Christophe Michalak et Bradley Cooper

The rainy weather has gotten the best of me and I'm down with a serious case of colds and I can't make myself work today (which is bad because I have got some prep to do for a food tasting tomorrow! Argh!) However, my runny nose has failed to keep me from surfing the internet and blogging. Between purchasing a song on iTunes and YouTubing for cake recipe videos, I stumbled upon a channel subscription that I have long since forgotten. It is a French food channel, one that I subscribed to a few months back when I was still working on board the ms Veendam. I can't recall why I liked the channel so much despite not understanding a word but there is something about the French language that never fails to get my attention. Whenever I hear someone speaking French around me, I can't help but eavesdrop and try to decipher their conversation. Okay, maybe not decipher, more like trying to make out the words I do understand from their conversation using my very, very limited French vocabulary. So I guess it's no surprise that I am subscribed to a French culinary channel on YouTube. (Come to think of it, it should be a surprise. Why on earth would I watch something I don't even understand?!) It was on this channel that I found out that the pastry chef whose work I've seen and followed in certain food publications and chocolate supplier catalogues turns out to be a hottie!

Meet Christophe Michalak, a young pastry chef who has worked in establishments I could only dream of working in. His resume reads like a must-see list of pastry shops and restaurants in Paris: Fauchon, Laduree, Plaza Athenee, yep, he's worked in all of them, even getting three Michelin stars for his work at the Hotel Plaza Athenee.

It's not so hard to grant three stars to this hottie!

He kinda reminds me of Bradley Cooper who, coincidentally, happens to speak French! As if he even needs to try to be sexy!

I know he would look good as a chef. I know because he played a chef on a series called Kitchen Confidential, so its not hard imagining him in chef's whites. Or out of it. Teehee.

Now back to work Cho!!!!

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.

Back from a holiday, and its Graduation season!

It's been such a busy month that I didn't have time to post anything new on my blog. When you are working all by yourself and juggling chores, meeting clients' demands and trying to get things fixed (oh and squeezing in a holiday in Donsol, Sorsogon!), some things get inevitably pushed to the back burner and I'm very easy to forget. Like I almost forgot I had this blog.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was able to reconnect with a previous employer and apparently, he needed someone to make desserts and train the kitchen staff for a resort somewhere in Western Visayas. Since this would mean additional income which I could use as capital for my business, I did not dare say no. And as usual, we had very limited time to prepare for a food tasting that was due only a few days after I got in touch with my boss. Not long after that, I was literally running to get everything done in one day for the food tasting that was scheduled only a day after I got the money for the ingredients. Did I mention that I live in Marikina and the food tasting was going to be held at the resort owner's residence in far-away Ayala Alabang? Whew!

My boss' appetizers of shrimp pesto in wonton cups and smoked fish triangles

My attempt at L'Opera

Coconut Panna Cotta with Mango Ice Cream

The set up at the food tasting

Deconstructed? Cheesecake mousse enrobed in white chocolate, on a bed of graham and berry compote

And just recently, I just got back from trip in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines where I got to swim with whale sharks.They are amazing creatures and one's trip to Donsol won't be complete without at least one whale shark interaction. It was well worth the aching legs and sore arms, but I was looking forward to a couple of days' rest when I got home.  But being that Graduation season was in full swing when I got home, I soon got orders for cupcakes a day after arriving in Manila. I was so happy that the volume of orders was picking up and that I had enough ingredients to meet that demand. But I admit, I could have used another day just lounging in bed. But like Lyn always tells me, it's a happy problem. Indeed, I'd rather struggle to meet a lot of orders than have no orders to meet at all!

Here's one of the cupcake orders I delivered for a graduation celebration. It was for Charo's cousin who just received her degree in Tourism. She is a big fan of Paris Hilton and pink was the perfect color to use for the frostings and decor.

"That's hot. Loves it!"

Red Velvet cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes

April is going to be even busier since I will be making desserts and training staff in a resort in Western Visayas for a little while. It's going to be hard work but it is a perfect opportunity to keep my skills in check and to earn a little extra for my business. All in all, March was a great month for The Twin Sisters Bakeshoppe and I can't wait for what April has in store. Just keep the happy problems coming!!!

Congratulations Batch 2011!!!

And my official business name is...*DRUMROLL PLEASE!*

THE TWIN SISTERS

BAKESHOPPE

Finally! A business name that I can call my own. And I have the official document to prove it! Pretty soon you will find changes in the website, but my products are still the same and still available!

Keep the orders coming! You may still contact me through the number and email posted in my temporary multiply site. You can find the link on the side bar of the blog.

Thanks for visiting!

XOXO,

Cho

The Embarassing Story of Why I'm Changing My Otherwise Perfect Business Name

What happens when you put your complete trust in a web-based business registration service? You end up changing the business name you so passionately set your heart on.

Here's what really happened. And I admit, the Department of Trade and Industry isn't entirely at fault here. Because of my excitement, I kept putting off getting my business registered and working instead on the goods to sell, the packaging, and of course, the logo. Silly me. I was confident that the name I wanted was not yet taken because when I checked it online, records did not show a business registered under the same name. I knew I had to register it eventually, but for the life of me, I don't know why I didn't do it sooner rather than later. 

When I finally had the money and the time to have it duly registered at a DTI office, I had my heart set on the name Sweet Addictions. To say that I was extremely frustrated to find out that there was a bakeshop outside Manila registered under the same name is an understatement. The only difference is that they used the singular form of the noun. I sat there at the officer's desk, wasting his time while trying to think for an alternative name, only to get turned down every time because every name I mentioned was already taken. I even called Charo for rescue but she insisted that I abort the registration because I might settle for a name I wasn't happy with. I went home feeling defeated and tired. It was a good thing that Lyn invited me for drinks at her house that night because I badly needed one. As much as I was frustrated at the flaws of the online services of DTI, I couldn't put the blame entirely on them. So that evening, I just blamed it on the ah-ah-ah-ah-a-alcohol!

I really hate to change it, but given the circumstance, I really have no choice. So if you happen to visit my online shop, expect a major change soon in the name and possibly, in the look of the site. *SAAAD FACE*

The lesson here? Simple. Get your business registered before anything else. Or at least before you even begin working on a name or a logo design. And don't put your complete trust on the web-based DTI registration service because it won't always tell you if another business is registered in the name you're intending to use. It is best to first register online and then verify the name with a DTI officer. 

The most important lesson of all? It takes less drinks than you think to turn a bad day around when you are in good company. =)

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

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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

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