Chocolate Revel Bars

"You put too much meaning into things," a friend of mine once told me good-naturedly (and with a touch of concern). I didn't disagree. It was my thing, even though I tried so blessed hard for it not to be a thing with me. For better or for worse, it's how my brain is wired. And to be honest, it's a really difficult way to go through life, especially when your friends do a lot of things that don't really have any motivation or agenda. It always has to be about something with me.

Read the rest of this post! »

Tartine's Lemon Bars

Hi. This is a difficult post to write, but truth be told, it's going to be difficult to write about food in the midst of so much suffering for a very long time, so I might as well start. Long story short for those who don't want to read the rest: please visit this site on Google to find out how you can help the victims of Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines- it has ways for people overseas to help. Thanks so much.

EDITED TO ADD: Make a donation to UNICEF for this cause today, and your gift will be matched, doubling your support.

When I was in high school, my friend and I had this well-meaning discussion about giving to the poor. He said that his parents always taught him that it's usually better to give to big charities (I think he named the Church in particular, though it's not really a charity) than to beggars for several reasons: the organizations know how to systematically dispense goods so it provides the most benefit (rather than a beggar buying a big meal, then is hungry again), you never know what beggars do with the money (e.g., buy cigarettes), it encourages begging instead of working, and encourages organized begging syndicates (watch Slumdog Millionaire to get the gist of it). "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for the rest of his life."

Read the rest of this post! »

Cherry Macarons

Macarons Cerise

(Gosh, can anyone guess how many times I've used a Beatles song for a post subtitle?) Again with the craziness! This week-end is going to be one of my silent ones, comment-wise, as I'm currently in a rush to pack respectable (read: physician-style) clothes and gifts for half the Filipino population in the US, as well as make the finishing touches on my application for residency in the United States (the applications are electronically sent to the program directors on September 1. AAAGH!!). I know I said I'd share part 2 of my New York experience from last Winter, but those posts take the longest to write, and I'm trying to save time, so I'll get to that post when I've settled.

Read the rest of this post! »

Tartine's Deluxe Double Chocolate Cookies

Finally, after enduring treacle-slow internet due to... the flapping of a butterfly wing probably, as my ISP is the worst ever, I can get on with blogging, then tomorrow it's off to read everyone's wonderful posts over the last few days. I've been trying to deal with the online paralysis by doing the laundry (still fun, so far) and making a few desserts. Sometimes I wonder why we keep up with things that are so unbelievably horrible (escalation of commitment comes to mind).

Read the rest of this post! »

Chocolate Amaretti

Amaretti di Cioccolato

Ah, I've finally started answering your comments. But I just managed the Strudel and the Blintzes posts. I don't know why I thought I'd go through them faster. Clearly reading, thinking, and replying take time!
Yes, I know the image title isn't a word. But since I returned, I've gone mad from meeting random relatives and family friends. Why? Because no less than ten people have told me, "mukhang tumaba ka!" (Translation: It looks like you got fatter! Unsaid: ... Porky!) And while just the plain words written out just seem baseline-offensive, the thing that drives me crazy is the way they say it. With a giant smile on their faces! Like somehow they think it's a good thing to tell someone that they have chubbed up. Twisted.

Without speculating too much, I think there may be a cultural/ generational difference going on here. And not in the way that the Romans thought that overweight women were attractive or something. You see, if we're just talking about my own circle of friends, the only time we'd talk about it is (1) asking point-blank ("Do I look fatter?"), in which case the answer is always either "No!" or "Not by much, don't worry!" or (2) a male friend poking fun at another guy. But it's always undesirable, unless we are talking about my friends who have difficulty gaining weight, curse them.

Read the rest of this post! »

Raspberry Macarons

Macaron Framboise

This is my entry to the 29th Edition of The Blog Rounds, hosted by Dr. Em Dy of Pulse. The theme is LOOOOVE! Ack.
When I was standing in line at 4 in the morning on New Year's Day at the check-in counter of the airport, there were two American women behind me who made Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie seem like the kindest, most intelligent creatures ever. In whiny voices, they'd think (using the term loosely) out loud, "Why are we the only ones in New Year wear?" (uh because only people who absolutely HAVE to leave for their jobs leave on New Year's Day instead of spending it happily with their families?) "What airport doesn't have a McDonald's? I'm not going to be eating in no fucking Jollibee," and other such gems. I thought to myself, Lord, if ever I get married, let it not be for this.

I keep chuckling every time I remember the travesty that was Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's marriage. Each time Nick would finally get a brief respite from inane questions about what's inside a can of tuna and gets to party with his male friends, Jessica calls him up to ask him whether bratwurst is made of beef or pork. How unfortunate that his severe loneliness was documented, but at least now he's out of it. Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt of The Hills seem to be heading for the same trainwreck, and I'm beginning to wonder if Heidi deserves Spencer (he who would name his adopted African baby "Dunk" (skip to 6:27 in the clip)) if she doesn't get out now, blinded by the promise of multimillion-dollar deals if they tie the knot. That's two less idiots to infect the pool of single people.

Read the rest of this post! »

Tartine's Soft Glazed Gingerbread

No, you haven't descended into a time-warp. You see, here in the Philippines, we don't have Thanksgiving, so after the whole Halloween-All Saints' Day-All Souls' Day trifecta we can already prepare for Christmas. I think you'll be surprised at the speed with which workers at the mall prepare the giant Christmas trees-- all ready to be gawked at by the morning of November 3. It personally feels a little strange, given the latest onslaught of bad news surrounding me and my friends, but we'll power through. Each year the broken records that are television and radio news boast the Filipinos' knack for being able to celebrate through poverty and inflation, and family members struggling to provide for the family by working overseas. Perhaps the Thanksgiving sentiment of gratitude for one's blessings is combined with our Christmas celebrations (maybe we're thankful that we only have to really prepare two feasts a year-- Christmas and New Year).

But whether you celebrate Christmas or not, it's never a bad time to be with family (some might even say that it's during the bad times that time spent with family and friends is more appreciated). And it's never a bad time to enjoy gingerbread, either. This recipe is my entry (hopefully the first of many) to Susan's Eat Christmas Cookies blog event from now till December 21. There's a running round-up here.

This is the springerle mold I got from Sur La Table when I went to San Francisco-- produced by House on the Hill (an Illinois company), which makes beautiful springerle molds from antique designs, but it was a bit expensive (the price on the springerle rolling pin is insane-- but I can't deny its gorgeousness). You can get springerle rolling pins from Amazon that are even cheaper than single molds at House on the Hill, but I haven't been able to look at the designs up close.

Patricia, I didn't know you made guest appearances! KIDDING!
And now (drumroll)... MEMES! I've led these two memes out into a deserted grassy field and am describing our dreams of owning our own land. The first one is Jeanne's Commenter's Meme.
My last ten commenters are:
1. Greasemonkey of The Cobbler Confederate
2. Susan of Food Blogga (singsong he-ey)
3. Kevin of Closet Cooking
4. Holly of Phe/Mom/Enon
5. Mandy of Fresh from the Oven
6. Pea of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
7. Sunita of Sunita's World
8. Jen of Use Real Butter
9. Zen Chef of Chefs Gone Wild
10. Dr. Em of Pulse
Questions!
1. What is your favourite post from number 3's blog? There's a LOT (Kev works REALLY hard!), but some of my more recent faves are the Apple Pie Pizza and the Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza.
2. Has number 10 taken any pictures that have moved you? Dr. Em has a photo blog, and I like her picture of the Nihon Teien-- my exact word was "breathtaking."
3. Does number 6 reply to comments on their blog? Yes, though sometimes I get e-mails instead :)
4. Which part of blogland is number 2 from? San Diego! (Surf-)Rock on!
5. If you could give one piece of advice to number 7 what would it be? Oh, that's embarrassing! Unsolicited advice, heh :) Er, keep up the good work... And don't feed strange cats. They will slash you.
6. Have you every tried something from number 9's blog? No... I will when I come across a shitload of truffles, though. Kidding! My aspiration has always been the clam risotto, though. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in that blog is beyond decadent.
7. Has number 1 blogged something that inspired you? No, but I don't think he'll take it against me... (Heh)
8. How often do you comment on number 4's blog? Uh, very :)
9. Do you wait for number 8 to post excitedly? Good God yes
10. How did number 5's blog change your life? Well, Mandy's changed my baking life for sure... She's one of the first blogs I discovered and I learned not to be afraid in the kitchen ;)
11. Do you know any of the 10 bloggers in person? No, not even Dr. Em! And I missed a phone call with Jen :(
12. Do any of your 10 bloggers know each other in person? Ah, I don't think so.
13. Out of the 10, which updates more frequently? It's a toss-up between Kevin and Dr. Em ;)
14. Which of the 10 keep you laughing? Pea, Jen, and Holly do turn on the funny a lot-- But Zen-Man does the comedy song and dance to full effect! Dude, the guy makes comic strips.
15. Which of the 10 has made you cry (good or bad tears)? Without a doubt, Jen.

Whew! And now we're, uh, done with that meme, it's time for Kid Diva's simple seven-things meme.
1. Last things I ordered from overseas (via HMV.co.uk)-- Keane: Perfect Symmetry deluxe set and Peep Show DVD boxed set (Series 1-5! w00t!). Sooo horrifically funny.
2. Whuzzat? You want a list of all the sitcoms I've ever seen? Here it is.
3. CD at the top of the stack next to me: More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy.
4. Off to New Jersey at the start of next year for my interviews-- if I pass my Step 2 CS exam (from El Segundo).
5. Got rid of the 3 pounds I gained, but got a little back from all the cookies below. Oh well, as long as I exercise...
6. I used to spend quite a bit of time making Keane signatures for rabid fangirls at the official forum. Here's a link. Some of those Photoshop files have 60 layers!
7. I distinctly remember this moment from elementary school: Every year we had to do a set of physical tests, one of them being the 50-meter sprint. At the end of mine, the gym teacher told me (in loosely translated Tagalog): "What the hell was that?!"

This recipe is again from one of my favorite cookbooks, Tartine. I recently reviewed it over at The Gastronomer's Bookshelf, finally!


Soft Glazed Gingerbread adapted from Tartine
The original recipe says to roll the dough out to 1/3 inch thick and apply only enough pressure with the mold to make a clear impression. However, in doing so I found that I squished the dough to only about 1/4 inch thick. I still baked them for 7 minutes without compromising the softness of the cookie. Also, because it's so warm in the kitchen and I needed a lot of pressure to make a clear print, pressing next to an existing impression distorts the one beside it. For this reason, instead of press-press-press-cut-cut-cut, I had to press-cut-press-cut-press-cut. A little more work but at least the designs emerged as intended. The recipe says this makes 12-20 cookies, but because of the above adjustments, I ended up making 40 delicious cookies-- you can press the dough scraps together and re-roll as needed. You can also check out my previous, and just as good, recipe for gingerbread here-- it's also thick and soft but has no egg (it has milk, though).

• 225g (2 sticks or 1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 170g (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 155g (1/2 cup) blackstrap or other dark molasses
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 525g (3-3/4 cups) all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, add the butter, then sprinkle the cocoa, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, bakind soda, salt, and pepper evenly over it. Beat the mixture until creamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the egg and beat until well-combined. Add the molasses and corn syrup and beat until well-combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Sift all the flour over the mixture and stir in with a strong spoon or rubber spatula until well-combined and no traces of flour remain. You could also use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beating on low speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and no traces of flour remain. Place the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and press it into a rectangle about an inch thick, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a sheet pan with parchment.

If using a single springerle mold: Unwrap the dough and place on a floured work surface. Roll out the dough to 1/3 inch thickness, lightly dust the top with flour, and press the mold(s) all over the dough. Cut out the shapes with a small knife and transfer to the baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

If using a springerle rolling pin: Lightly dust the lined sheet pan with flour and place the dough on top. Roll into a rectangle about 1/3 inch thick with a regular rolling pin, then roll over it again with the patterned pin, applying enough pressure to ensure a clear impression. Trim the sides of the entire slab with a small knife, but there's no need to cut out the individual cookies at this point.

Bake the cookies until lightly golden (er... okay) along the sides but still soft to touch in the center, about 7 minutes for already-cut cookies or 15 minutes if you used a patterned rolling pin and are baking a giant slab of cookies. When done, let the cookies cool in the pan for about 10 minutes (they will set further as they cool). While waiting, prepare the glaze:

• 115g (1 cup) confectioners' sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons water

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a small mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons water and whisk until smooth. While the cookies are warm, evenly brush a light coat of glaze on top. If the details are obscured too much, whisk in the remaining tablespoon of water to the glaze and continue. If you've used a patterned pin to make a large slab of cookies, when the glaze has hardened, use a small, very sharp knife to cut it into the individual cookies.

Coconut Macaroons

Eep! I know I said I'd write part 2 of my El Segundo trip but I just realized the Making History blog event's deadline is tomorrow! So, this is my contribution to Making History hosted by RecoveredRecipes.com.
Whenever people ask me when I started cooking, I always say that it was shortly before I graduated medical school-- early 2007. Before then, most of my cooking experience consisted of chocolate chip cookies and empty boasting. But I've always considered myself a person who liked food and the process of cooking, since my childhood. Looking at old recipe cards, I found the manual to my family's first Sunbeam electric hand mixer, copyright 1981-- the year of my birth. It would be funny to claim that it was my birthright and it was put in my hands as a neonate, but that's just the copyright. I was a few years old when we got it and I distinctly remember the family making severely overbeaten cakes in my childhood. What can I say, it was fun to see the batter get more and more satiny, gluten developing before our very eyes.

Ideas In Food, eat yer heart out! In other news, ketchup and shrimp? Barfff.
I remember carrying around a notebook when I was young, and flipping through the pages of the Betty Crocker Encyclopedia of Cooking, and attempting to write my own senseless recipes (like cakes made with "bread flour", as cake is SO the same thing as bread, naturally), dreaming about the dizzying hundreds of cakes and pies in the imposing tome (it has since gotten lost, sigh).

I copied this one, obviously. But why did I write "POOF"? The hell, lil' Mark. (Note that I wrote a reverse POOF on the back of the card. Maybe I was experimenting with a mirror.)
Growing up my dad did all the cooking and my mom was the breadwinner. Since my dad inherited his mother's recipes (they came from Pampanga, culinary capital of the Philippines) and the tricks he learned in college, he didn't write any of them down. My mom, on the other hand, occasionally cooked out of recipe cards (clipped out of the newspaper, painstakingly copied onto index cards, or collected from groceries courtesy of Lee Kum Kee and Del Monte) and while she relied on my dad to fine-tune the taste, she's a respectable cook and I looked forward as a kid to those rare times she would cook. For some sweet reason she sometimes allowed me to do the copying with my mediocre penmanship (much better now, obviously), and she even kept a few of my senseless recipes, even though they should NEVER be attempted by anyone who wishes to keep his sanity. Moms.

To this day, I adore ham with pineapple glaze. I dunno if we ever used this "recipe," I always just use brown sugar and not syrup. Note the artistic sketch of a bowl full of crap, or maybe a ham.
Then in early high school we got cable, and each afternoon I'd tune in to the Discovery Channel and watch Caprial's Cafe, Biba's Italian Kitchen, Baker's Dozen, and the not-so-enjoyable trainwreck Cooking with the Urban Peasant. Even if I still didn't really cook, I pretended that I knew how to cook, that by watching the shows ("Don't touch the meat!" Caprial says EVERY SINGLE SHOW, "You want the surface to caramelize.") I was absorbing the necessary skills I would eventually need... Apparently 12 years later. I don't know if they helped. But the summation of these people and experiences-- my parents, the encyclopedia, the recipe cards, the mixer, my crazy imagination, the cooking shows, and now, my insatiable hunger to cook everything I love to eat and more: that's the history of my love for cooking. Is your experience anything like mine at all?

Coconut Macaroons
This comes from a notebook my cousin kept of cooking lessons she took as a young girl. It was probably the mid-80's. Now that I've seen the recipes of coconut macaroons from the States, I wonder how different the taste is. I for one can't imagine them being made without the egg yolks and that sweet, sweet condensed milk (the only reason why I love this dessert despite my hatred for coconut). So I consider these to be appropriate "Filipino" Macaroons, perfect as tiny bites to be served with coffee or milk. I tested these today and I not only adjusted the instructions (OKAY, they're in Filipino, don't worry, I'll translate them), but also the baking temperature and time, and the size of the muffin tin. Standard size is too overwhelming for such a sweet bite.

• 57g (1/4 cup) butter or margarine


• 133g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 2 large eggs


• 390g (300mL or 1-1/4 cup) sweetened condensed milk


• 93g (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour


• 285g (3 cups) desiccated (fine unsweetened dried) coconut

Center a rack in and preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, baking powder, and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs alternating with the condensed milk, beating after each addition until well-combined. Add the desiccated coconut alternating with the flour in 3 and 2 additions respectively, folding after each addition until well-combined. Line 2 12-well mini-muffin tins with mini-muffin paper liners and fill each 1/2-2/3 full with the batter (use a regular teaspoon and another to scrape the batter off it, or a truffle scoop) and bake for 15 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out slightly wet. Turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool (it will continue to cook for a while until firm). Makes about 6 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Cookies revisited

Before I started blogging, the only things I ever really baked were these chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is the urban legend, a false copy of Mrs. Fields' recipe that was rather good anyway. Good enough for some of my friends to ask me to make big batches for Christmas for them to give away. They remind me of my friend, Ads, who at one time while we were hungrily waiting to leave the campus for a teaching excursion, gave me some pinwheel cookies that were surprisingly moist: my savior. I promised her these cookies in return after the Christmas break (hoping to knock her socks off). Mission accomplished.

Our surnames were close together so we hung out a fair bit, being the best friend of the girl here. There were times that we did fight (because I was a tight-assed leader and couldn't readjust her schedule for her birthday out of fear the world would fall apart-- stupid me). But I mostly remember the good times-- Karaoke, her being the only one to congratulate me for my first commissioned poster (well, I pulled her arm to see it), and eating at my first French Patisserie. The lot of us had ordered several petit gateaux, and I told her I was pretty sure the Opera was a classic gateau with a recipe out there (oh, the days before blogging!) and that one day, I'd make it and she'd be the first one to taste it. But my fear of messing it up (and baking in general) hindered me from getting off my ass to make it until several years later.

There are times when I'd see a girl with long hair who moves a certain way who I'd think might be Ads, and I'd get excited thinking about all the things I've made since and how Ads would be so proud. But I snap out of it and remember that they couldn't possibly be Ads. Two years ago this day, she passed away.

I was shuttling between Manila and Batangas (3 hours away south) for my stint in community medicine, so I was shocked to receive a text one weekend I came home that she had lapsed into a coma. And a few hours later, she was gone. There were a lot of regrets expressed, many fingers pointed, blame passed, anger burning between the interns, doctors, nurses, and hospital administration. I still remember the anguish of her parents, and how her father screamed at all of us.

I don't know why we ever thought we were so invulnerable. That somehow helping the sick gave us a karmic barrier. But she was only 23 (I was 24). Diseases that make children ill (and at the Philippine General Hospital, many children came in fulminating states) easily latch on to us (this is an assumption, by the way-- there was no conclusive evidence that she contracted a disease from the hospital in the first place). I don't know when we thought the machinery was more important than the components-- that keeping the service running smoothly was more important than her welfare. But Ads was worth than that-- if I only knew, if I could turn back time, if I'd seen her-- I wish I could have told her to make sure she's okay before she continued on. Everyone would understand if she missed work. In the end, she gave up her life instead, being the dedicated doctor she was until she couldn't any longer.

Sorry, I'm ranting. The anger isn't there anymore, but somehow it's revisited on this day.

Tropical Bombe

This is going to be a huge deal for me. It's already been well-established that coconut and I do not have a good working relationship. I think it began when I was a kid and I eagerly poured myself a glass of what I thought was refreshingly cold water. WRONG! It was coconut water. I felt betrayed by my taste buds. I didn't vomit or anything but the taste was not particularly pleasant for me. The following years of my life were also littered with tests to our relationship. Every now and then at a party the only dessert would be fruit salad, with strips of fresh young coconut. "Why do you torment me so?" I asked the coconut, "I thought we'd both be better off if we never encountered each other again, but here you are defiling a perfectly good fruit salad." It didn't answer back because it was coconut. One of the last encounters was when a nice girl offered me some coconut-based dessert. I politely refused but she forced it on me (ooh), assuring and promising me that it was good. I took a huge bite. OH MY GOD. She said, "It's good, no?" Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I nodded eagerly, then proceeded to the toilet to get rid of it all.

I realize I might sound a little unpatriotic going about how much I dislike coconut. Truth is, I've been trying to patch up our relationship, and I've started to take it in small doses, like in latik, or desserts made with coconut milk, coconut macaroons made with thick condensed milk, and it's always a truce when I have one of my favorite snacks, Butter Coconut Biscuits (by the way, if anyone has a recipe for this, please do share it!). So today as a peace offering for my bad behavior I'm honoring it for this month's Lasang Pinoy blogging event hosted by Kai of Bucaio, pairing it with our national fruit and other tropical flavors in this flag-raising Tropical Bombe, made with homemade mango sherbet, coconut parfait, pineapple-coconut joconde, mango tuiles, and kalamansi (Philippine lemon) cream. It's a very sweet dessert that's well-balanced by the acidity of the kalamansi. I think it's a perfect reconciliation dessert. This is inspired by pastry chef Michel Willaume's dessert, Delice de Saveurs Exotique Glacé.

Pineapple-Coconut Joconde
This makes twice as much cake as you need. Just save the rest for random snacking.

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature


• 75g (2.65 oz) almond flour or almond meal


• 75g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) confectioner's sugar, sifted


• 25g (3 tablespoons) all-purpose flour


• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature


• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar


• 25g (2 tablespoons) superfine sugar


• 15g (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted


• 75g (2.65 oz) crushed pineapple, drained


• 50g (1.75 oz) desiccated coconut

Grease, line with parchment snugly, and grease again a 10x15" sheet pan. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). In a large bowl, combine the whole eggs, almond flour, and confectioner's sugar. Beat at medium speed until cream-colored and light, about 5 minutes. Sift the flour over the beaten eggs. In another stainless steel bowl using a clean wire whip, beat the egg whites at low speed until foamy. Increase the mixer speed to high and add the cream of tartar and continue whipping until soft peaks are formed. Gradually add the superfine sugar and continue beating until very stiff peaks are formed and the meringue has begun to slip and streak around the side of the bowl. Scoop a third of the meringue into the batter and fold it in until well-incorporated. Add the remaining meringue and fold it gently until completely incorporated. In a small bowl, fold together the melted butter and about a cup of the batter, then fold it back into the rest of the batter until uniformly mixed. Scoop the batter into the prepared baking sheet and smooth with a large spatula. Sprinkle with the crushed pineapple and coconut; don't mind if they sink into the batter. Bake until lightly browned and firm but not dry, about 8-10 minutes. Slip onto the cooling rack, parchment paper and all, and leave for about 15 minutes. Place another rack on top and flip over. Remove the parchment, replace the original rack and flip right-side-up. Divide into two and place in a sturdy tin, separated by parchment paper. Wrap airtight with cling film and freeze for later use.

Mango Sherbet
Since I don't have an ice-cream maker, I used a blender. Just scoop the entire sherbet out and blitz it for a moment (you don't want to melt it, just loosen it) at progressively shorter intervals (3 hours after first putting it in the freezer, then 2 hours, then every hour and a half 3 more times).

• 236g (1 cup) water


• 150g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar


• 2 large mangoes (I used 2 mangoes with a combined weight of 800g, which gave me 480g of puree)


• calamansi juice, to taste (I used 1 calamansi, or about a teaspoon of lime juice)

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water, then place over high heat and bring to a boil; by this time all the sugar should have dissolved. Set aside to cool. Scoop out all the mango flesh and place in a blender or food processor, then purée until smooth. Drizzle in all the cooled syrup and the calamansi juice (take note that there is no straining of the purée at any point). Place in an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions, or just do as I did and place it in the deep freeze and loosen it up periodically.

Coconut Parfait
This is not really meant to be sweet, and therefore is the only component of this dessert that can't be eaten on its own.

• 60g (1/4 cup) heavy cream, chilled


• 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar


• 25g (1-1/2 tablespoon) coconut cream

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Combine the sugar and coconut cream together in a small bowl until dissolved. Fold the sweetened coconut cream and whipped cream together until well-combined. Set aside in an airtight container in the freezer.

Mango Tuile
This is a very versatile cookie that can be used as a garnish just served with coffee. However, it's very sweet, like a mango chip. I wouldn't recommend adding three of these to the finished bombe as I did in the picture; just use one each.

• 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar


• 50g (5 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) all-purpose flour


• 16g (1 tablespoon) orange juice


• 21g (0.75 oz) mango puree


• 36g (2-1/2 tablespoons) melted butter

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and sugar together, then whisk in the remaining ingredients one by one until well-incorporated. Leave to rest in an airight container in the refrigerator overnight and for up to a week. Prepare a stencil of a 3" circle from a piece of thick card (from a file folder) or the plastic top of an ice cream or yogurt container. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare another sheet of parchment paper for the cooled tuiles. Place teaspoonfuls of the batter spaced 3" apart on the parchment. Place the stencil on each dollop and using a small offset spatula, spread the batter within the stencil so that it is very thin and even. Scrape off the excess batter back into the bowl. Bake the tuiles for about 12 minutes. Peel off the hot tuiles from the parchment (they will feel like stiff fruit leather), and while warm, cut each into a triangle shape with a pair of scissors. Place each tuile on the other sheet of parchment to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can store the tuiles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Kalamansi Cream

• 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar


• 1 large egg


• 30g (2 tablespoons) kalamansi juice


• 74g (5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) unsalted butter

In a medium heatproof bowl set over simmering water, whisk together the sugar, egg, and kalamansi juice. Continue whisking for about 8-10 minutes or until the mixture registers 80°C (180°F) on a thermometer. Take off the heat and strain into a blender, then blitz for about a minute too cool it to 60°C (140°F). Add in the butter, a tablespoon at a time, and continue blending until smooth, about 5 minutes. If you don't have a blender, you can use a food processor, or good old-fashioned vigorous whisking. Place in a small bowl and cover with cling film. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 7 days.

Assembly
Take the cake out of the freezer and using a 2-1/4" biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out 6 rounds of cake. Take the coconut parfait out of the freezer and scoop out 6 small balls using a melon baller. Place these on a saucer and set aside.

In a 6-serving 3" demisphere silicone mold, scoop in enough mango sherbet to fill it 2/3 full. Using a teaspoon and working quickly, smoosh the sherbet partly up the sides while creating a hollow in the center, making sure the entire inner surface of the mold is filled with sherbet. Place a ball of the parfait in and top with a circle of cake. Press the cake down, letting the sherbet overflow over the rim of the molds. Using a teaspoon or spatula, clean out the excess sherbet that has overflowed. Place in the freezer to firm up.

To serve, place the kalamansi cream in a piping bag fitted with a #3 (3-mm) tip and pipe out a design onto a chilled plate. On a chilled saucer, invert one of the bombes in the mold on top and hit the outside with a hairdryer for about 10 seconds, then slip it out of the mold carefully onto the saucer with an offset spatula. Transfer it onto the chilled plate and stick a mango tuile on top. You may also freeze the whole dessert, plate and all, before adding the tuile.

Lemon Squares and Key Lime Bars

There isn't much of a story to these bars. I saw the lemon bar in Lemon(i)Café in Boracay. I fantasized about it. I made some. I made "Key Lime" Bars for variety. They were excellent. The lemon square recipe is from The Baker's Companion (brought to you by King Arthur flour) with a few adjustments. I have to say that I didn't truly use Key Limes. In fact I may not even have used a Lime. I bought green lemons that my parents assured me were limes. I cut one up and hello, it was all yellow inside. So this recipe was delicious, but not what I had in mind, obviously. For my readers overseas, I hope to GOD you have the appropriate citrus fruits where you are. I cannot keep track of what grows where at any given time (obviously we do not usually think about such things here on the islands, except for some fruits like mangoes, avocados and strawberries).


Lemon Squares (adapted from The Baker's Companion)

• 1-1/2 cups (175g) all-purpose flour


• 1/4 cup (30g) confectioner's sugar


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1 stick (1/2 cup or 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8"x8", 9"x9", or 7"x11" pan with aluminum foil that is slightly longer than your pan, so you have overhangs to lift the bars out with. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and sugar and whisk to combine. Scatter the butter over the flour mixture and using a pastry blender (what I used), your fingers, or a mixer with the paddle attachment, work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press the crumbs into the prepared pan, making sure it is roughly an equal thickness throughout (I made the mistake of not paying attention to the sides and corners, so the crust was much thicker there). Bake the crust for 20 minutes or until light brown. Cool on a rack. Don't be concerned if it cracks or is imperfect. Don't turn off the oven.

• 4 large eggs


• 1-1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar


• 2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 large lemons)


• 1/2 cup (120mL) lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)


• 1/4 cup (30g) all-purpose flour


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• confectioner's sugar for dusting

In a medium bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers; it'll turn pale yellow. Beat in the eggs, then the lemon juice. Sift the flour and salt over the surface and stir them in. Pour the topping over the hot crust and continue baking for 25 minutes or until the top appears set (it won't slosh around). Dust with confectioner's sugar before slicing into 16 squares and serving.

Key Lime Bars

• 5 oz (140g) animal crackers or Marie biscuits


• 3 tablespoons (38g) packed brown sugar


• pinch of table salt


• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons or 55g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line an 8"x8" pan with aluminum foil that is slightly longer than your pan, so you have overhangs to lift the bars out with. Place the crackers in a plastic food bag but don't close it; instead twist the top loosely to avoid the crackers falling out. Smash the contents with a rolling pin or similarly heavy object until fine crumbs remain. Whisk in the salt and brown sugar to combine, then toss in the melted butter with a spatula until all the crumbs are moistened. Alternatively, in a food processor, pulse the crackers until fine crumbs remain (10 1-second pulses), then add the sugar and salt and pulse again (10 1-second pulses), then drizzle the butter over and pulse unti evenly moistened (10 1-second pulses). Press the crumbs firmly and evenly into the pan, taking care not to make the sides thicker than the center. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool on a rack. Don't turn off the oven.

• 2 oz (60g) cream cheese, at room temperature


• 1 tablespoon grated lime zest, minced


• pinch of table salt


• 1 14-oz (400mL) can sweetened condensed milk


• 1 egg yolk


• 2 drops green food coloring (optional)


• 1/2 cup (120mL) fresh Key Lime or lime juice

In a medium bowl, stir the cream cheese, lime zest, and salt together until smooth and creamy. Add the condensed milk and whisk vigorously until no lumps of cream cheese remain. Whisk in the egg yolk and food coloring (if desired). Whisk the lime juice in gently. The mixture will thicken slightly. Pour into the crust and thwack on the counter to even out (use a spatula to reach the corners if needed). Bake until set and the edges start to pull away from the sides, 15-20 minutes. Cool for 2 hours at room temperature, then chill until serving (at least 2 hours). Cut into 16 squares.

Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

I'll apologize in advance for appearing to be born from another planet, but I've never had an honest-to-goodness gingerbread cookie before. I had a glazed, slightly spicy cookie before, but it tasted more like a Dunkin Donuts' Choco Honey Dipped, for some reason. Maybe it was. So after years of wondering, I was suddenly in the mood for something I thought maybe both kids and adults would like. Imagine my dismay when I learned that most gingerbread cookies were quite hard and only good for making houses and tree ornaments. I realize they're not exactly the same, but I had a gingersnap made by Fibisco that almost took my diamond-like (in hardness, heh) teeth out. Next! But a gem somehow landed in my lap: a recipe which addressed these problems. Given that I hadn't made dessert in a while (and cookies in an even longer while), it was a Godsend. It even has instructions for when you want thin cookies for ornaments. So happy holiday baking, everyone! Get to it! (Okay, Thanksgiving first for those of you who celebrate.) This is my contribution to Susan of Food Blogga's Eat Christmas Cookies blogging event and Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen's A Spoonful of Christmas blogging event.

The problem was, there was only one supermarket in Manila that sold molasses. What the?!?! I went to Robinson's, Megamall, Hi-Top, Landmark, and Rustan's (several branches). Only Unimart had both local and imported brands. I chose an imported unsulphured brand (Grandma's Mild), since it's my first time and I wanted to be sure I got the unsulphured variety (the local brand didn't specify). I hear they have tons of wholesale baking supplies at Quiapo, where the fruitcake-mass-producing types get their molasses by the liter. I wasn't sold on that since generic fruitcake is not at all that enticing. (Recipe follows)
The recipe I wrote down here has 3 different methods: first by hand (which is what I used-- what use is having arm muscles, heh), then by stand mixer with paddle, and by food processor. I've also included weight measurements for those so inclined. Enjoy!
Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

• 3 cups (425g) all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached


• 3/4 cup (150g) firmly packed dark brown sugar


• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon table salt


• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon


• 1 tablespoon ground ginger


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves


• 1-1/2 sticks (165g) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and slightly softened


• 3/4 cup (225g) molasses (mild or full/robust, your choice, but I found mild to be quite flavorful as it was)


• 2 tablespoons whole milk

By hand: In a small bowl, combine the molasses and milk and stir together; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add the sugar and whisk to combine thoroughly. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and work it into the flour with a pastry blender (what I used), a fork, two knives, or a rubber spatula until it resembles very fine meal. Drizzle a third of the molasses mixture over the dough and combine with a rubber spatula (what you're doing is essentially moistening the dough). Repeat with half of the remaining molasses, then use it all up. You'll end up with a soft, cohesive dough that looks like coffee ice-cream.

By stand mixer with a paddle attachment: In a small bowl, combine the molasses and milk and stir together; set aside. In the bowl of the mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix at low speed until combined (about 30 seconds). Scatter the butter pieces over the top and mix at medium-low speed until it resembles very fine meal (about 90 seconds). Reduce the speed to low and drizzle in the molasses mixture with the mixer running and mix until the dough is moistened thoroughly (about 20 seconds), then increase the speed to medium and mix for 10 seconds more to combine.

By food processor: In a small bowl, combine the molasses and milk and stir together; set aside. Process the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until combined (about 10 seconds). Scatter the butter pieces over the top and process until it resembles fine meal (about 15 seconds). With the machine running, drizzle in the molasses mixture and process until the dough is evenly moistened and forms a soft mass (about 10 seconds).

Continue here for all methods: Cut out at least 4 parchment rectangles to fit the bottom of your sheet pans. Scrape dough onto a work surface and divide into 2 (I used a scale to be accurate: I divided it into 2-502g masses). Place each dough half onto its own parchment rectangle and cover each with another parchment rectangle. Pat out each with your fingers through the parchment into a rough rectangle, then roll each into an even 1/4-inch thickness sandwiched in between the 2 parchment sheets (one way to get an even thickness is to use magazines of the appropriate thickness on both ends of your rolling pin as a guide-- Bon Appetit is one such magazine). Stack the dough sheets (still intact in their parchment sandwiches) onto a sheet pan and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes, or refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Place a rack in the upper and lower-middle positions of your oven and preheat to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper (I just used the ones on my dough sheets, to conserve paper, no problem). Remove a dough sheet from the fridge and peel off the top parchment sheet, gently lay it back on the dough and put another sheet pan on top. Flip the whole set-up over and peel off then discard the other parchment sheet. Using a 3- or 5-inch gingerbread person cutter or a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out shapes and transfer to the lined sheet pans, leaving 3/4 inch space in between. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes (for 3-inch people, which is what I used), or 8-11 minutes (for 5-inch people or 3-inch cookies), rotating the pans front to back and top to bottom halfway through. You're looking for set centers and for the dough to barely retain an imprint when touched gently with a fingertip. Don't overbake! They will set some more while cooling. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the pans then transfer with a wide metal spatula to a cooling rack.

Gather the scraps and repeat the rolling and cutting, chilling the dough again if it's become too soft. I was able to juggle all my rolling and cutting in advance so I can bake them consecutively. The yield is 25 3-inch people, 20 5-inch people, or 30 3-inch cookies. Best if eaten within a week.

For thin, crisp cookies that can be used as ornaments:
Divide the dough into 4 and roll out into an even 1/8-inch thickness. Bake at 325°F (163°C) oven until slightly darkened and firm in the center when pressed, 15-20 minutes for 5-inch gingerbread people.

Royal Icing for Decoration:

• 1 pasteurized egg white


• 1 teaspoon lemon juice


• (at least) 1-1/2 cups (165g) confectioner's sugar

Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat together the egg white and lemon juice until frothy. Sift in all the confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth. Lift the beaters and if a ribbon takes less than 5 seconds to disappear into the icing's surface or runs down the sides when spread over a cookie's edge, add more sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. Use immediately. You can use a piping bag with a plain tip or load it into a zip-lock bag and snip off a little bit of the tip. The icing will dry and form a crust overnight. If uncomfortable with using a raw egg white due to health concerns, please consult the internet for recipes using meringue powder.

Viennese Chocolate Sablés

This is another dessert that looks amazing (despite my poor piping skills) and is also easy to make for home baker. It comes also from Pierre Hermé's book Chocolate Desserts. They're surprisingly not dry or hard (yes, they do melt in your mouth), and they have that sought-after (at least by the French) sandy, or sablé, texture.

Based on many testimonials about this recipe, it's really tough to pipe them out because of the heaviness of the dough. Weirdly, I hardly broke a sweat doing so. I guess this confirms my suspicions: working out works! I have Popeye-like forearms! Or maybe it's from playing video games for hours on end.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had some leftover unsalted margarine so I made chocolate chip cookies. You know you've been using a recipe a lot when you barely need to consult it. Melty, soft, and almost fall-apart-y, you just know these are bad for you.

Also, you know that you have turned into a baker when you search for recipes for pancakes from scratch. FYI, it's probably not worth it to use ingredients already at hand (flour, baking powder, sugar, milk, oil) when you can just buy a package for P30. However, if you're looking to avoid extra sodium, you might give it a shot.