Saturday, November 19, 2011

SPICE SQUASH FRUITCAKE

I am always curious on how a pumpkin cake taste like. As much as I want to bake one, there are lot of things that keep me on trying to make one. Do we have a pumpkin here in the Philippines? We have  lots of squash in the market, small and big ones. If I buy the big ones, can I call it pumpkin? What is the difference between squash and pumpkin? I grew up believing that pumpkin is used to make Jack O Lantern during Halloween. To end this curiosity, I researched about pumpkin and squash. Well, they all belong to the same family. Generally speaking, a pumpkin is something you carve, a squash is something you cook, and a gourd is something you look at and they all have sweet nutty taste. Anyway, to end this curiosity, I decided to bake my own version of pumpkin cake and use whatever is available. Usually, a pumpkin cake is made of puree pumpkin, spices, raisins and nuts. I only have squash and some leftover dried fruits and nuts from my last fruitcake baking which is soaked in liquor for almost a week. After calculating the percentage of each ingredients that I need to use and selecting what spices should I use, here's my SQUASH FRUITCAKE!






Thursday, November 10, 2011

ELITE SUGAR FREE MANGO CAKE

I loved working with mangoes. Aside from its natural sweetness, mangoes are flexible enough to decorate your cakes. I want to take this opportunity to thank a very kind person for allowing me to present my new recipe the way she did, Ms. Agnes Guinto. But as sign of respect to conserve and keep her own recipe a secret and as I used to do,I made some changes to consider it as "MY RECIPE!" I already made a lot of mango cake variation, thinking what to do this time, I decide to make it SUGAR FREE. Yes! It is sugar free except for the natural sugar present in using fresh mangoes. The sweet flavor of mangoes comes from its carbohydrate content. There many varieties of mangoes, and most of them have high carbohydrate content. Since the carbohydrates are fruit based, its HEALTHY COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES - sucrose. Per 100 gms. of mangoes there are about 14 gms of carbohydrates. There is almost no fat or protein content in mango. It provides you with more than daily requirement of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It also contains fiber, magnesium, iron and antioxidants. The glycemix index of mango ranges between 41 - 60, so its low. MANGO DOES NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT IN INCREASE BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS, so it does not promote fat storage. Due to the medium glycemix index, MANGOES ARE OKAY FOR DIABETICS.
So, does eating mangoes promote fat gain? NO, mangoes do not promote weight gain. What can promote weight gain are sugar loaded mango drinks.
ELITE SUGAR FREE MANGO CAKE
Generously covered with ripe mangoes.


3 Layered  cake filled with cream and mangoes.





Wednesday, November 9, 2011

FRUIT CAKES


Many people feel that these cakes improve greatly with age. When they are well saturated with alcoholic liquors, which raise the spirit and keep down the mold, and are buried in powdered sugar in tightly closed tins. THEY HAVE BEEN ENJOYED AS LONG AS 25 YEARS AFTER BAKING.
Joy of Cooking
For prices, visit CAKES AND PRICES page.

WHITE FRUITCAKE
Filled with dried mixed fruits ( melon, mango, kiwi, pineapple, tomato, coconut, apple, raisins) and cashew as the only nuts included.
Soaked and bathed every week in red wine. At least 1 month of aging/ripening is needed to fully enjoy these white "grooms" cake. White fruitcake because it is made with white sugar as opposed to the more common molasses. I goes by "groom's cake" because it was traditionally served to a groomsman before his wedding.



KAHLUA FRUITCAKE
Coffee flavored fruitcake soaked in Kahlua. Cake is filled with raisins and dates, the coffee and molasses makes it dark. These cake is really moist!



JACK'S (WHISKEY) FRUITCAKE
Chocolate flavor fruitcake soaked in whiskey. Glazed fruits, cherries and almonds and generous amount of whiskey makes these cake something to crave all year round.


CHOCOLATE VODKA FRUITCAKE
Chocolate flavored fruitcake generously bathed in imported and GENUINE UKRAINIAN CHOCOLATE VODKA. A superb combination of alcohol and chocolate!
P150.00