As the premiere bakeshop in Iloilo City, Tinapayan once again delights the taste buds of Ilonggos as it offers a galore of specially made as well as specially packaged goodies for the Yuletide season. Dubbed as Tinapayan’s Christmas Delights, the 2011 collection is a mix of cakes and pastries as well as chocolates and breads that will surely add color and flavor to the celebrations.
A special food tasting session was arranged by Tinapayan Bakeshop exclusively for the Iloilo Bloggers Inc last Tuesday at The Promenade 2 of Days Hotel Iloilo. Ms Evelyn “Owa” Que, owner of Tinapayan was all smiles when she greeted us all and presented around 40 of Tinapayan’ Christmas Delights.
And we got to taste the specialties of the bakeshop for Christmas starting with this delectable Dark Fruit Cake. As I always say, “looks good, tastes even better” – yes each slice explodes with the goodness of the richness of the wine infused cake and the quality of fruits mixed in it giving it a lingering flavour that ultimately becomes a craving for another slice. If fruit cakes were this good, I doubt if they will stay inside the fridge for a year! (On that note, I also like fruit cakes that are a year old or so. Just like with wine, the older it gets, it justs tastes better.) It comes in loaf or small cake variants.
Another intoxicatingly good cake was this Tanduay-infused Walnut Prune Loaf. Same dense cake with a burst of flavour and texture in each bite – the crunch of the walnuts, the appetizing walnut and the bite (and kick) of Tanduay. Again, it’s intoxicatingly good!
Next was the familiar, Panettone, for we usually have it at home. It’s an Italian sweet bread loaded with fruits and raisins among other giving it the nickname “fruit cake bread”. It was a break from the “nakakalasing” cakes but it was also as good.
After just one break, we’re with two liquor cakes – Rhum Butter Cake and Espresso Rhum Cake. Both look good and complementing – as the Butter cake sports a light brown finish the Espresso cake was dark giving an instant recognition of its flavours.
The butter cake was an easy eat – light and sweet not to mention it smells good too. The espresso has the “kick” of the coffee as one bite can certainly perk up anyone with its bold taste yet balanced by the icing and walnut toppings.
I really love the Mazapan de Pili! A concoction of crushed pili nuts and sweet but tamed condensed milk (?) in an unlikely base/bed of lumpia wrapper. Yup it’s the usual spring roll wrapper used just to hold the mix in the mold so it can be easily molded out. But then it gives a crunch to this already good dessert. Mazapan de Pili is available all year round but just in squares (maybe 1.5 inches) but it’s only during Christmas one can get hold of this big serving of Mazapan de Pili. (Esteemed food writer and restaurateur Claude Tayag told me that he really loves this Tinapayan treat, when we met during the Tabu-an Food Fair last month).
We also got to sample the Pure Butter Christmas Cookies that come in a big glass jar or just a small pack. The food for the gods gave us our most moist eat that time – moist, delectable and full of flavour – no wonder it is named as such. And also present were twin Santas - dark and milk chocolate.
Also the three flavoured Lengua de Gato that comes in three variants – butter, chocolate and mocha. Each comes in plastic containers of the same kind or you can have the three in one – a perfect sampler!
As we felt all these Christmas Delights will gain us 5 lbs just for one afternoon, out came big servings of Seafood Marinara from the kitchens of The Promenade and mind you, each serving is good for two persons. I was among the more gallant ones who have finished it all – to the last morsel or so.
It was another gastronomic afternoon for the members of the Iloilo Bloggers Inc as we had a another food tasting session in a place we can almost call “our home”. With good food, enjoyable company, the best view and ambiance and the unmatched service among others – these makes Christmas comes a lot earlier than Dec. 25.
And with the Christmas Delights from Tinapayan, sure thing that Christmas can be celebrated all year round!