Sweet Treats at Amigo Plaza Mall

Which would you prefer -prune cake, black forest or death by chocolate? These are just among the many specialty cakes Sweet Treats Bakeshop at Amigo Plaza Mall has to offer. My taste memories of Sweet Treats date back in the late 80s when the hotel/mall was opened and it was under the tutelage of Chef Maridel Uygongco.

Salads are the first that comes to mind upon the mention of their old shop plus their very popular death by chocolate cake. Aside from their "standing room only" restaurant, they have this bakeshop that finally found it palce in the center of the old mall. Hmmm, bichocoy, spanish bread, penny roll and more. When the hotel and mall had some facelift a few years ago, Sweet Treats jumped from one location to another until they finally found their current locations now.

Choco Chip Cookies

A special food tasting session was arranged by Sweet Treats for the members of the Iloilo Bloggers a few before Christmas. And I instantly loved their brazo de mercedes - not so sweet yet delicious filling without the starchy aftertaste. For PhP45, you get a large slice that's good eough for two.

Brazo de Mercedes

As always, their Death by Chocolate was a blissful gastronomic experience. It played on different textures of chocolate - smooth, crunchy, etc., on every bite!

Death by Chocolate

Other "sweet treats" were also as good as we devoured (that's exactly what we did) the Mud Bar (brownie and mousse), silvanas and pavlovas.

Mud Bar

Silvanas

Pavlova

We also dropped by their store and it brought memories with pan de siosa, penny roll, bichocoy and spanish bread amogn others.

Pan de Siosa

Penny Roll

Yet my new favorite at Sweet Treats is their Calzone - a discovery shared a blogger. I really was hooked into then ever since the first time I tried it, that one time I bought around six pieces for I also shared them. It's hard to find it everyday since the process in making is very tedious compared to their other products.

But that won't stop and I guess it'll give me more than enough reason to visit Sweet Treats Bakeshop again and again...

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Search This Blog