Brownies, Cupcakes and MARC friggin' NELSON!!!

I’m scheduled to go to Palawan today and since I had no one to take me to the airport at 10am, I asked my brother to bring me to the airport before he goes to work. Which is usually around 6 in the morning.  So here I am at the airport 5 hours before my flight bound for Puerto Princesa with no other way to kill time.

Before I was even able to begin packing my stuff last night, I had already a ton of things to do. Apart from taking my mom to Greenhills for shopping earlier in the day, I had a cupcake order from Ian due that evening. A dozen vanilla and a dozen and a half of chocolate. The half order, obviously, was for Karrie who is too stingy to buy a dozen (Hehehe!).

The shopping took a big chunk of my day. But after going shopping with my mom, I was able to get some rest before I worked on Ian’s cupcakes.  And since I have been watching DC Cupcakes on cable recently, I decided to make the cupcakes look like the ones sold at Georgetown Cupcakes. I tried my hand at their “signature” frosting which was a simple swirl using a big round piping tip. It wasn’t really difficult to make, but I’m not sure if they look anything like the cupcakes that inspired it. You be the judge. (On second thought, don't be. I just saw photos of Georgetown Cupcakes and they look really really good.)

I almost forgot to mention that two days ago, I was able to try out David Lebovitz’ recipe for Dulce de Leche Brownies. It was a relatively easy recipe to make, with no specal, hard-to-find ingredients. Save for the dulce de leche, perhaps. But it doesn’t take much effort to make, so I don’t think it should be a problem. Lebovitz makes his by taking condensed milk and baking it in a water bath in an oven until the milk is caramelized and thick. Frankly, I think that takes more effort, but I admit, doing the alternative could be scary for a first-timer. The method that I prefer involves boiling unopened cans of condensed milk submerged in water for three hours. I can see why this would scare some people. But as long as the cans are completely submerged in water, you should be fine and you won’t be scraping dulce de leche and shrapnel from your ceiling.  That goes without saying that you should check the water level from time to time and replenish as necessary. I let them cool in the water as well, just to be sure.

Making these brownies does take some planning and prep work. I just happened to have some dulce de leche lying around from my last recipe testing.

These are good!!!

And OH MY EFFIN GOSH, MARC NELSON JUST PASSED BY!!!!!!!!!!

Never mind. I can’t finish this entry. I was blinded by Marc’s porcelain white teeth at na starstruck ako ng bonggang bongga!!!

May 31: Okay, I thought I'd finish this entry anyway since I got over being starstruck by Marc Nelson.
The Dulce de Leche Brownies were really good, but it is a must to underbake it a little bit because mine turned out a little cakey. Nuts are a welcome addition as well, because I like the crunch versus the creaminess of the rich dulce de leche. I also doubled the recipe so it would fit my 11- by 15-inch jelly roll pan (not to mention my family's voracious appetite). Its a great recipe to make if you happen to have some dulce de leche lying around.

David Lebovitz' Dulce de Leche Brownies are gorgeous!!!
(photo from www.davidlebovitz.com)

Busy just got a helluva lot busier!

After much thought, I decided to sit down and commit some time to writing at least one blog entry for this month because if things will keep on going the way they are, then I might as well shut down this blog. Remember when I said that March was such a busy month for me? Well, it just got busier. Waaaay busier. Just like I predicted.

Last April, I was in Palawan to train some of the kitchen staff of a resort in Sabang Beach. I stayed there for 10 days teaching a couple of cooks how to prepare the desserts we presented to the resort owners during a food tasting a while back.

Desserts I made for the resort: this one is a Choco-Caramel Candy Bar, sort of like a Snicker bar, only less sweet and with  walnuts and almonds

White Chocolate Cheesecake Mousse: Cheesecake mousse enrobed in white chocolate with graham crumbs and berry compote

Shipping is tricky in these parts so I was not surprised to find out that the shipment of the ingredients I ordered in Manila hadn't arrived yet. I was jumping for joy inside (or was I literally? Can't recall. I was overcome by jump-inducing joy) because that gave me some time to explore the beautiful beach and the interesting subterranean river. I'm still punishing myself though for having missed trying the exotic tamilok or shipworms (which are not actually worms, but odd-looking mollusks that burrow into wood immersed in sea water, or specifically in mangrove trees which thrive in Sabang). Locally, they serve it marinated like a ceviche. Heard they taste like oysters. And I looove oysters.

At the subterranean river entrance

Hardhats are for pussies

The beach near the entrance of the river

Wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning 

Sabang has interesting sunsets

Rainy days in Sabang are still beautiful

The mountains that sit on top of the subterranean river

Monitor lizards roam the protected area freely

At the Empire State Building 

Ten days later, I was 80% done with my work in Palawan. I was scheduled to go back for five days in May to teach the rest of the desserts, but not before Chef Booj and I along with Chef Ed, discussed a few consultancy projects that I might be interested in. I'm really thankful for having reconnected with Chef Booj. I will never admit it to his face, but I do owe him for giving me ways to raise some capital for my business in a shorter span of time. I was at a point where I couldn't really invest in any thing like kitchen equipment I knew I needed. And briefly, I didn't even allow myself to fantasize about having my own kitchen to operate. But now, with significant amounts of financial and emotional support from my mom, income from Chef Booj' projects and continuous cupcake orders, things are looking a lot more reachable.

I went back this month to Palawan to finish the work I started in April. We knew that it was going to be a very busy five days because on top of the food tastings and the cooking, we also had to train the service staff and make them familiar with the new menu. It was such an action-packed week due to the full resort occupancy with equipment breaking down in the kitchen and simultaneously teaching the staff the new recipes and dishing out the existing recipes.

You screw up your mise en place, you screw up your service

Chef Booj plating his Kinilaw na Tanigue, Sashimi style

Busy night at the resort restaurant

Getting ready to plate the new menu items

To add to the frenetics in the kitchen, we had encountered quite a number of manpower challenges so Chefs Booj, Ed and I agreed that there was just no way we could finish the training given the circumstances. So we made some adjustments with the staff schedule and decided that we needed to go back in June so we could launch the new menu smoothly. I'm scheduled to leave for Palawan at the end of the month and will be staying there for five more days.

When I get back to Manila, more work awaits me. The consultancy projects that Chefs Ed, Booj and I discussed are pushing through and our clients have made their initial payments. Now consulting doesn't come cheap and I'd be sure as hell our clients will be getting bang for their buck. Time to hit the recipe books!

Wish me luck!!!

PS:

On my second trip to Puerto Princesa, we made a pitstop at Vietville Restaurant. Our flight was delayed by an hour and by the time we got to the city, it was already past lunch time. We decided to get a couple of banh mi (baguettes with vietnamese fillings) to go so we wouldn't starve on the hour and a half transfer from the city to Sabang beach.

There were plain jane banh mi like pork and chicken. I got their best seller, roasted pork with pate. Oh my gosh, this was delicious. The baguette was hot and crispy outside and the crust was thin and delicate. And it soft and airy and pleasantly stringy inside. I was like, how did they do that?! The filling was good, but this time, really, I could have survived on the bread alone. The filling consisted of roasted pork that reminded me of char siu, atchara or pickled papaya, tomatoes and a yummy chicken liver pate intensely perfumed with star anise. The sandwich was so good I regretted not getting extra for dinner and breakfast the next day =D

Roast Pork with Pate banh mi

Read more about the history of Vietville here. Viet Ville Restaurant is located in Kilometer 13, Barangay Sta. Lourdes, Puerto Princesa City, 5300 Palawan.

My online shop is up and running!

Fact of the matter is that I've put off publishing my online shop and content for such a long time because I just could not resist going on a holiday with my friends in Mindoro to see the Apo Reef Natural Park and Pandan Island. There were no cupcakes there, but there was plenty of marine life (and for some reason, Europeans). White tip reef sharks and green sea turtles included! A close encounter with the shark had me thinking that if the circumstances were unfortunate, I would not have been baking cupcakes yesterday. Whew.

Anywho, the point is, I got it done! I think it looks pretty and it is sooo me. Dark with plenty of pink!!! I am still working on its contents, but for now it gives me and potential clients a place to communicate. I am so excited to fill it with photos of my products and actual projects. I am also looking forward to your comments and suggestions! Please do visit the site (click on the link below) and take a look at my current offerings.

Sweet Addictions by Lorenzo

Enjoy!!!

xoxo

***

April 9, 2011
As mentioned in this blogpost, I had to change my business name and in doing so, I have rendered the Multiply site above irrelevant. I have taken down the website and put up a new one under my new business name.

Please do visit the new website!

www.twinsistersbakeshoppe.co.nr

***

Cupcake Mishap!!!

I was making a batch of vanilla cupcakes for my cousin today when, not even half way through the baking process, my oven just decided to conk out.

/no

My First Ever Clients for Valentine's Eve!

I was super excited to deliver the goods to my first ever clients: my aunt and uncle!

Yesterday, they celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary here at the compound. Kuya Ric ordered 60 pieces of assorted cupcakes to be served as one of the desserts during the party. A few days ago, we discussed it casually and settled on a good number of cupcakes to serve during the party. I was set on serving the cupcakes straight from the box until I realized that this was not going to be an ordinary party. Quite a number of guests were invited to the anniversary party (mostly Kuya Ric's from the John Van De Steen male choir), and I only found that out when a caterer started hauling their equipment.

It was a good thing that I went to a cake box supply store somewhere in Sta. Mesa a few days ago where I was able to purchase a cupcake tower. I did not really intend to use the tower for this event, but when I found out what was going to be happening that evening, I was glad I bought it.

Elbow deep in cupcake frosting

Yesterday’s testing ended better than it started.

Feeling rather sick, I began the day making different batches of frosting for the cupcakes that I baked off earlier in the week and played around with a few recipes I had from my previous jobs and a couple I found on the internet.

One recipe in particular caught my attention. It was a traditional American butter-based frosting that called for 6 to 8 cups of sugar to a bar of butter (which is about 227 grams or half a pound). SIX TO EIGHT CUPS! From the get-go, I knew this recipe was going to be too sweet, especially for a Filipino clientele. To me, it even seemed unhealthy to be putting that much sugar in frosting. But a lot of the reviews online mentioned this frosting recipe to be “one of the best they’ve ever tasted.” So I kept an open mind and tried the recipe out, but I cut the recipe in half because if I use that much sugar, I would not have any left for the rest of the frostings I was yet to make.

My impressions were right. This frosting is just waaay to sweet. It holds great under warm weather but it tastes awful. I could not taste anything but pure sugar. So I decided to cut the sugar by half. Even when I cut the amount of sugar by that much, I still found the recipe too sweet. But I thought that maybe the sweetness would be tolerable if it was enjoyed with the cupcake base. I assembled a few cupcakes and had my cousins taste them. They weren’t too crazy about the sugary frosting either. So I went back to my kitchen extremely disappointed because I was already running out of ingredients and this misstep would cost me a few more ingredients that I needed for something else.

I also ran into a few problems with the dulce de leche that I made the day before. When I spread it on the tops of my banana walnut cupcakes, they refused to stay on top of the cupcake and made their way down the sides of the cupcake. I was so frustrated that I almost called my friends to let them know that there was not going to be a taste test that evening. But rather than waste all the effort I’ve already exerted, I moved on to the Red Velvet cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Banana Walnut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche

The frosting recipe was pretty easy and manageable. And I found it to be smooth and tangy, which I liked. I piped them on to the cupcakes and was finally happy with at least one cupcake. I also finished baking off the chocolate chip cookies that I promised to let sit in the fridge overnight. I found a solution to the burnt bottoms of the cookies by doubling the pans I baked them in and taking them a tad early to keep them chewy. After taking photos of the cookies and cupcakes that I managed to assemble and decorate, I got so tired I didn’t even finish the chocolate frosting for the chocolate cupcakes.

Then, I slept. I slept for a good hour on the couch with my apron still on and with frosting glued to my forearms. I was only woken up by a call from Lyn saying that they’ve arrived in front of the house and ready to test the cupcakes.

I was so surprised with their reaction with the cupcakes. They actually liked the vanilla frosting on vanilla cake, the one I found too sweet. They found it so good in fact, Charo called it addictive. They enjoyed the Red Velvets too, but they found a strange taste that they described as ‘uncooked batter’ which they actually found pleasant. They also liked the banana cupcakes but suggested that they could do without the dulce de leche frosting. They were finally happy with the chocolate chip cookies as well, and Lyn kept on hinting I give them a bag to take home. I was only happy to oblige, as I was elbow deep in cookies and cupcakes and I did not know what to do with all the leftovers. 

Because Karrie and Ian couldn’t make it to the tasting, I also sent a few cupcakes for them to taste. They wrote down their observations and I was able to read them today.  Karrie was okay with the Red Velvets but found the frosting not tangy enough. She also said that while they tasted good, it does not fit the memory of the Red Velvets she had before (I suddenly regretted not trying the Red Velvets when I was going around in NYC last year). Ian also found a weird taste he could not describe (I think this maybe the ‘uncooked batter’ taste Charo found in the cupcakes).  Then again, Ian always manages to find something wrong that hardly ever matters just to irritate me, so I’m not sure if I’m counting this one. =p  Karrie really enjoyed the vanilla frosting, which made me think twice about abandoning the recipe entirely. Maybe a few tweaks here and there would make it enjoyable for people with a sweet tooth and the sugar-intolerant (?).

At the end of the day, we made progress with the recipes despite the shaky start. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Tomorrow, I have a date with Lyn to take a look at KitchenAid mixers at Focus Global Inc. in Mandaluyong, the official distributor of KitchenAid mixers in the Philippines (YAAAY! I’m super excited!) and maybe decide on the best model to buy. Again, any sponsors? Send me an email! Better yet send me a cheque!

XOXOXOXO

Cookies, Cupcakes and Kebabs

Before I bore you to death with the story of my recipe tests, I would like to take this opportunity (naks, parang artista) to thank my friends who have gone out of their way to help me get started.  I know this will sound cliché as hell but this would not have been possible without their pushing me forward. I am really grateful for their putting up with me and for waking up early to accompany me to the cake supplies store, for making sure I have all the ingredients I need, for their constructive criticism and of course, for inspiring me and reminding me of the possibilities. (*tear*) Thank you very much for making this project a helluva lot easier.

So, moving on with the recipes, I decided to test my chocolate chip cookies first as they seemed to be the easiest to prepare. I got my ingredients together and equipment ready, and even borrowed the Kitchenaid from my aunt next door (I’m contemplating getting one real soon. Any sponsors?) and I got down to business. First impressions with the recipe are that it doesn’t take much time and effort to get the dough together and that the dough tasted really good raw (if you are pregnant, ill or your health is otherwise compromised, I really do not recommend consuming anything with uncooked eggs in them. Most chocolate chip cookie doughs do). 

This dough was very easy to work with. So after spacing them out properly on the sheet tray so they won’t stick together when they bake and making sure that the oven was at the right temperature when I popped them in, I thought to myself, “What could possibly go wrong?” Well, a number of things.

Since I was using a lightweight aluminum tray to bake them in, the bottoms got cooked faster than the rest of the cookie, turning them too brown, some even burnt. When I had my friends taste the cookies, they could not get past the acrid aftertaste of the slightly burnt bottoms. And though I was able to pull some out of the oven before they turned rock hard, my friend Charo said that the cookies could be a little chewier. I do like my cookies very chewy so I made a batch the following day and made sure I followed the recipe precisely. After mixing the batch, I promised to myself to the dough to rest overnight, as the recipe explicitly recommended. A recommendation I obviously ignored, when I baked off the previous batch cookies only after 30 minutes or so in the refrigerator.  So as I waited for the dough to rest while battling with my low emotional quotient, I decided to move on to the wonderful world of cupcakes.

Cupcakes.

I stood over the tiny cupcake tins and the fancy cupcake paper liners and thought what would people be thinking after finding out what I’m up to now. After two years of cooking school and several jobs later, my career has been reduced to cupcakes. CUPCAKES. I bet my next-door neighbor can bake cupcakes. Heck, I bet my dog can bake cupcakes. So why the hell am I making cupcakes?!

The truth is, I love cupcakes as much as the next guy. Well, as much as the next gay guy. I love how dainty they can be and how creative you can be with them. It’s not exactly Larousse Gastronomique material, but honestly, I love making them just as much as eating them. And as this is the search for the thing I’d be happier doing, cupcakes would be a good addition to the repertoire.

With the small oven and workspace that I had, I surprised myself when I was able to make a large batch of three flavors today: Vanilla, Chocolate and Red Velvet. Despite my requests to move the cupcake taste tests some other day because it was already late and I didn’t have my icings ready, my friends insisted in coming over to taste them. I was surprised yet again when they found that the cupcakes were really good. And they didn’t even have frostings yet! I say I was surprised because normally, they wouldn’t hold back on their criticisms because that’s the kind of friends they are; the kind that tells you the truth. Albeit they had a few criticisms here and there, they thoroughly enjoyed the cupcakes. Which made me even happier. But what made my evening was the dinner we had at Chef Dogan’s Turkish Grill and Restaurant in Katipunan Ave. QC. Guess what? The place is named after the chef who owns the place. And guess what!? He happens to be Turkish! And they serve up really good Turkish food.

Okay, this entry is going everywhere and right now it looks like my kitchen: a spectacular mess.  I’m sleepy and it’s been a long day of cookies, cupcakes and kebabs and I’m dying to go to bed.

Good night, y’all. XOXO.