My Favorite Pastries at Cafe Mary Grace

I love Cafe Mary Grace for its consistency and good service. You can check out my earlier posts here, here, and here. 

I first heard about the resto from my friend Teeny, who was raving about the ensayamada of the soft dough and the right medley of sweet and salty. You can request to have it grilled to intensify the flavors. 

Many of my friends were also mad about the mango bene, which reminds me of a very good tiramisu. The lightly sweetened cream tied all the elements together.

If you ask me I love the strawberry shortcake the most. It had just the right mix of sweet and tart and was generous with slivers of candied strawberry. The sponge was moist and the cream not too cloying. It was also Instagram-worthy: very pretty. I used to hate sponge cakes, but this is different from the sorry dry sponge cakes I had. 

'Til my next post. :)


Cafe Mary Grace
Robinson Place Manila
Midtown Ermita

Ruby's Country Cafe for Mango Chew Cookies

There's a charming cafe in Las Pinas which we visited a few months ago, perfect for whiling the hours away.

They have very good baked goods, but I love the mango chew cookies the best.

It was creamy, and I love how chewy it was with the pull of the dried mango.

Below are the other products they sell.

Ruby's Country Cafe
Lot 112,5 Tropical Avenue
BF International, Las Pinas City
(+63) 917 9281537

Diamond Hotel's Ensaymada, Pretty Pastries, and Homemade Ice Cream

Starting this blog has been such an awesome ride. Although my resources are limited, the opportunities to sample what could be the topic of the next post appear to be endless. What it requires is being open to possibilities, and this could be simple as saying yes more. When an invitation came my way to join a series of planning meetings at Diamond Hotel, I readily accepted.

If there are two things that Diamond Hotel is known for food-wise, these would be the ensayamda and the delightful confections of its Cake Club. Once the first meeting ended, I trooped to the dark and handsome Lobby Lounge and ordered the bestselling Diamond Ensayamada, which you can see below, was drowning in butter and melted cheese. It was pillow soft and melts in your mouth, with just the right sweetness. I wished that the saltiness of the cheese came through more. There was ube but it was muted by the rich butter. I paired my order with green tea, and allowed my mind to wander. 

I've been to the Bonifacio Global City branch of the Cake Club, and I know I'm in for a treat. You can check my post on that visit here. I ordered Danielle, first, because it was pretty, and, two, it was sugar-free, to assuage my saccharine-overload guilt. The cheesecake component was not overly sweet, and there was enough raspberry to tart the pastry up.

"danielle-white chocolate raspberry sugar-free cheesecake"

I also bought pastry Mont Blanc, which reminded me of an upside down beehive. After scarfing down the humungous ensaymada, I decided to bag the two pastries. I ate one the next day, and kept the other one in the ref for almost a week. Did the Mont Blanc hold up? I was doubtful, but it was still good. It was delicate, not too sweet. My very Pinoy palate detected hints of sweet potato and a lovely, sweeter center of tamarind. Read the caption below. Ang layo! :) 

"mont blanc--made of fresh chestnut paste, chantilly cream,
prunes soaked in dark rum on almond tart"

When it comes to buffets, I need no convincing when it comes to home made ice cream. Pictured below, clockwise from top, are scoops of vanilla, salted caramel, and raspberry. Lately I've been leaning towards butterscotch and caramel, and thus I was sold with the salted caramel. I wasn't keen on vanilla at first but it was the best seller, and now I know why. I's not a one note variant--I sense a touch of mint. It went well with the salted caramel ice cream. 

Diamond Hotel
Roxas Blvd. cor. Dr. J Quintos St
Manila
(+63) 02 528 3000

Davao City's Galletas de Davao

I'm in training, and one of our lecturers is related to Wency Cornejo, the singer, who's now into a Davao-City based pasalubong business. They met in one of our trainings in the city, and she urged us to buy his crispy wafers called Galletas de Davao.

I bought two canisters from their Davao airport stall: one in durian, the other in ube-langka. I hand-carried these to Manila, and they barely survived intact.

durian, my favorite, now in wafer form

the ube-langka was delicate

Since I'm partial to durian, I tried it out first--it was melt-in-your-mouth and rich, like ice cream. I should have bitten into the ube-langka wafers first. The durian wafers overwhelmed the delicate taste of the latter. I tried these a few days later, and they're quite good, too. 

If you've ran out of ideas on what to bring from Davao City, consider these wafers.  

Dakak's Curious Coco Cake and Quattro Formaggi

A curious thing happened during my stay in Dakak Park and Beach Resort. I chanced upon this coco pie and cake hybrid.

The top was crusty and quite heavy, like buco pie and cassava cake, but underneath it was all chiffon. But it was delicious and new, and again I'm sorry I didn't take down its name. I hope I can visit the place again and make a better acquaintance. 

Help! What is this cake?

I was wary of the restaurants inside the resort. The place is quite isolated, and they discourage bringing in food. The breakfast was unremarkable, but the Italian Restaurant, Il Ristorante was quite good and good value for money. It made me rethink my aversion to Meatballs Spaghetti.

We fell in love with the Quattro Formaggi Pizza., which we paired  with Pizza Margherita.
The Four-Cheese Pizza was a home run--straightforward and delicious

The Cake Club's Baked Cheesecake and Supermoist Chocolate Cake

During my friend Lulu's birthday get-together, we decided to eat cake. Not just ordinary cakes, dear readers, but those by Diamond Hotel's Cake Club. And so off to the Bonifacio High Street Branch we went. 

We ordered three, two of which were bestsellers. These did not disappoint

baked cheesecake

supermoist chocolate cake

I'm a fan of cheesecakes, so this one had me at hello. It's cheesy, and the almond bits lend texture. I'm not crazy about chocolate, but like its companion this was moist and not cloyingly sweet.

In my next visit, I'm gunning for the ensaymada and the ice cream.

The Cake Club

Bonifacio High Street, 7th Avenue

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
(+63) 02 621 3176

Tacloban City's Cinnamon Cookies

I'm back in Leyte, and I'm thrilled to be eating roscas cookies again. You can read about my entry on the latter here. I made another discovery, courtesy of a team-mate who grew up in Tacloban--cinnamon cookies, sprinkled with sugar on top. Like roscas, this goes well with coffee or tea, and is perfect for souvenir.

Cello's Doughnuts

Blueberry...

...or chocnut? Why choose? I had both

If half-a-dozen is love..

..why not make it two?

It's Sunday, and my thoughts are of home. Growing up with a father who worked far away, his rare home visits means greeting us with a box of donuts. Those were the days untouched by Krispy Kreme. Still, it was always a treat for us kids, opening that little carton bearing an assortment of flavors, and heaven for me was fishing out a sugar-dusted Bavarian cream-filled orb. I still have the occasional doughnut or two, but I find many a tad too sweet. 

Cello's doughnuts I find just right--not too sweet, dough so soft, and quite a selection of flavors.  I had the blueberry variant, my new favorite. I shared my loot with my office-mates, and I tried my best not to go beyond two, taking a mental note to visit the nearest branch in a week or so. 

Cello's has branches at Katipunan right across Ateneo, at the 2nd Floor of the PS Bank and Eastwest Bank Building; and at SM North Edsa near the Skydome at the Sky Garden.

Barugo, Leyte's Roscas

They look like ears, right? Roscas are akin to butter cookies, but hardier. They are made of flour, sugar, butter, eggs, anise, and lard, and are perfect with coffee. Barugo is a coastal town 50 km northwest of Tacloban.