Leche Flan [Filipino Creme Caramel]

 

Leche Flan, a type of creme caramel, literally means "milk flan". It is very famous here in the Philippines, specially on special occasions such as fiestas and birthdays. It is a very creamy flan with a rich caramel topping.

Cassava Cake

A cassava cake is a type of cake here made from cassava roots, which is also called yuca or manioc. It cannot be actually classified as cake, as its consistency is far from than spongy consistency cakes have. I would classify it as more of a pudding, or at least of a pudding consistency. It is usually topped with a condensed milk and coconut milk mixture which is cooked and then baked on top of the cake/pudding until it browns.

Dark Chocolate Walnut Cupcakes

Dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache, topped with a roasted walnut and glazed with salted caramel sauce, what's not to like? Dark chocolate and walnuts were top two in last month's poll, in which the theme was "Nuts and Chocolate". These look like the "chocolate" cupcakes, but this time they are real chocolate cupcakes.

Tim Tam Slam No-churn Ice Cream

This is the ice cream version of the popular Australian practice. Tim Tam Slam as they call it, it involves biting off both ends of a Tim Tam, sucking Milo or other chocolate drink into it, and when it is soaked enough, swallowing it whole.

"Chocolate" Cupcakes

Does September Fools exist? If it does then these cupcakes are the perfect prank. They look so innocently chocolatey with a chocolate ganache icing that you would never expect them to taste something as odd as pandanus and peppermint. Imagine giving them to someone, would he ever expect those flavors instead of chocolate? They will surely be surprised [and a bit dissappointed].

Blackberry Crumble Cupcakes

I love fruits. I love shortbreads. I also love cupcakes. So, combine the all of those and I will be very happy. These are graham and blackberry cupcakes with whipped cream frosting and a blackberry shortbread. Add tea and I'll be in heaven.

Blackberry Shortbreads and Chocolate Cookies

I made two kinds of cookies today, blackberry shortbreads and chocolate cookies. I made the shortbreads for a cupcake and the chocolate cookies for an ice cream, but they can also be filled for some homemade Oreos.

Japanese Cheesecake Cupcakes

I already made these a very long time ago, I think it was a little over a year. This was the second cupcake I have made for this blog when it was "Musical Cupcakes". These are japanese cotton soft cheesecake cupcakes with whipped cream frosting and blueberry glaze.

White Chocolate Polvoron Cupcakes

These are polvoron covered in white chocolate. I have made real polvoron cupcakes last April and some people who actually wanted these "polvoron cupcakes" landed on that page. So, as an apology to those readers whom I have confused, this is a photo-tutorial to make the "polvoron cupcakes" that they have wanted.

Cheesecake "Ice Cream and Blondie"

Do you enjoy brownies and ice cream together? I told you in my previous post that I do. If you don't like it because you are not a chocolate person, then why not try this cheesecake version? This just feels like ice cream and brownies in your mouth, but with different flavors. Anyone who loves cheesecakes will surely love this.

No-churn Cheesecake Ice Cream

I love looking for no-churn ice cream recipes because I don't have an ice cream maker. It's just too expensive for a college student like me. But recently I have been experimenting on different flavors. I have tried green apple, which did not turn out well, strawberry, vanilla, and melon. But I think those are just too common. And whenever I make them, I always grow impatient while waiting for the custard mixture to cool down, and because I don't use an ice cream maker the ice cream tend to have huge ice crystals.

That's when I look for alternatives, and I found out that you can just use sweetened condensed milk instead of making a custard base. And I am surprised to find out that it is actually smoother and creamier than my custard based ice creams, it's just like churned ice cream! I realize I just found my new ice cream base and I will never go back to custard base.

Graham Cracker and Blueberry Blondies

I love brownies ever since I was a child. I would always choose ice cream with brownie bits whenever I get to choose. But then I never heard of it's brothers, the blondies. They are equally delicious as brownies, and they are more flexible because you can actually put anything [like fruits, nuts, baking chips, and more] in it unlike brownies [think nuts, chips, and I can't think of anything else].

So today I made some graham cracker and blueberry blondies. They are phenomenal, especially if you spread some cream cheese on top. It will taste like a cheesecake, believe me.

Jasmine Tea Cupcakes

I just learned how to make tea-infused butter, and I used jasmine tea for these cupcakes. I should say using it in these cupcakes really gave them a strong jasmine tea flavor. And I topped them of with vanilla buttercream so that the frosting doesn't overpower the jasmine tea flavored cupcakes. These cupcakes gives off a wonderful tea aroma that will surely fill your kitchen.

Coconut Peach Cupcakes

 

Coconut peach cupcakes with coconut frosting, coconut ginger glaze, and topped with chopped roasted cashews. Totally random ingredients in a random cupcake. And you would be seeing a lot of these in the succeeding months.

I realize I don't have a scheduled posts here, something like "Crazy Monday", "Classic Thursday" or things like that that other blogs do, and I need those so that I can actually try and be motivated to blog because lately I have been ignoring this blog.

White Forest Cupcakes

These are browned butter and white chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream frosting and topped with a cooked blueberry, exactly how I would define a White Forest Cupcake. This is how I imagine a cupcake the opposite of a Black Forest Cupcake. 

These cupcakes are also the best example to explain the "flavor notes" feature on this blog.

Pastillas de Leche

Pastillas de Leche literally means "milk piece" in english, they are milk candies that are very popular here in the Philippines, along with Polvorons. Almost every child here have eaten at least one of these. They are traditionally made with carabao milk [water buffalo] and sugar. But I made them the simpler way.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

 

I just recently tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I am loving it. I keep making them during tea time, which by the way is anytime for me. I just love drinking tea and eating sandwiches and pastries at the same time. I read in Wikipedia that an average American would have eaten 2500 of this sandwich before graduating high school, and here I am, someone who haven't even tried it before college. But I am not American, so that might be the reason why I have only tried it now. I wonder why delicious things like this aren't popular worldwide.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I want to celebrate this special day with strawberry cupcakes, and this cupcake contains strawberries all over. I am dedicating this post to all the mothers out there, specially to my own mom. So please bear with me, this post might be too cheeky. [If you can't bear cheekiness, you can skip that part and get to the recipe right away.] 

To all mothers out there, I want to great you all a...

Tres Leches Cupcakes

A sponge cupcake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cream mixture and whipped cream frosting. The milk goes so well with the sponge cake, you will forget about all the calories each of these have. But let us not talk about calories and focus on these delicious treats. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo along with Polvoron [Mexican Wedding Cookies], or better yet, Polvoron Cupcakes.

Black Forest Cupcakes

I made Black Forest Cupcakes. According to Wikipedia, a Black Forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Instead of layering, I made cherry and chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry topping.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

I have never eaten a caramel apple my whole life, so unfortunately I don't know what a caramel apple taste like. But I have eaten caramel and apples separately, so maybe I can imagine combining them together. Maybe they taste like these cupcakes? They have caramel, apple, and nuts, that is what a caramel apple has, right?

Mini Apple Pie

I just discovered that I love apple pie. Even though I just made it for the first time, its taste is somehow familiar. Maybe I used to eat apple pies when I was young. Or maybe I ate a lot of things that are apple pie flavored. The taste of granny smith apples with cinnamon and sugar in a flaky, buttery crust is just so addictive that you can easily eat a half dozen of these. I think every now and then we should have a break from cupcakes.

Polvoron Cupcakes

Polvoron Cupcakes taste like polvoron, except that they are not crumbly and are cuter. Both the cupcake and the frosting have polvoron, so it resulted into very tasty cupcakes that taste like the Filipino classic. It's like a modern version of a classic that will bring back your childhood memories like it did with me, that is if you are Filipino. But wherever you come from, you should definitely try making them.

Polvoron

Polvorón, or Pulburon as we call it, is a type of a crumbly shortbread that originated from Spain. It is so crumbly that care must be taken when eating it. It is usually made with flour, sugar, milk, and nuts. Here in the Philippines, it is considered more of a candy than an actual bread and is popular during Christmas, but is available all year round. They are available in different flavors like Cookies n' Cream, Chocolate, or the classic Pinipig, which is pounded immature glutinous rice. Here we are going to make Almond Polvoron.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine's Day is coming, why don't you make some classic red velvet cupcakes? These red velvet cupcakes are topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting and topped with heart sprinkles.