Of Whisks, Spatulas and Knives...

Chefs/Cooks/Bakers have their own worn out sets of knives, spatula, and whisk that they have used for so long that they become so familiar and comfortable like the back of their hands, this utensils usually saw their beginnings, their falls, their burned foods, their masterpieces and most importantly their dreams. But there will come a time that they have to take this utensils to rest either it was broken, worn-out or they decided to change it because they discovered something that is more better in quality and durability. So they take out a sturdy box, wrap them in a fine paper, double wrap it in a silky cloth and keep it, then move-on and a live a better and happy life with your new set of knives, spatulas and whisks.

Late 2012 when I cemented my plans of leaving everything behind and will take this big boat of risk and jump off ship to the vast ocean of culinary arts in the big city. It was a scary plan (partly crazy) but I said to myself if this is your dream you will have to be KG-tough... yeap like Kevin Garnett tough!

2013 just after my birthday and Valentine's Day, I took off. Left my beloved curvy whisk and my almost melted overworked spatula behind. But brought with me my beloved red Chef's knife and purple utility knife. This means I was prepared for anything.

I know most humans think this is one crazy decision and pure out of the blue. That's okay because primarily Im not human I consider myself a quarter Beagle, a quarter mermaid, a quarter White Christmas (I mean the shrub) and a quarter one of the characters in Ice Age just in human form. Kidding aside. I have thought and calculated about this for nearly a decade. I sleep and breathe Travel and Living Channel, flour, salt and pepper, eating out, twisting stove and oven knobs.... smelling food for me is like smelling Vicks Vaporub on stuffy nose infested day. Cooking good cures all evil and bad inside me. Burning my food brings out the Silver Lining Playbook out of me, I go crazy and wants to do it all over again even at 3am. 

Someday if I will be writing my memoir entitled "Of Whisks, Spatulas and Knives"... I will say it all started in the Summer of 2013. I took the jump and swam off...

* This blog will continue to publish blogs posts soon but sadly it wont be my cooking... it will be more about real life accounts of  the competitive and stress-full and fun world of  culinary. And some culinary discoveries around this Big City.... would love to change again the name of my blog but its too time consuming for me and confusing for my readers, so I opted to retain this blog name.

XoXo with lots of cinnamon sugar, salt and pepper and dash of chili flakes,

Ms. Claudine N.

Dodged Valentine's Day: Carrot Cake with Thin Cream Cheese Frosting

I dodged Valentine's Day for the past 2 years. You can always tell and teach yourself to be happy with your SINGLE self for 364 days but not on Valentine's Day. Its the day that reminds you of your incomplete life no matter how jaded and bright your life is, its true that its really nice to have someone in your life other than your cute and chubby yellow labrador. Enough of the hypocrisy. Its sad being single on Valentine's Day. For a pride-driven woman like me its a brave thing to say and admit.

So its okay to sulk and get bitter today... its the human side of us. And its really okay to have a slice of uber moist and uber dense and ridiculously delicious Carrot Cake slathered thinly with creamy and rich Cream Cheese Frosting. Eat it with a small spoon and a glass of cold full cream milk... you wont have a romantic Valentine but a slightly better one.

* Good thing the Boston Celtics won today or else today will feel like "the day you had your wisdom tooth pulled out day".

There will always be next year... who knows?... and tomorrow its just another non-Valentines day. Back to my happy self.


" Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead. "
                                                              -Someone Like You

Taking the less traveled road: Ube-Coconut Cake

I often take the road less traveled even though I always get into trouble by doing that. Sometimes I drive kilometers and kilometers of empty but seem to be so promising road but end up in a road block with No Entry sign, but there are days too that I choose to take a dark and scary street but end up in my destination on time. Its just me and my passion for discovering things in my own way.

Baking is just like that too. If you stick to the old and comfortable techniques you will end up with mediocre cakes and pastries. But if you are brave enough to try and explore new things you will always come up with brilliant and authentic texture, flavor, design, etc .

For my birthday I was planning to do a Halo-Halo Cake, yep the halo-halo concoction of ube, langka(jackfruit), macapuno (sweetened young coconut),etc... but a day before I planned to bake my cake my langka turned grey in the fridge, maybe it wasn't tightly sealed. So I brainstormed on what to do.... I decided to do ube-coconut cake, thinking ube-macapuno is way overrated.

I made my Ube Cake adapted from this site but i kinda tweaked the recipe to suit my taste. The frosting is fluffy and really light pandan-flavored whipped cream and coated with aromatic toasted coconut. Piping and border is halayang ube buttercream made from scratch, topped with "halayang ube toblerone". 

This cake is light, creamy, 'ube-riffic', and smells really good. The smell is heavenly tropical. This is the kind of cake you want to eat in the beach. 

For your pandan whipped cream, whip your cream until its in soft peaks add some icing sugar, then the pandan essence (choose a good brand, the one thats not too strong, Ferna is good), add more icing sugar until stiff peaks and you have your desired sweetness.

The aromatic toasted coconut is just dessicated coconut toasted over low fire until the aroma is released then I let it cool then I mixed in a tablespoon of icing sugar.

Lastly, the ube halayang buttercream from scratch... I made my own halayang ube (its a long prcess just ask your mom or your grandma for the recipe)... so I first whipped my butter until its light and fluffy then fold in the halayang ube the added the icing sugar, add some violet food color to tint the buttercream. 

GARNISH: (Ube Toblerone)

Spoon some halayang ube with a tablespoon of melted butter and corn syrup to a cling wrap shape it into a long triangle log just like a toblerone then freeze it for thirty minutes. You can slice it into triangle shapes for garnish.

I know my cake looks pretty. HAH! But smell it and you will get hooked! So next time make sure that your cake doesn't only looks and tastes good make sure that its smells good too!


" We’ve all heard the warnings and we’ve ignored them. We push our luck. We roll the dice. It’s human nature. When we’re told not to touch something we usually do even if we know better. Maybe because deep down, we’re just asking for trouble. "

Be inspired: Bake some Dinner Roll

Bought FOOD Magazine February Issue, got inspired by their articles about bread, so I made some dinner rolls today... actually a one large dinner roll... american loaf size.

I followed their ingredients but didn't follow their procedure... I made it in my own "artisan" way. It means I didn't use any machines... I kneaded the dough with utmost care and passion. And let it rise to its heart's content. As a baker I find a high by doing this.  

Bread making is kinda complex than baking cakes, you have to know your ingredients well and how does it react with other ingredients and if you plan to knead it by your hands and not by mixer you should have the right rhythm and pulse.  

If you can perfect making a dinner roll then you can do anything in the world of breads, from cheese rolls to pan de sal to ensaymada to cinnamon rolls to anything. 

Let me share to you how to do this Dinner Roll:

Basic Soft Dough Recipe

1 cup milk, room temperature
1 1/2 eggs (if you ask me how to have a 1/2 egg, weigh your eggs, 1 egg with shell is 57 grams so 1 1/2 egg is 85.5 grams)
2 3/4 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened

3 cups bread floorMix in a bowl the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Set Aside.  Whisk together your eggs and milk, do not beat. Add this to the flour mixture. mix thoroughly using your floured hands, add more flour gradually  when your mixture is too wet. When your dough forms add the butter. Knead dough in a lightly greased surface until its smooth and elastic, your dough is ready after 10 minutes of kneading that's around 150- 200 strokes.

Gather your dough and place it in a large greased bowl, cover with cheese cloth. Let it rise until the dough reaches its edge. You will know and see that it  reached its peak size, sometimes it takes 4 hours. Take your time do not rush the dough. 

Punch down and form it to the shape you want it to be. Place it in your desired greased baking pan. And let it rise for the second time, an hour will do. Brush the top with egg wash (milk+egg yolk). Bake for 20 minutes at 177 degrees Celsius. 

You can use this recipe to make your cinnamon rolls, raisin bread, ensaymada...etc

So if you plan to bake a really good bread... take your sweet time.

" There don’t have to be harps playing or birds singing or pose petals falling from the sky… And there are definitely days when the romance is dead. But if you look around, things are pretty amazing. So stop for a second. Enjoy the beauty. Feel the magic. Drink it in. ‘Cause it won’t last forever. The romance will fade. Things will happen. People will change. Love will die. But… maybe not today. "

Tart and Easy: The Best Lemon Pie

Sunday Family Lunch is usually made up of rich foods, its good to have something sweet in a non cloyingly way, something that cleanse and refreshes the palate to end the meal. I'm a fan of citron based desserts  I can make a Lemon Meringue Pie in my sleep, actually I can make a mean one by just using an oven toaster. Today. I decided to make a Lemon Cream Pie. Its fast and really easy. Did I mention its to-die-for good? :P

You will need a pre-baked pie crust (I made mine from scratch), 2 juicy lemons( squeeze and strain the seeds), 400ml of condensed milk, a teaspoon of vanilla essence (filling), 2 large eggs, a cup of whipped cream, vanilla beans/essence, and half a cup of icing sugar. Optional: Lemon Zest.

Stir in the eggs (one at a time) to your condensed milk, do not beat just stir until the egg is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and creamy-looking. Add the vanilla essence and the lemon juice to the milk mixture, whisk until well combined then pour to the pre-baked crust. Brush the edges of the crust with egg wash. Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes or until the filling is firm near the crust but the center still jiggles. When its done let it cool.

Prepare the whipped cream. Whip the cream until soft peaks add the icing sugar a little at a time then add the vanilla beans/essence. Use this as pie's topping. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. You can sprinkle Lemon Zest if you like it to be more tart.

TIP: Refrigerate the Lemon Cream Pie with your "discarded lemons used in this recipe". They still retained their smell, the whipped cream topping absorbs the lemon scent, making your pie more "sweet lemon smelling". 

" They say the bigger your investment the bigger your return. But you have to be willing to take a chance. You have to understand you might lose it all. But if you take that chance, if you invest wisely, the payoff just might surprise you. "

Book Review: Baking Secrets by Rudolf Vincent T. Manabat

Seldom you come across a book that is so cheap but so wonderfully written and the recipes inside are heaven sent. I have read about this thin book from a culinary magazine, I was intrigued, here in the Philippines its rare to have a bake book authored by a Filipino. COOLNESS i thought. The next time I went to a bookstore I looked for it, my heart sank its so THIN but I was compensated because it was displayed in the center table (it means NBS recommends it) and its cheap just Php125.  So I bought it.

When I started reading it I was so engrossed, that I finished the whole book just in an hour, it was so well written and 'entertaining' given that it was in book paper with no colorful photos to keep you glued.

I have already made the Moist Chocolate Cake and the Butter Cake it was a keeper. Truly a keeper. Im intrigued withe Dulce de Leche Cake, will try it soon. I have tried and tested a lot of recipe from cookbooks I already know by heart just by looking at the recipe if its good or its just another recipe book filler.  

Then this book has a Baker's Tips section where the author gave out useful tips on baking. 

If you are a Baking Beginner I really recommend this book, its reader friendly no technical terms involved here, just basic baking terms, the recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are so simple that you can easily find them in the local supermarkets. If you are a Baking Pro I still recommend this book its a great addition to any baker's reference cabinet, from time to time one can really learn something from it, anyways the field of culinary arts is a continuous learning process. We can always learn from another baker and in this one I have learned a lot.

The author is quite young, Im sure he will be really be a big name someday in the pastry world. And im sure he will write more beautiful bake books maybe a bigger book. I really hope. Im a fan of his writing.

Buy!Buy!Buy this book! Its a one of those "Big Things comes in Small Packages". 


Excerpt:

I have included the recipe index in my photos to give you a background on whats inside this cookbook. I know how difficult it is to choose a cookbook without scanning the contents first. I have many disappointments  before... buying expensive cook book where the cover is so promising but the contents are not so feasible or a complete disaster. If only book stores will provide open book samples. SHEESH. 

Honeycomb Apple Pie

One thing I have learned in my baking experience is we eat what we see, if it doesn't look scrumptious enough to eat well no one will really enjoy it. Be ridiculously obsess with detail but still pay attention to flavor, believe me they see your downsides even it taste like heaven.

I already made an apple pie a week ago but honestly it didn't please me visually  although it taste really good, so I decided to bake another "honeycomb" design apple pie. 

Last time I used the bottle cap of my olive oil to punch holes in my crust for that "honeycomb" effect, it turned out alright but it wasn't perfect as I would like it to be, so this time I scavanged through my pantry looking for something round that I can use to punch out the dough... Lo and Behold I found the "coupler". Yes the coupler that you use for your piping bags.

I suggest that you punch the "honeycomb" pattern before laying the top crust into the pie. Punching the dough to an attached top crust will create some messy work. 

The edges of this apple pie is made up of the punched out round doughs. I clipped them into the edge of the crust to create this look. See? No waste!

Be resourceful with your baking gadgets, don't buy everything. Especially the famed Egg Separators...cant you use your hands?

Happy Apple Pie Baking!

Barenaked Chocolate Cake

Frosting is fun but sometimes it get overrated too. Change is more fun. How about a naked and moist and gooey chocolate cake stuffed with extra creamy vanilla cream? Pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours then BAM! it will change your life.

Thats a little exaggeration but its true. Ill tell you a little secret on how to bake a very moist and gooey chocolate cake the ones that is not crumbly (i despise crumbs): UNDERBAKE for about 5 minutes and add a tablespoon of liquid glucose or two tablespoons of light corn syrup to your batter, it will add magic.

Eat this with a glass of cold milk and you will say goodbye to chocolate frostings. 

 “You know, the smallest thing can change a life. In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance – when you least expect it – sets you on a course that you never planned, into a future you never imagined. Where will it take you? That’s the journey of our lives: our search for the light. But sometimes, finding the light means you must past through the deepest darkness. At least, that’s how it was for me.”

- The Lucky One

Slice me happy: Apple Walnut Loaf

I love making quick breads on weekdays, they are fast and easy to make. I like them wrapped in a foil to 'encourage' moistness and stashed em' inside the fridge. Once in a while i take a peek on the fridge and eat one slice at a time, GUILT TRIP. 

Nigella Lawson is truly a bad influence. Really good, hands down Nigella. Recipe adopted from Nigellla's  Apple Banana Nut Bread but omitted the banana.