Hattendo: Chilled Cream Buns

A few months back, Hattendo had a promo on their cream buns: 150 for two buns of any flavor. I got 2 of my favorite azuki red bean, a piece of matcha, and another piece for chocolate.

Azuki Red Bean

This is my favorite among the three flavors I tried. Flavored chilled cream plus actual azuki beans add texture to the filling. I also don't see a lot of azuki flavored desserts around the country so I consider this a little different from the usual dessert offered by other stores.



Matcha

It's actually not sweet, but not too strong on the tea taste either. Of course it was still creamy. Perfect for those who prefer the less sweet desserts.


Chocolate

A classic flavor, chocolate always fulfills my comfort food needs. It was like having the goodness of a fresh milk chocolate shake in cream form within a soft bun.


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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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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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Seikyo: Japanese Convenience Store - More Chocolates!

Moving on to part 2 of our Seikyo take away goodies, aside from the matcha goods in part 1, we also bought a mix of classic and uncommon flavors. I would love to receive some of these this trick or treat season.

Alfort - Black

Compared to its matcha counterpart, this one has strong dark chocolate on top of the chocolate biscuit. Definitely a classic on the bitter end of the chocolate spectrum.


Look - Hokkaido Double Cheesecake

Now we have cheesecake flavored fillings coated by milk chocolate.

Half of the box has the regular cheesecake filling while the other half has the blueberry cheesecake. The flavors are aptly labeled on the foil.

The Cheesecake and Blueberry Cheesecake flavors are quite similar except that one has blueberry notes (duh haha). Sweet cake-like treat for the cheesecake lovers out there.


Look - Japanese Harvest

Got curios from the vegetables/fruits on the box cover. This was actually the first item I grabbed from the shelves. I was able to try Sweet Potato, Chestnut, Pumpkin, and Grape filling in just one pack!

Similar to the cheesecake box, the flavors of the filling are written on the foil. This time, the flavors are grouped per column. See the happy harvest drawings at the box!

 Each flavor has 3 pieces each in the box. Lets take a look at them one by one.

Grape:

Pumpkin:

Chestnut:

Sweet Potato:

The Look chocolates with various fillings are for those who want to try different flavors mixed in chocolate while the Alfort Black is for those who enjoy bitter chocolate. All of these items for 80 pesos each! Almost everything is 80 pesos in this store. On my next trip to Little Tokyo, I might try out some of the noodles or instant curry/meals in Seikyo.

Again, apologies for the lower than usual quality of photos. Not sure what's with my phone camera that day.


Items bought at: Seikyo, Little Tokyo, Makati

Seikyo: Japanese Convenience Store - Matcha Edition

My daydreams of a Japan trip brought us to Little Tokyo, Makati. We arrived a little early to get a good parking spot. While waiting for the restaurants to open, we first checked Seikyo for some Japanese goodies. The store features many Japanese items. Most of which are priced at 80 pesos each. Also saw a number of Japanese people visit the shop. For my first post about this, here are the matcha-based items I got.


Glico - Matcha Milk Drink
The sweetest among the three items for me. The straw that came with this was extendable and bendable. I was not able to take a solo photo of this one - it was a hot day and I was really thirsty. :)

Dars - Uji Matcha Dark Chocolate

This one has the strongest matcha taste among the three. Thick matcha filling wrapped in chocolate - you can clearly see that the filling is thicker than the coating.

Alfort - Matcha

My favorite in the matcha goodies I bought. We actually found this item at the other store, Yamazaki Bento, which also serves ramen and meals.

It has the right matcha and sweetness. It looks like a normal piece of matcha flavored chocolate but that's just what you see at top view. It actually is a chocolate biscuit covered with an herby-milky-matcha. The biscuit itself is not sweet, yet very chocolate-y to mix with the milky sweet matcha on top.

I'm not sure what happened to my phone camera since almost all of the photos I took that day were quite blurry. :|


Items bought at: Seikyo, Little Tokyo, Makati and Yamazaki Bento, Little Tokyo, Makati



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Larcy's: Cupcake for the Lost Ones

Part 2 of my cousin's birthday celebration! Actually this should have been part 1. As mentioned in my Jang Ga Nae post, we got a little lost when we were looking for it. We unconventionally had dessert first and stopped at Larcy's Cupcakery Cafe since we were already hungry.

We ordered these two lovely cupcakes as we regroup and search for the house number of our next food trip stop.

The place is pretty yet not overpoweringly adorned with decor. There are even these "hooded chairs" as I would like to call it. Of course that is where we sat.

Served on a stand with a lace-like design, the heart-topped cupcakes are just ready for a another photo. Presentation wise, simple and sweet wins.

Pink Velvet Cupcake

A cupcake base that isn't too sweet, cream cheese topping that is thick, a little salty rather sugary, makes up one of their best-sellers.

Old fashioned Chocolate Cupcake

Moist chocolate cupcake, topped with chocolate ganache, with chocolate filling is perfect for that classic triple chocolate fix.

There were so many cupcakes on display. We wouldn't mind going back to try out the other flavors.

Branch visited located at: Aguirre Ave, BF Homes, Parañaque City

Rose and Violet Dark Chocolate: A Feast for the Senses

Chanced upon this treat while window shopping during last weekend's sale. This dark chocolate bar from Marks and Spencer is just a feast for the senses.

This pretty box caught my eye. Pink and violet is a favorite color combination (color scheme of this blog haha). It's chocolate, it's different, and curiosity made me buy it.

Upon opening the box, I immediately smelled the floral notes mixed with a hint of deep chocolate.

Taste test! Bitter chocolate, that classic profile is the first thing you taste. Then here comes the other flavor. You know that sensation when you eat wasabi and the spice goes up your nose? Change that spice with floral flavors and that's how I'd describe the unique taste of this bar. You really get to taste the rose and violet. I haven't eaten a rose nor a violet before, but I know what a flowers smells like. Now, I think I have an idea on what it tastes like. One might need a little getting used to the floral taste though.

If you are feeling a bit curious this item will stimulate your sense of sight, smell, and taste.


Item bought at Marks and Spencer, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City