Old-fashioned Chewy Brownies

My agenda for today is quite simple yet challenging; to create a moist, fudgy and specifically chewy brownies. Something I would like to describe as a brownie that makes you go back to childhood-- my style.


I'd say it's challenging because for a brownies to be ''chewy'' starting from scratch, it must have high sugar and high egg content. But having too much eggs may cause it to be too moist and ''cakey''..

My sister loves brownies, brownies to us is a childhood afternoon staple. We play games while eating brownies, we watch afternoon television shows while munching this sweet treat. We bake our own brownies at home or buy Dunkin' Donuts, Brownies Unlimited or Red Ribbon brownies...mind you, only from those.That is brownies to me, it should be sort of a time capsule to bring me back in the past, and to fulfill future cravings.

Brownies are special to me, need I say more? I went to Baking School at 14 and met this teacher whom I will never forget, Chef Jill Sandique. The story is simple, It was a Brownie Workshop, I was the youngest in her class and literally the sole minor. What stroke me is when he told Sonny 6 years later, that she remembers me, will never forget me because I remind her of her younger self. I felt like I won a gold medal for an International Competition.

Old-fashioned Chewy Brownies

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

4 pcs eggs

1 cup All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

The procedure is as well simple. Whisk together oil and sugar. Add in eggs at a time,then fold in sifted dry ingredients. Remember to mix until just combined! We don't need much gluten for Brownies.

Bake at 350F for 35-45 mins and cool down before slicing, it will be best to cut into bars while frozen.

Perfectly paired with warm coffee or hot chocolate and Nicholas Sparks' Dear John, such a lazy, windy afternoon.It's not a cake, neither bread..so what is it. hmmmm...

There are several types of cookies, one of those is the ''Sheet Cookies'' as they are baked on trays or pans, then cut into squares or ''bars''. There is also ''Bar Cookies'' specifically Biscottis, so don't confuse oki.

nom nom. happy tummy 

PB&Cashew Rocher

Holidays are coming fast, I can smell the cold Christmas breeze. Did you know whenever I feel Holidays I always think of Chocolates. I don't know exactly why, but I do..If it's Halloween I think of Chocolates and mint, If it's Christmas I think of Hot Chocolate and Asian spiced Truffles, during the New Year I like Chocolate and Hazelnut Rocher.. I love Chocolates, they are so versatile. If it's a hue it will probably be white, because you can pair almost everything with Chocolate, I said almost.. as long as you're hyped and creative!

Peanut butter is my favorite, one the few things I always crave next to hard boiled eggs with mayo, the flavor is so child-like. The things I pair most with Peanut butter is the Elvis sandwich.. layers of Wheat bread, crunchy peanut butter,sliced bananas and crispy bacon strips served warm. Christmas in my belly!

But no, This entry is not about my ever favorite Elvis -the sandwich, but my own version of Chocolate and Peanut butter truffles. I was inspired by the classic Ferrero Rocher and Reese's Peanut Butter cups.. to tell the story of this recipe really quick, It was during a Cashew Dessert competition when I realized that I can make a Peanut butter-like spread out of Cashew... then during a school event where I was asked to cater this recipe to big chunk of guests.. to make it really quick instead of making a Cashew butter, I grabbed a jar of the old fashion favorite. 

I prefer using Callebaut Milk Chocolate, either the block or the callets. If it's Cashew spread It's better with Dark Chocolate, and if it's Praline paste I looooove it with Milk Chocolate. So the idea is to make a ''Rocher'' or rock out of melted chocolate, nut puree and feulletine.

Feulletine are thin flakes of crepes that has been toasted and crushed. It's like wafer or stick-o, or barqullios.. I like using Feulletine as dessert bases with Chocolate because of the distinct texture and crunch it gives,  Though it's little pricey, you may substitute corn flakes or rice crispies. Always remember that Feulletine tends to sog due to it's sugar content, sugars are hygroscopic meaning it absorbs moisture, store it in chiller or room temp in an air tight container, and let it toast inside the oven before you use it to give back the crunch.

You may use store bought Peanut butter or make your own. You may also be more creative and use different nuts for a change, you may use Cashew, Pistachios or Hazelnuts. You will need a blender or food processor, 240g toasted nuts, 100ml vegetable oil and table sugar. Pulse the nuts through the blender and gradually add the oil until you get your desired consistency then add about 2 tablespoons of sugar to taste. Puree until smooth.

PB&Cashew Rocher

250g Callebaut Milk Chocolate, chopped into small pieces

100g Cashew nuts, toasted and chopped

150g Feulletine, toasted

120ml Peanut butter

350g Dark Chocolate, Tempered to 32 C

1. In a stainless bowl, melt the first batch of Chocolates over a pot simmered water not simmering, not boiling and not scalding

2. When the Chocolates melt mix in Peanut butter of the heat

3. Fold in nuts and feulletine

4. Set aside in the chiller until the mixture becomes thick and ready to scoop

5. On a tray lined with parchment, spoon and weigh 30g  per piece or use a number 50 ice cream scooper. Chill until firm

6. Melt the second batch of Chocolates --same procedure as number 1. Once the Chocolates melt, temper the Chocolates from over 43 to 32 C

7. Using a fork or dipping tool, dip each Rocher to the tempered Chocolate and dry on parchment.

8. Store in Chiller

nom nom nom <3

''Teach them how to cook, Feed them for a lifetime''

For our NSTP 2 outreach project, we were asked by our teacher Ms. Liza to prepare meals for 150 kids.  This project is somewhat close to my heart since I love kids. Before I went to CCA, I was a volunteer teacher to a summer kinder garden program facilitated by our church. The community where the summer class was held is a depressed area with poor families, malnourished kids, and kids who were not sent to school.

I was only 16 years old then and have over 40 kids from ages 3-7 years old to teach. The experience of being a teacher to young kids taught me the value of education. Since it was the kids’ first time to be taught how to count, to write to color and to read, it was really difficult, the kids can’t afford to buy their own things. They go to school hungry, some with their ‘’best clothes’’ of newly washed shirts but still with rugged slippers. Some kids are siblings sharing a piece of bread for lunch. Most of them don’t know anything. Literally, I was their first teacher. 

It taught me how important it is to nourish kids; they are innocent and can be influenced easily.  If you teach them good things with happy memories, they will remember you up until they grow up. If you show them kindness and love they will reward you with respect. If you show them violence and the wrong way they will grow up with that direction. I still see my students sometimes, the greatest reward is whenever my students still call me ‘’Teacher Joyce’’, they run to catch my attention  to say hello, some I see with dirty clothes as they look for garbage to sell, some selling meriendas for a living. Most of them still don’t go to regular schools.

We were excited to do our feeding program since there will be kids. We prepared Spaghetti, bread toasts, Maja Blanca and Iced tea. Eldrin and I also decided that since the class is on a budget, we will make the cake pops as a donation. It could be the kids’ first time to eat cake pops so we were really excited and happy to do this project.

I will never forget how the kids’ eyes lit up when they saw Sponge Bob in front of them. It was so candid, they are so innocent.  I remember a boy slowly tapped Sponge Bob’s face, tapped it again, and after being convinced that Sponge Bob is facing him he smiled so big. Then the boy slowly copied the mascot’s dance steps and dance with excitement. It was like a slow motion.

It reminds me of myself running and chasing for Jack& Jill’s mascot during a preschool visit. I hugged the ‘’Jill’’ mascot, raised her skirt with wonder ...I love mascots as a kid.

Then I started to observe the kids’ appearance. They are luckier than my students as they have shoes, cute bags, they look healthier and look regularly groomed.

Only a few don’t wear uniforms which could be a good sign. These kids can go to regular schools, and chances are to a private school.

They are less chaotic than my students, a sign that these kids are well fed at home. They are not that hungry though kids are ecstatic in nature.

For our second activity, our group decided to make recipes out of ingredients that could be bought from talipapa and palengke, since we observed that some items in western cuisine are rare finds and not known at household kitchen, might as well do substitutions. We don’t want our nanays to feel like they can’t do the recipe on their own at their homes and we don’t want them to say they’re not familiar with the ingredients so they won’t try the recipe at all, thus, we based our recipes with Filipino ingredients.

We were not able to run practices and test the recipes, so by the first run of our demo we were nervous if the recipes will work. Thank God we brought a portable oven with us, during our demo of our Rolled Oats Crusted Pork Chop, the oats absorbed the fying oil, and then Eldrin decided to do a great move which is to let the pork chop finish inside the oven.

Eldrin and I made that recipe so I felt guilty that I did not even thought of the oats absorbing the oil as it usually do with water and milk. For the rest of the demos we did the same procedure and taught the housewives and teachers culinary terms, basic food sanitation and healthier alternatives for the ingredients

We observed that we had an advantage of making the housewives and teachers interested in our demo since they were able to identify the ingredients at first sight of our MEP’s.  We also osbserved that the participants are asking ‘’Saan kami makakabili niyan’’ as other groups answer in supermarkets or in malls, our answer is always at Palengke, likod ng bahay or sa talipapa. It felt good to share information to fellow women as they say, no one beats the meals prepared by our Mothers.

That day I felt that my expensive tuition in culinary school paid off when a woman on her 60's said our group stunned her and told us that we will go a long way. I'm a pastry major, I never joined savory competitions, never made ''Culinary'' stuffs outside my pastry bin.. I'm a patissier not a cuisinier,and it's just overwhelming coming from a woman same age as my late mother.  I felt the sincerity of the housewives’ gratitude by sharing the recipes our group prepared.

In the end of our activity our group felt we wish we could do more activities like this, it was true that sharing your knowledge could be as fulfilling as teaching rather than just keeping those knowldege to yourself.

''Teach them how to cook, Feed them for a lifetime''

- The Culinary Education Foundation

Cheesecake Diary

It's my brother's 30th birth day. Time flies so fast, he's 30 and I'm now 20..I decided to remake this Chefs On Parade entry, this is originally small and baked as single serving so I had to change the quantity for an 8-inch round cake. 

Water buffalo's milk Cheesecake on Salted Muscovado Crust

Water Buffalo's Milk or in lay man's term ''Gatas ng Kalabaw'' is one of the freshest ingredient I used in baking. Not only that it tastes better when used fresh, I mean this is the real ''Fresh milk''. Since my back bone problem persisted I learned to take milk regularly..UHUH.. I now drink milk. Because I stopped drinking milk when I turned 1 year old according to my Mom. I was also lactose intolerant so drinking milk to me is like drinking green tea. Unimaginable. I don't like milk because it makes me poop at unlikely places like school hahahaha, I don't like green tea more because it smells like Aquarium fish feeds.

Then one day I woke up craving for a cup of warm milk..............with cookies HAHAHAHA. and I learned how to drink milk again. Women is at higher risk of bone diseases, while the bone stops accumulating calcium after 25. So we better swim in milk now!

Aside from swimming in milk, what else can we do? Tadaaahhhh! a Filipino delicacy, Gatas ng Kalabaw Pastillas. nom nom nom. Those wrapped in white paper are the best. Be careful where you buy though.

Speaking of Pastillas, this recipe is actually inspired by Pastillas.. and Pastillas Cheesecake by Bagoong Club. I fell in love with their Pastillas Cheesecake after my trip to their resto and had this for dessert, since then I've been craving it for weeks until Arthur and I were called to represent our school on Chefs On Parade 2011. I convinced him one late afternoon during practice that we shall dine at Bagoong Club so he could understand what's with me going obsess with creating a similar dish. 

Sadly the taste was different from my first Pastillas Cheesecake, it was not nostalgic anymore. I was sad and wondering how different it was from the Pastillas Cheesecake I ate during my first visit..did they change their recipe or what. Sad. 


This recipe is one of the recipes I made painstakingly. It took me a week. Literally making trials and errors.. The idea of Carabao's milk and Salted Caramel came from Chef Menoy saying we should stop recreating a Pastillas based cake, but make a cheesecake out of the ingredients of a great Pastillas, thus the smell of green grass in a milk. It was a competition season so how do we gear up? Might as well make something yourself will love to eat as the saying goes ''if it tastes good for you, it tastes good for others. If it doesn't tastes good for you, don't serve it''

Arthur, my partner and I decided to instead  doing a salted caramel make it more Pinoy by making it salted muscovado. If you like the taste of burnt sugar in leche flan, you will like salted muscovado. nom nom nom..We started by using a standard New York style baked cheesecake recipe, lessen the yolks, lessen the creamcheese, used ricotta instead of creamcheese, added flour --ridiculous, nakurot ako ni Mama Carol sa singit! You don't add flour to this type of Cheesecake or it becomes Puto. There are many types of Cheesecake, but no, no not Blueberry Cheesecake and Mango Cheesecake. They come from different cultures like  the Japanese Cheesecake, Italian Cheesecake and French Cheesecake etc.. Either Baked or Chilled. The point is to use a specific cheese as main ingredient, and serve it on a crust or a base.

Water buffalo's milk Cheesecake on Salted Muscovado Crust

Cheesecakes are custards. Same as Creme Brulee, that's why we bake cheesecakes on bain marie, and the reason why we let it set in chiller overnight. When eggs are introduced to heat they coagulate. This coagulation is responsible why custards come together. It takes some time for custards to cool down and as they cool down they set into a smoother mass. Observe this if you want.. if you have a glass oven door..watch as the cheesecake bakes, as the water simmers the cheesecake batter coagulates.. it becomes solid but rough looking. And after it cooled down and set, it becomes smooth.

Water buffalo's milk Cheesecake on Salted Muscovado Crust

Water buffalo's milk  and Burnt sugar Cheesecake, another version

Cake it. Macaron it. Cupcake it.

Hi friends! 

Three young patissier, bounded by friendship and passion for baking...Baking makes us happy, baking beautiful cupcakes, macaroons and cakes makes us happier. We are Cupcakes&Friends, join us in our new journey ♥

Cake it. Macaron it. Cupcake it.

for orders and inquiries pls mail us at

cupcakes.friends@yahoo.com

like our page

www.facebook.com/Cupcakes.Friends

We promise to post our Cupcake and Macaron line soon.. really soon ♥

Low Calorie Dinner and Cute Ducklings

My cooking today had nothing to do with a mother duck and cute ducklings.. just that I woke up today with these cute chicklets all over the garage. Reminds me of Daisy Duck and those ducklings looking identical to Donald Duck!

I was wondering, are the ducklings feeling cold? Saw them hiding under their mother's butt. Waaaa! cute! They do this all the time, so funny noh?

Leaving the ducklings aside, my mission for today is to prepare a yummy dinner in celebration of my brother's return in the Church..prior to this day, my brother was disowned by our Church.. it took 10 years before he decided to come back and change for real. T'was an answered prayer and effective today he is Iglesia Ni Cristo.

Mango and Spiced Roasted Chicken

I love Jerked Chicken, the lightly charred flavor of grilled Chicken marinated in Jamaican spices, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg and garlic. But I wanted to do something different so I decided to make a different version.The weather is so humid and hot today so I thought of roasting the chicken instead of grilling.

I held my chef's knife and butchered like a boss, I mean I don't do that usually hehe. But I'm happy I was able to butcher 3 whole chickens after a long time of not trying, feels good. I decided to take the back bone and split the chicken into half to cut the roasting time...

Pat dry the chicken and season generously with salt and pepper, then prepare the marinade...mix olive oil, spices and the mango juice, let the chicken sit and marinate for atleast 30 mins. and roast for 50-60 mins at 350F

Mango and Spiced Roasted Chicken

1 pc whole Chicken, butterflied

240 ml Olive Oil

240ml fresh Guimaras Mango shake

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Five Spice

as needed Salt

as needed Pepper

Toasting the spices before rubbing into the chicken makes a better aroma, especially if the the spices are bought ground already, toasting it brings back the aroma and flavor as if a zombie is resurrected. Also let the spices rub well into the chicken before adding the mango puree since oil and water doesn't mix together

Then I decided to saute vegies in a little olive oil and finish with skimmed milk. I'm telling you I love buttered corn & carrots but I had to cut fat out.

Sugarfree Buko Pandan Salad

Then I made a sugarfree version of Buko Pandan to cap the occasion. Buko Pandan Salad is made usually with All Purpose Cream, Condensed Milk and Sugar.. then I made modififcations

Sugarfree Buko Pandan Salad

500ml skimmed milk
60ml Isomalt sugar substitute
3pcs Coconut meat, shredded
3 pcs Coconut juice
3oz Green gulaman
3 stalks Pandan leaves
1 jar Nata de Coco

Happy Trick or Treat! Puss in Boots here, in spirit of being a Muningning..kids who say ''TWIT O TWIT!!''  are ♥!

Books Worth to Invest On

I looooove books, I'm not a bookworm but I'm a good researcher. One of the skills I learned from joining competitions is how to research on flavors, components, textures etc. Great books contributed to the ''stuffs''(personal techniques, knowledge and experiences) I share to my friends and contributed a lot to my winnings. Internet is so wide, but books have this ''ka-pow'' that makes you sit awhile and say ''U-HUH''. Though I don't have a copy of all of these because these are expensive hard bounds..Kuya Ferds, the school library assistant proclaimed me as the Library Princess, Chef Annali is the Library Queen. Claiming he never met anyone else stayed between the shelves for straight 8 hours.

These are all my favorites, they are so worth the money, the time, and tells a lot of new, creative, some modern, some classic ideas. Perfect!

If Mims is for RN's and MD's,The Flavor Bible is the bible for chefs and chefs-to-be. This winner book shows arrays of different ingredients, their flavors, seasonality, tips and flavor affiliations. Really perfect for researching.

Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen and Advance Baking & Pastry by Michel Suas are great reference for beginners, includes classic recipes and methods, high definition photos and classic techniques.

Alinea by Chef Grant Achatz, shows distinctly modern recipes and molecular gastronomy. The photos and platings are so beautiful that it leaves every reader with the question, ''How did that happen?''

I love Chef Johnny Iuzzini, from his hair, fierce eyes and killer smile up to this book. I bought his book Dessert Fourplay over a year ago, this is a rare find so I bought it instantly. What else can I say, this book created lots of gold medalist, I was once. Thanks Johnny!

The Grand Finale has three editions, more of modernist-architectural desserts, not really elaborate but classic in methods. These books are my ABAKADA.

Frozen Desserts from the Culinary Institute of America and Desserts from Le Cordon Bleu are great reference for cold desserts from Ice creams, Sorbets, Granite, Mousses, Bavarois, Parfait and Bombes, name it!

Chocolates & Confections by Chef Peter Greweling, those pretty bon bons and confections are so inspiring that upon scanning this book, I fell in love with it and borrowed so many ideas from this hard bound. It's so fascinating that I also want to become a Chocolatier before I turn 30.

I love Pierre Herme as much as I love Johnny, he is my dessert patron. I just want to work with him, meet him and learn from him. I also borrowed so many ideas from him, somehow he is the Paul Bocuse of my inner Julia Child.

Couture Wedding Cakes is a compilation of aesthetically wonderful cakes, the designs are intricate and the photos shows how clean and neat the pieces are, a finesse a.k.a skill needed for every Cake makers.

The Knives At Dawn, is a must read for every competition chefs, frustrated chefs, aspiring chefs, and chefs who want to learn more. Tells the journey of Team USA to that elusive Bocuse d'Or  2009 championship. The sayings are so overwhelming, reading the pages as if you are a witness to that competition. Being a competition person myself, I recommend this book for all my fellow cheflings.


The list is endless, as years go by for sure I will add more on my list. But let me remind you that ''Copying is different from borrowing ideas,Copying is done by a person without integrity, the latter is by a learner'' -Chef David Pardo de Ayala