Champorado [Chocolate Rice Porridge]

Champorado is a traditional rice porridge/pudding that is usually eaten during the cold season here in the Philippines. It is usually topped with either sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk and eaten with salted dried fish. It's been raining a lot recently, so this will be a perfect dish to eat while staying cozy at home.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.