Saturday, February 27, 2016

Home Baking Series: Choco Marble Cake



After chocolate sponge cake trials, here's my attempt in making a marble cake. This time, I used the plain spongecake mix.



Ingredients:
1 pack Tecso sponge cake mix
1 egg
water
melted chocolate
walnuts

Procedure:
1) Prepare sponge cake mix with egg and water as per instructions at the back of the cake mix pack
2) Pour in half of the mix
3) Scatter walnuts
4) Pour in the second half
5) Pour the melted chocolate
6) Mix lightly to create marble swirls
7) Top with walnuts
8) Bake in the oven following the instructions at the back of the cake mix pack.




Fluffy and airy, as expected from a sponge cake, but with the chocolate swirls of a marble cake plus a layer of walnuts, is the output for this one.

The pre-made mix really makes the procedure easier.


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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Sebastian's Limited Edition Valentine's Ice Cream 2016



Last year, we had a taste of a Matinong Boyfriend ice cream from Sebastian's. This year, they introduce a new Boyfriend and Girlfriend.



Closure and Unresolved Issues are still present in the Valentine's line up. For the Matinong Girlfriend, from a potato chip snack hybrid, we now get a Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Chicharon (with laman)! I got a free taste to try this, the rich chocolate flavor surprisingly went well with the salty chicharon. Don't expect crispiness, but expect pieces of that laman.

This photo above also features some of the Sebastian's regular ice cream flavors. Yes, Salted Egg Yolk is a regular flavor.

Matinong Boyfriend


My one order of Matinong Boyfriend ice cream was composed of a Dulce de Leche Ice Cream base and swirls of Strawberry Sorbet. The ice cream was milky sweet. It might be a little too sweet for me if consumed alone. But with the swirls of sour strawberry sorbet, it balanced out the sweetness and formed a good relationship with my taste buds.



Although I kind of miss the old boyfriend which was Passion Fruit Sansrival Ice Cream with Passion Fruit sorbet, this one is a good treat as well.



Is Sebastian's changing up their boyfriend and girlfriend formulas again next year? We'll have to wait another year to find out. But I'm sure it will have that signature uniqueness.



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Friday, February 19, 2016

Krispy Kreme: Emoji Magic Coupon



Valentine's Season isn't over yet!


Get 2 sprinkled donuts with 5 emojis for free! Yes, you can get free doughnuts and design it with emojis. I brought 2 friends with me so 3 people with 2 sprinkled doughnuts each, we got 6 doughnuts in total. To redeem, just follow the easy steps below.

1) Download the Krispy Kreme app and create and click Sign Up to create your account.
2) Check the question posted in Krispy Kreme's Facebook page.
3) Enter the answer in the enter coupon code portion of the app (Rewards > Enter Promo Code). You then receive an electronic coupon.
4) Present the electronic coupon to a Krispy Kreme store to redeem.


We weren't able to stick the emoji's on the doughnut since it was already covered with sprinkles and the glaze was no longer sticky. Instead, we just put the emojis on top of the doughnut and took pictures. Then at one point, we stuck one end of the emoji on the dough so that it won't slide away.





But be quick! Each coupon is only valid for 3 days. The coupon we availed is valid only on Feb 18 - Feb 20. And according to their Facebook page, they have other things lined up for the rest of February. Wonder what we'll get next time?


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Saturday, February 13, 2016

Home Baking Series: Faux Choco Brownie with Sprinkles



The newbie baker in me will feature another home baked goodie this week. Still using the same mix as last week's item, the Chocolate Sponge Cake mix served as the base for these hybrid brownies. I call it hybrid because it turned out to be a brownie for some parts, but a sponge cake for some parts.

Feeling a bit more experimental, instead of just pouring the whole mix into the baking pan, I added an extra middle layer. I prepared the mix by following the instructions on the packaging, then melted some white chocolate, and poured the mixes as follows:

1. Poured half of the cake mix into the pan.
2. Poured melted Goya Easy Melt White Chocolate Buttons into the pan to cover the whole surface.
3. Added some walnuts.
4. Poured in the remaining cake mix.

Following the baking instructions, I left it in the oven for 20 mins (temperature settings also indicated at the back of the mix packaging).


While it was fresh and hot, I put some of the Easy Melt Dark Chocolate Buttons and spread it on top as it melted. Before it hardened, I also sprinkled it with rainbow candy sprinkles for some color.



Slicing the output, I noticed that it had a fudgy center, probably from the melted white chocolate that seeped in through the cake. It was gooey and sweet. The dark chocolate coating on top added a little crunch. The occasional walnuts added texture too.



After leaving some overnight in the refrigerator to cool, the white chocolate middle layer was more evident and also had a little crunch to it.

It was a tasty good experiment indeed.


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Friday, February 5, 2016

Home Baking Series: Choco Walnut Cake




There was an abundance of Buy 1 Take 1 Tesco branded baking mixes last holiday season so I took the opportunity to try out some of the items and practice baking a little. This February, let me share to you my home baking adventures.


For my first trial, I used a Chocolate Sponge Cake mix. You only need 2 eggs and some tablespoons of water and the mix is ready (quantity and preparation instructions are indicated on the packaging).


Of course I had to put toppings. For this one, a generous amount of walnuts and dark chocolate chunks did the trick. I used chopped Goya Dark Chocolate Buttons and unseasoned walnuts from Dough-it-all.



Since I used a pretty wide square pan, the finished product resembled brownies in size and shape, but had the fluffy, airy quality of a sponge cake. The cake itself was not that sweet. You can go ahead and add icing on top if you want something more sugary.

It was easy to prepare. Mix it, add toppings, then bake - you are done.

Not bad for my first try, right? Sadly, I don't have photos of the ingredients nor the preparation stage for the baking series. But I'll try to recall the procedures and ingredients used for the rest of the posts. Everything I did was quite simple and easy to make.


More DIY baked goodies to follow this month of February!




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