enjoyed a lot. I am waiting to see how it compares to Manila Pen's Tea Buffet. Tuesday was baking day at Cathy's Kitchen.  Here's what the kids and I made. I've experimented with two recipes.  The first one, the lemon meringue pie has promise.  Just a few mo...

My December went by in a blur.  There was no time to relax and savor the season.  I'm sure yours was the same.  Allow me share with you what kept me busy. Cathy's Kitchen was a hit.  I had orders till Christmas Eve.  S'mores and Carrot cakes were still the best sellers.  I'm glad that I was able to accommodate some last minute orders.  I baked whenever I could squeeze it in, in between meals, rehearsals, Christmas shopping and hiring.  I baked till past midnight, up to the time I still had LPG left.  Unfortunately, my Kitchen Aid complained about too much work it has been getting.  Thankfully, my food processor was good enough to do the work.  I just have to figure out where I can have my Kitchen Aid fixed. I also finally got the courage to have a local cafe sample my cakes.  They liked it. I am currently waiting for repeat orders. The ACS had a busy season also.  The Tantoco family has been very generous to us. ...

I've recently decided to turn a skill into an income-generating activity.  I have talked to one prospective client and it was a very pleasant meeting.  He gave positive feedback and was very encouraging.  I am just waiting for the GO signal.  God willing, Cathy's Kitchen will be in full swing by next month.  Aaarrrggghhh!  Wish me luck!

The mad holiday rush is over.  My husband has gone back to the office.  Johann and Javi will start school tomorrow.  We are all slowly going back to our routines.  Since 2012 is the THE dreaded year in Mayan calendar, I don't really know what to expect this year.  Being a full-time mother, I am pretty much at my family's disposal. But here are some major events and milestones I'm looking forward to: Our 7th wedding anniversary next, next weekend An upcoming trip in February, which will serve as a belated anniversary trip for Vic and me Apart from the usual family birthdays, my father's 60th birthday party Planning the ACS Hokkaido trip on Jan 2013 To liven up my pretty boring life, I'm targeting a couple of weekend bazaars for Cathy's Kitchen to participate in.  I'm hoping to squeeze in a few more baking courses since the last one I had was years ago.  What about you?  What will you year be like?

In last four hours, I got 17 cake orders for Friday.  Six are for Vic's colleagues, 10 for Father dear and one for my cousin.  Then I'd have to add another one to raffle off at my choir's Christmas party and several more for my neighbors.     Looks like I'll be baking the whole day tomorrow.  Thank God I'm finished with my Christmas shopping.

Have you heard of that superstition?  They say that after two failed attempts, the third will most likely succeed.   That's exactly what happened to our yaya's 3rd attempt to get a passport.  After so much hassle, she finally came back with some good news.  I am hoping that there wont be any other delays so she can get it in time for our departure. Now that she can tag along, we can bring Bettina with us.  We will be complete this coming New Year! It will be different this time.  For the past 4 years, we've celebrated New Year's Eve cooped up in our hotel room.  It looks like Vic and I can slip out on New Year's Eve, while the kids are asleep. I can hardly wait to plan our stay.  But wait, I still have to search for Bettina's passport's delivery receipt first.  I hope I find it.  Otherwise, I'd have another problem. In the meantime,  I am Cathy's Kitchen's slave.

This the reason I've been busy the past few weeks. for smaller cakes and bars   for regular-sized cakes and tortes These new boxes are eco-friendly, manufactured and printed by Scala and Anonas Press.  The designs were done in collaboration with my trusted artist and cousin-in-law, Kuya Boyette. Cathy's Kitchen is now accepting orders for the holidays.  Email SweetDelightsbyCathy@yahoo.com for orders or inquiries.

I got a new cookbook today and I am so excited to try it out.  It's almost as exciting as getting a new bag or traveling to a foreign land.  Just Kidding. It is from one of my favorite local chefs.  Like her previous book, it is not all about cakes and baking.  There are recipes for sauces, spreads, desserts and snacks.  Just look at the cover, it is very festive.   Here's a preview of what I want to try out: Flavored salts  Mediterranean dips Home-made Caramel Sauce Smoked Salmon spread White Toblerone Cheesecake If you are a "kitchen goddess" like me (ahem, ahem  :P), I suggest you get a copy.  It has unique ideas about what to share with friends this holiday season.  It's worth every cent.

Because Rachel Ray (sp?) inspired me to do so, I made a frittata for breakfast. Here's a quick rundown of what I did.  1.  Slice ham, onions, yellow peppers (capsicum) into strips.  Slice mushrooms thinly. 2.  Saute everything in a sauce pan starting with the onions, followed by the ham and peppers.  Add mushrooms when everything is nearly cooked.  Turn off the fire and let the residual heat cook the mushrooms. 3.  In a separate bowl, beat 5 medium eggs and a quarter cup of milk.  Season with salt, pepper and add a dash of hot sauce.  4.  Throw in all ingredients into an oven-proof dish.  Baked at 400 degrees for 15mins or until set. This is best eaten with buttered toast and jam.  What a hearty breakfast for a long day. Note:  you may want to grease the oven-proof dish if you don't like it to form a crust around the edges.

I spent yesterday's early afternoon testing my recipe.   This is how the end product looks like: This was my first time make pies by myself.  I was afraid to try it out before because I may end up over-kneading the dough and wasting it.  I got Johann and Javi to play with the dough.  They rubbed the butter against the flour.  That lessened the time of me manually kneading them.  When they got tired, they went back to the TV and left me molding the dough in peace.  I used a dusted Ziploc bag and a wine bottle for rolling out small portions of the dough.  I experimented with different pies pans, pan sizes, crust trimmings and fillings. Since I am making these for Christmas, I decided to employ the help of my houseboy.  I already taught him how to mold the dough, bake the crust and the filling. I've forgotten how back breaking baking is.  It really is a test of patience and perseverance.  Here are some of my notes:...

I attended a hands-on baking workshop last weekend.  It was facilitated by the San Miguel Culinary chefs.  I've always liked attending their baking classes because their recipes pass my taste test.  The chefs always shares practical tricks on how to make economical substitutes and how to cut time in the preparation.  Here are some of what we made: This experience convinced me to try my hand at baking again.  This time I will practice on pies and other cake recipes.  It's nothing fancy, but definitely tasty and appetizing. I am currently in the process of sourcing and costing ingredients and other materials.  Hopefully, by Christmastime, I will be ready to take in orders just like before. By the way, I am having my own boxes reproduced again.  I've contacted my printer already and a meeting has been set.  I am hoping that it is still within my price range.  Wish me luck!

Some would call them wishlists. I call them targets. For the kitchen, these are my targets from my favorite home store, Crate and Barrel. An apple corer A Mango pitter. You may have seen Bobby Flay use this several times in Boy Meets Grill and Throwdown.  An Ice Cream maker, which is currently at half-price An compact smoothie maker, also at half-price And, just because it is so cute, a strawberry huller.  I can't even guess how to use it.  I am not even fond of strawberries. And, like all other targets, I just might miss them.

Even though I don't have work to keep me on a schedule, I was on-the-go almost everyday of last week. There were lots of commitments concerning the THREE Festival and the joint celebration of last Saturday. Here are the highlights of the week: Johann's school party. We were supposed to celebrate with his classmates on the day before his birthday. However, he got sick. So, I cancelled my arrangements and moved the celebration to the following school day. Last Monday, I brought homemade cupcakes (Martha Stewart's choco chip cupcake with chocolate ganache ) and pancakes for the class' recess. I failed to document the simple celebration because I forgot to bring a camera with me. Apparently, there was one waiting for me in the backseat. Darn! Gram's Diner. I tried it and I wasn't disappointed. The whopper malt and the philly cheese steak were very good. I think I'll try it out with Vic next time we're in the area. Parallel parking. I rarely pa...

Chef Aileen is one of the chefs I watch out for on TV. Apart from the fact that I always find her desserts mouth-watering, she is one of the few chefs who really knows how to communicate. There are quite a lot out there who turn me off just by the sound of their voice, not to mention their grammar and pronunciation. When I read that she launched a cook book, I got myself a copy from our favorite bookstore. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they sell it $10 cheaper than the online price. Aptly titled, this book helps a home-baker come up with a menu for his/her own cafe. It has a wide selection of drinks and desserts to choose from. I was hoping for more chocolate-based drinks rather than espresso-based ones. Browsing through the pages, here are some of the recipes I'd like to try out I am so psyched to try out her recipes that I got some adorable teddy bear-shaped silicone cups and a bottle of authentic Mexican vanilla. I can't wait to use them. I don't know...

Now that I can access our house-warming photos, I would like to share with you what kept us busy in the latter part of 2009. Most of the furniture we have in the house were the ones that survived Ondoy. I just bought decorative accents, mostly from SM, Regalong Pambahay and Landmark. Most of the rooms also got accent walls. Vic was bored-to-death with the cream-colored interiors from before. Here are some shots of the refurbished part of the house. This is living room and dining room. We also played up the lights to create the mood. As you can see, we only used recessed lights. The retailers of Soler were a great help. We got most of our lighting fixtures and bulbs from there. The curtains weren't supposed to be tied back, but we decided to do so just to let the air in. This is the hallway connecting the old part of the house to the den. There's a sliding door (hidden at this time) to seal off the den in case we'd like to turn on the a/c. Here is a shot of the de...

A few days ago, I felt the urge to bake. We had lots of frozen Cavendish bananas from the province. It's the variant that doesn't really turn yellow. I don't know how else to cook it, except by making them into cakes or muffins. Out several recipes I've tried, the one liked best was the one I got from Heny Sison's class. Unfortunately, due to the disorder and chaos brought about by Ondoy and the house construction, I couldn't find it anymore. I had to resort to the next best recipe I have in my book. This one, I got from epicurious .com. It is your basic muffin recipe. Just add fruit, chocolate chips, oatmeal, nuts or coffee, it will turn out okay. One thing I like about this is the use of sour cream. By experience, adding sour cream to cakes makes them more moist and lighter. Give it a try and let me know how you find it. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/...

Though I officially turned thirty last Monday, we just celebrated the event last Saturday. Family from both sides, balikbayans (who are in town for Inay's death anniversary) and friends from the ACS graced the event. As usual, the buffet was opened by the Cadanos and the Endrigas. It was closed off by the ACS. I still had some leftovers that I do not mind eating the whole week. As promised, good food and booze flowed endlessly. Vic and several people remarked that the waiters are well-trained. They always top-up drinks. They were also very courteous. That is why I got them again. I had no problems giving them quite a hefty tip. Of course, Cathy's Kitchen just had to make something for dessert. I debuted my Red Velvet Cake recipe. It was a winner. I am glad it turned out well. My guinea pigs loved it. It will be another offering for my "future" business. One friend welcomed me to the club. She asked how I felt. When we were younger, we felt that 30 is ...