Strawberry Shortcake

In the Philippines, particularly in Metro Manila, it seems that many bakers selling from home have emerged in recent years.  Oh, I am not talking about just any baker and not just any home.  A lot of these homebakers are high society matrons who reside in the plush subdivisions of the metro.  Each Mrs. seems to have her own specialty such that Mrs. X is known for this cake, Mrs. Y is known for another cake and so on.  The system of ordering is simple - give them a ring to order, then on pick up day, you go to their house and a uniformed maid comes out the door to hand you your cake.  As you would expect, these cakes are more pricey than those bought at the big bakeshops and only those from the middle and upper classes could afford them.

One such lady baker is Mrs. Yulo.  To be honest, I don't really know who she is, but I do know that the Yulo surname = elite.  Mrs. Yulo's specialty, apparently, is the strawberry shortcake.  I say apparently because I have only read about it. I wonder if she herself bakes the cakes? I can only imagine an army of helpers around the kitchen who actually do the work for her! I have read about how great this cake is, how Mrs. Yulo uses imported strawberries and cream, and stuff like that. Her cake was even listed among the 10 best desserts in Manila (article written way back in 2005, but still).

Image credit: En Route

I have no way of knowing for sure.  But this is what I have gathered from the internet and what I have deduced just by looking at photographs.  My deductions may be wrong though.

Image credit, from top L clockwise: The Moving Couch Potato, Spot, Chuvaness, The Moving Couch Potato

1.  The cake is baked in a tube pan as there is an obvious hole in the middle. People say it is a sponge cake but I say, it is probably chiffon.

2.  The cake is frozen.  I've seen pictures with the strawberries either all icy-looking or at the point of thawing that they are already bleeding.

3.  The cake is very tall.  Chiffon cakes do bake tall in tube pans but what makes the assembled cake even taller is the amount of cream in between the cake layers and on top.  In some photos I've seen, the filling is as thick as the cake layer!

4.  There is nothing extraordinary with the way the cake is presented.  Just a pinkish cream with strawberry bits all over and 8 half strawberries around the edge.

My conclusion?  Unless Mrs. Yulo uses a special, secret ingredient, I see no reason why this cake cannot be replicated at your own homes.  If you have tried any of the chiffon cake recipes here and were successful, you will find this strawberry shortcake quite easy to make.  It is very similar to the Mango and Cream cake, basically just replacing the mangoes with strawberries. Simple but outrageously delicious.

Below is my strawberry shortcake.  I have arranged my photos in a collage similar to the one I have done with Mrs. Yulo's cake so you can see how twin-looking they are!

Now let's look at the comparison more closely, shall we?

So...would you rather spend a hefty amount of money buying this cake or would you dare try making it yourself?

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

VANILLA CHIFFON CAKE (recipe suitable for a 9x3 tube pan)

{A}
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons white sugar

{B}
¼ cup corn/canola oil
4 egg yolks, from large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

{C}
4 eggwhites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

{D}
6 tablespoons white sugar

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. In a large bowl, combine {A} well. Add in {B}. Beat with electric mixer or by hand until smooth and well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, beat {C} on high speed until frothy. Gradually add in the sugar {D} and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Gradually and gently fold in egg whites into egg yolk mixture. Pour batter into an ungreased 9" tube pan.
4. Bake for about 55 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan onto a glass bottle immediately and cool completely.
5. To release cake from pan, carefully run a thin knife around sides of pan and invert cake onto a large serving plate. **Tip: For easier handling, wrap your cake very well in cling film, then refrigerate overnight before frosting.

Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting:

2 cups whipping or thickened cream, very cold

1 250g bar of cream cheese, soft but still cold

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon strawberry extract/essence

a drop or two of red liquid food coloring

150g of strawberries, plus 8 pieces (preferably big ones) more for garnishing

*Make sure your mixing bowl and beaters for the whipped cream are all well chilled to achieve better volume.

Process the strawberries until they are turned into small bits. Do not puree.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Set aside.

In your chilled bowl and using clean beaters, beat the whipping cream, sugar, strawberry extract and food coloring until the mixture is quite stiff. Gently fold in the cream cheese then beat again at high speed for a few seconds or just until everything is well combined.  Be careful not to overbeat.  Carefully fold in the strawberry bits.

To assemble:

Cut the vanilla chiffon cake horizontally into three layers.

Place bottom cake layer (the wider end) on your cake board, cut side up. Spread and level some of the whipped cream onto the cake layer until it is about 1/2" thick.  Cover the hole as well. Place the next cake layer over the bottom layer and spread whipped cream in the same manner. Top with the last cake layer then frost the cake all over with the remaining whipped cream. Garnish the top with the strawberry halves.

That's it! Go ahead and give it a go.  You won't regret it.

Steamed Rice Cakes: Putong Ube, Muscovado, Queso and Pandan

As promised, here are the recipes for the steamed rice cakes.  I have had great success with these and I hope you all will too.  The procedure for each flavour is basically the same and is only listed in detail with the first recipe.  Variations, if any, are indicated in the succeeding recipes.

Make one or make all four flavours!

From top left, clockwise: putong ube, putong mascobado, putong pandan, and putong queso.

PUTONG UBE (makes about 30 - 36 mini muffin sized puto)

1  cup rice flour
1/2 cup cake flour
3 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup + 2T evaporated milk
100 grams grated ube
1/2 teaspoon McCormick ube flavour
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
pinch of violet food powder (if desired), no more than 1/8 tsp. 

In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients together.  Add in the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Do not overmix.  If you want a darker purple shade, add in the violet food powder to finish off.  

Heat water in bottom pan of steamer until water boils rapidly. Wrap steamer cover with a towel.  

Grease puto molds or mini muffin pans then scoop puto batter into molds,  3/4 full. Decrease heat to medium then steam puto for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before removing from the molds.

PUTONG MASCOBADO

1  cup rice flour
1/2 cup cake flour
2 1/4 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 cup packed muscovado sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup + 2T evaporated milk
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

**Combine coconut milk, evaporated milk, and muscovado sugar in a small saucepan.  Place over low heat and mix gently until sugar is dissolved. Do not boil. Set aside to cool before using.  Alternatively, put liquids in a microwave-safe container.  Heat for about 45 seconds.  Stir in the muscovado sugar until it is dissolved.

PUTONG QUESO

1  cup rice flour
1/2  cup cake flour
2 1/4  teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup + 2T evaporated milk
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Pinch of yellow food powder, if desired
Small chunks of or finely grated cheddar cheese

**After filling molds with batter, top with a few cheese chunks.  Do not put too much!

PUTONG PANDAN

1  cup rice flour
1/2 cup cake flour
2 1/4 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup + 2T evaporated milk
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon pandan paste OR
1/2 teaspoon clear pandan extract and a pinch of green food powder

If you ever get to try these recipes, I would greatly appreciate some feedback.  Let me know if you liked it or not and if there is anything else I can do to improve on the recipes.  Thank you and enjoy!

Steamed rice cakes (puto) like Michelle's

When you can't have the real thing, clone it.

That has been my motto for a time now....that is, when it comes to food.  That is how most of the cake recipes you see here were born.

Recently, another Filipino favourite I thought of recreating was steamed rice cakes or puto as we call it.  (I am a little apprehensive to use the Filipino term as I know this is a rather offensive word in another language. But that is it's proper name, so please excuse me.)

I know there is a variety of puto around but the one I wanted to make was something similar to Michelle's putong ube, a well-known homemade brand in Metro Manila.  Michelle's actually has four puto variants: ube (purple yam), muscovado, queso (cheese), and pandan.  Their products are a bit pricey compared to sidewalk vendor-puto but are really well worth the money.  

The one and only time I tasted Michelle's puto was last January.  I've read about it on the internet and have seen photos so I was curious. I could not remember the exact taste and texture of each flavour so in order to recreate it,  I had to ask around and also find whatever useful information I can.  I should give credit to this article and also to this picture (originally found here)...

If you look closely, you will see the list of ingredients for the putong ube. (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)

A lot of puto recipes these days make use of wheat flour which makes the name 'rice cake' really a misnomer.  You will notice from the list of ingredients shown in the picture that although rice is a major component, there is wheat flour as well.  I suppose some source of gluten, even in a small amount, is necessary to give this cake structure. Rice cakes made purely of ground rice or rice flour tend to be flat.

One thing I figured was that there had to be a single basic recipe for all flavours, with just a minimum of adjustments to some of the ingredients. With this in mind, what was once again a series of kitchen experimentation for me began.  As a result, I have been eating puto for breakfast, lunch, snack and even dessert for a few days now!

That's all behind me now cause I believe I finally got it!

Here they are: my versions of the putong ube, muscovado, queso, and pandan.

Putong ube

Putong muscovado

Putong queso

Putong pandan

These puto were fluffy and moist, and most importantly, tasted like the flavour they were supposed to be.  So easy to eat a plateful in one go!  They were 'cake-y', fresh out of the steamer, which made me question whether this was the right texture or not.  My friend Mimi said that Michelle's puto was chiffon cake-like in softness and so my recipe must be on the right track.

Apart from the cracked top, I reckon these are pretty similar to Michelle's.  I wonder if the cracked top is meant to be their signature look?  My puto hardly had any cracks and am thinking of what I should do to get them (not that they look better with cracks).  Just asking.

Do you like steamed rice cakes?  Then stay tuned for the recipes.  Next time, I promise.

Ensaimada

You know how I recently bought an ice cream maker so I could make good use of leftover eggyolks?  Well, I have already made 6 ice cream flavours to date but only one actually had eggyolks in it.  Aside from discovering that ice cream can be as creamy and rich without eggs (thanks to this great book), I also want to say that my use of eggyolks has been wonderfully diverted elsewhere.

Ensaimadas.  I've mentioned these lovely buns in my last post. They have been a treat to make!  Tedious, yes, but the end result is more than gratifying.  I am even looking forward to those leftover eggyolks these days!

Fresh out of the oven.

Buttered, sprinkled with sugar, and topped with grated vintage cheddar cheese.

So fluffy and soft!

Wrapped just the way my aunts do it.

When I eat these ensaimadas, even for just a moment, I feel like I'm home.  Come to think of it, up until now, I've never eaten this outside the Philippines.  And it has always been my aunts' ensaimadas, no one else's ever!

"Home is where your heart is."  True?  I've been living in Australia for more than 12 years now and I have known all along where my heart really is.

For a great recipe and step by step tutorial on how to make ensaimada, head on over here.

Family and food

You know how it is said that "food brings people together"? So true.

When we went home to the Philippines, family members from both my husband's and my side went to great lengths to bring us food they knew we missed.  Everyday they would ask what else we wanted to eat (aside from what places we wanted to go to or what things we wanted to do).

Going back to Australia, I realized that we didn't really have to wait for many years till we can get to eat the same food again. I do know how to cook and we certainly have the resources here.

First thing I made was taho (warm silken tofu with brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls).  We only had this once in my Dad's house as the street vendor didn't pass by regularly.  But growing up, this was a constant accompaniment to our breakfast. 

We've already made taho three times. My eldest son loves it.  If someone left even a bit on their cup, he would finish it off.  Even if it was cold. 

Next we thought of making hurricane popcorn.  This isn't Filipino food but my brother from Hawaii who was visiting the same time as us, gave us a box of this.  Definitely something different!  It's basically popcorn mixed with seasoned seaweed and rice crackers and flavoured with lots of butter.  

After we had finished all our hurricane popcorn packs, my daughter searched where we could buy them online.  Unfortunately, the only way was to order it from Hawaii. Next best thing of course was to just make it ourselves.  Easy and quite addicting!

Then there was ice buko with monggo (coconut ice pops with red mung beans).  We had this after my son's 19th birthday party.  On the way back to my Dad's house, we stopped by a small side street store to buy this. Making ice buko here at home was super great, especially since we had a terribly hot summer.

And then there was another refreshing dessert - buko pandan salad (creamy coconut pandan).  My youngest brother had this ready for us on our first night home!  Normally, this dessert isn't frozen (just chilled) but ever since a small Filipino family bakeshop (Nathaniel's) came out with a frozen version, that sort of became the standard to live up to.  Thus, I went the extra mile to make ours special as well.  I made my own vanilla ice cream to which I folded in the pandan jelly and young coconut cubes. Just as great, maybe even better!

I also experimented on making suman sa lihiya (sticky rice flavoured with lye water).  My mom used to order lots of these to give away every Christmas.  We would help arrange them in baskets then we would wrap the baskets in red or green cellophane all around.  

On our way to Tagaytay (south of Manila), we stopped by the eating places along the expressway to have breakfast and one of my brothers bought suman from one of the stalls outside McDonald's.  It was so yummy especially with the warm coconut jam sauce. My version wasn't as tasty though.  I think it's mainly because I used canned coconut cream instead of freshly squeezed and vacuum-packed banana leaves instead of newly-picked.  But hey, given my limited resources, it was certainly good enough.

Chocolate crinkles....we had these from the night we arrived till we left.  My husband's cousin even gave us hundreds of these to take back to Australia.  We just had to give away some or get sick of eating it.

All I can say, homemade is much better.

Last but certainly not the least, the ensaimada (Filipino version of a pastry/bread originally from Mallorca, Spain).  This is one food that my aunts never fail to bake for us.  Since I was a child, breakfast was always more special with this on the table.  They make the best ensaimada ever. Commercial ensaimadas are definitely pale in comparison.  

With their recipe on hand, I finally tried to make ensaimada at home (after years of avoiding to).  Success on the first attempt!  I will be making these again for Easter Sunday.

So, do you agree that food brings people together?  To me, it is much, much more than that.  Making all this food didn't just satisfy my stomach but more importantly, they reminded me of the people I ate them with, the people I love the most.  And being reminded makes me happy each time.  It also makes me look forward to the next time I will get to be with them.  The food is just a sweet bonus.

As I am writing this, I'm thinking of what's the next thing to recreate....hmmmm.

Ice cream, anyone?

Do you make your own ice cream?  I never would have considered making ice cream myself had I not read about a cheese ice cream recipe a few days ago. You see, cheese ice cream is very popular in the Philippines and on our recent visit, it was on my son's checklist of "must food to eat" while there.  Unfortunately, he did not get the opportunity to do so.  While reading the recipe, I realized that ice cream was a great way to use leftover egg yolks (which I always have from making lot of Swiss meringue buttercream). So last Sunday, without any delay, off I went to get an ice cream maker.

The first flavour I tried was green tea.  My daughter and I love green tea but I knew it wasn't going to be well received by everyone in the family. I chose that flavour because I had matcha powder that was nearing it's expiration date. Might as well use it.

It was great but as expected, my three sons didn't quite like it.  I promised I would make something else the next day. (Actually, it was just an excuse for me.  I was too excited about using my new toy again!)

Who wouldn't like Cookies and Cream?  Surely, not my kids!  This ice cream was eggless and so very easy to make.  The Oreo cookies were from an opened box that no one wanted to finish off for sometime now.

It was gone in a flash!  My husband said it tasted just like commercial ice cream but I quickly dismissed him. saying that I didn't want it to taste that way. It's supposed to taste homemade!

You wouldn't think I'd just stop at two, would you?  Today, it was classic chocolate's turn.

This one was a little grainy as I didn't quite melt the chocolate properly. I think I was over excited to get it done.  Nobody seemed to care though.

Ok, ok, I'll stop at three for now.  I don't want my family to get sick of ice cream.  Besides, we've had some reprieve from the scorching weather that has been plaguing Melbourne for the last two weeks or so.  Cooler weather means we don't need to find ways to cool down as much too.

I am just so glad I tried ice cream making. I never would have thought I would ever do so.  It's so fun, it's like magic happening before your very eyes.  And the possibilities are endless. I'm sure I will get to make that cheese ice cream one day soon.

Cloning Mernel's chocolate cake

Recently, my online friend Mimi (whom I had a chance to finally meet in Singapore last January!) told me about a certain popular chocolate cake in the Philippines.  The cake is from a family-owned bakeshop located in a small town about two hours drive from Manila.  The shop seems to be so well-known nowadays that not only locals buy from them but even people from the metro.

The shop's name is Mer-nel's Cake House and their signature heart-shaped chocolate cake looks like this...

Image credit: Mernel's place FB page

Very simple and traditional, isn't it? Some people might not even be enticed just by looking at it.  From what I gather, the cake is chiffon, the icing is the soft and creamy type, the borders are made of boiled icing and the flowers from royal icing. That is basically all I know. I am not even sure if the cake indeed is chiffon.  Mimi doesn't know any better as she herself has not tasted the cake (although her family back home has).

The past couple of weeks have been spent experimenting on the chocolate icing as it appears to be the heart and soul of this cake. Every blog post, review or feature I found on the net is raving about it!  Mimi and I have been exchanging text messages, pictures of what we've made, our guesses, and observations.  Since Mernel's cakes are very cheaply priced, two of our assumptions were: 1) the ingredients used are not expensive; and 2) the process that goes into making this cake isn't complicated.  We musn't overthink it! Very little information can actually be found on the net about the icing as though it's really a guarded secret.  I did, however, find an article mentioning a specific condensed milk brand the cakeshop has been using and that was quite revealing (IF they're telling the truth).

This is like the caramel cake experience all over again.  I am again trying to recreate something I have not even tasted! It can be a frustrating exercise at times but persistence is the key, don't you think?

Anyway, about 3 tries and 3 recipes later, I am happy to share a cake that appears to have the look of Mernel's and possibly, the taste too...

I wanted to be true to the original so I made it heart-shaped as well.

See, the icing is combed at the top too!

The chocolate icing is really dark and shiny as it should be...

And the chiffon cake is a deep chocolate colour as well!

For now, this is as close as I can get.  Some of you might be asking, "Where's the recipe then?"  Well, hold on,  I am not sharing that just yet.  Here's the deal: I need people who have actually tasted this cake to tell me what the real thing is like. I need you to help me out here!  If you have something to share, please, please, leave a comment here.  Be as descriptive as you can. Any useful information will be appreciated.  Afterall, you my cake-loving readers, will benefit from this!  It will be another Filipino favourite we can conquer (after the ube, mocha, caramel cakes, among others).

I shall be waiting!  Till then, no more chocolate cakes for me please.