All About Baking

I thought I already posted about them. What was formerly known as Chocolate Lovers at the corner of Kitanglad Street and Quezon Avenue in Quezon City is now under new management. I believe they just changed management last August.

The price range is generally the same, with more choices for candies and cupcake liners and an ambience that is brighter and lighter (because it was a little dark there before). They also brought in new products like mixers, edible paper, cookie cutters, molds

 

 

what I mean by lighter (more lights, haha)

 

a lot of the same products we patronized, just repackaged

 

good they're selling butter there now too

 

we bought this and it tasted just like the colorful candies like the one below

 

... which are really perfect for loot bags (and i'm hoping these are safe compared to the ones you can buy in Divi)

 

and these are the cupcake/muffin liners

Because of the upcoming Holidays, they may be out of stock of some items as some patrons might be panic buying the whole lot... OR they will have a surplus of just about everything, having anticipated that. There may also be slight price increases.

ALL ABOUT BAKING
2 Kitanlad Corner Quezon Avenue, QC
Tel No: 359-1153 / 741-7487 / 731-2404
e-mail: all.about.baking@gmail.com
Find them on Facebook... just search for "All About Baking"

Robinsons Warehouse Sale 2012

Looking for  tv stands with mounts? What about little kitchen helpers to make for better food presentation? Christmas gifts to beloved kids perhaps? Fabulous outfits? DIY kits for home decorating?

Or just a reason to shop for any bargain?

Well then... the Robinsons Warehouse Sale 2012 event poster is already making the rounds. Here's what they say that you can expect:

Get up to 70% off on these participating brands: Toys "R" Us, Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Ben Sherman, Robinsons Appliances, Robinsons Department Store, Handyman, True Value, Saizen, Howards and Mini Stop! Plus more exciting deals at the Robinsons Metrobank Warehouse Sale 2012!

 Simply present your Robinsons Cebu Pacific MasterCard, GO! MasterCard or any Metrobank credit card to enter and enjoy the big discounts and deals!

Now, I know those days aren't pay days yet for most people but I guess that's where emergency cash and wise use of credit cards can help you purchase necessities (and maybe a few nice-to-have's) at cheaper the cost.

I am inclined to go just to see how much gets slashed on wooden toys at Toys "r" Us :)

Decadent Choco Chip Cookies

as sinful as Neiman Marcus Cookies (received in e-mail)
=============================

Ingredients:
1 (500 ml) cup butter
340 g chocolate chips
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup white sugar
250 g grated Cadbury chocolate
2 cups blended oatmeal
2 large eggs
1 tsp. (5 ml) baking powder
1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla
1.5 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add chocolate chips, grated Chocolate and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees (180 C).

Cookie Christmas Tree

My BIL gifted his wife with a Wilton Cookie Tree Cutter Kit which comes not just with cutters/shapers but also recipes for the cookie dough and icing.


a little blurry since kids were about


who couldn't keep their hands off the tree


their mouths too :D

Can't find a Wilton Kit? You can just purchase your own different-sized cutters from any baking supplies store, use your favorite cookie recipe (because the recipe provided by Wilton's gave a new meaning to TOUGH COOKIE, eventhough it tasted good) and decorate your own way.

You can even use different-sized bottle covers as cutters. You also have the option to attempt to carve your own leaf designs around each circle of dough. And yes, you can even use gelatin (just make it really firm) for the tree.

For the icing, any recipe will do. Just use food coloring. No piping bags? Be creative with sandwich bags! And any itty bitty candy will do for decoration (my SIL used Nips, a local version of M & Ms).

This would make a really lovely Christmas centerpiece... and your kids will have fun decorating it.

Ira's Coco Macaroons

Ingredients:
1/4 kilo dessicated coconut (high fat)
1 can sweetened condensed creamer
1/2 cup sugar
50 ml evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
100 gms grated cheese


Combine wet ingredients first in a bowl. Add all the remaining dry ingredients. Drop by teaspoonful into small corrugated paper cups. Make sure to mix the batter once in a while as you're filling the cups since the coconut tends to settle at the bottom.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes at 350 degree Fahnrenheit. Cool completely before serving.

Chocolate Lover has increased prices

Wednesday last week, my husband and I shopped for baking supplies at Chocolate Lover (over at P. Tuazon).

I realized we needed more supplies for what my SIL wanted to do so I returned there yesterday and I saw their clerks restacking the supplies after changing the prices. For sprinklers and such, it's between a P1-P2 increase but blocks of chocolate (say, the 1-kilo dark sweetened ones) showed at least P10-20 increase.

Yikes.

I'm not sure if this is Halloween and Christmas-driven or because of the tarnished China milk business but at least you can't say you weren't warned.

Colored Sugar

Colored sugar is a baking wonder, used to embellish cookies and cupcakes with without having the sugar burn or melt. I was, however, aghast that it was selling for around P137 at Chocolate Lover (container size is slightly taller than McCormick spices).

Good thing though that they're only selling for P30 a tub at Makro. Of course, not all Makro outlets may have them (or as many different colors to choose from).

They're particularly wonderful when they're slightly 'burnt' with the cookie dough because they taste like cotton candy.

Careful with Ingredients

Branded morsels, chocolate drops and what-nots can be expensive. So woe to someone who loves a super chunky chocolate chip cookie right?

Baking supplies shops also store generic chocolate chips... but do beware that baking is more like installing a house's foundation. You can't remedy it as easily as when you're just cooking.

And using different brands will yield different results.

We made the mistake of overloading our choco chip cookie batter with generic choco chips. Sure, we got the sweetness overload we were shooting for but the choco chips also had too much butter/fats in them that resulted in a super soft bath of choco chip cookies. They all melted and got incorporated in the batter, like chocolate swirls in dough. The effect would have been more appreciated in cakes, and certainly not on cookies that are cookie-thin and cake-crumbly.

Using chopped generic chocolate blocks was actually better, albeit time-consuming.

Lesson learned... stick to the recipe. Once confident, experiment with only a portion of the batter where necessary. That way, you don't ruin the whole batch.

Baking Supplies

Wondering where to get baking supplies to start your own business or just spice up the desserts you're making? Consider these four:

Chocolate Lover
Main: 45 P. Tuazon St. cor. C. Benitez St., Cubao, QC
Tel. No: (632) 411-7474; 724-5752

Branch: #2 Kitanlad St., Quezon Avenue (just near the Rotonda)
Tel No: (632) 732-8576

For US and Canadian residents, see www.beyond-chocolates.com

*~*

Chefs’ Nook
220 Pilar St., Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City.
(02) 724-5812
Open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5:30pm.

(source : Dessert Comes First)

*~*

Sweet Craft Baking and Confectionery Supplies
Visit us at 373 Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City
(In front of Rizal Technological University, a minute's ride from Boni MRT Station and EDSA!)
Telephone: (+632)5321595 Telefax: (+632)5326289

*~*

Ingrid's Sweet Haven
#363 Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue cor.
Liwayway Street, Barangay Caniogan, Pasig City 1606
TELEFAX: (632) 641-2561


I believe these shops also sell contaiers for your goodies, but cardboard boxes for your cakes and cookies are all still cheaper if you buy those in bulk in Divisoria. My MIL stocks up on these for her apple pies and bow tarts, and now, for cookies as well.

The Secret to Choco Chip Goodness...

... says Nigella Lawson, is the amount of chocolate chips you add to your batter. She admits to using two packs of morsels/chocolate chips when she bakes her chocolate cookies and defends the indulgence by saying that "she doesn't put a price on alleviating human suffering".

I'm sure nobody will contest that!

But if you're not really willing to spend so much on chocolate chips/morsels/drops... my sister-in-law swears that it's the cocoa you use for the batter that really spells the difference. You can use any morsel brand you want, or even replace them with sprinkles, nuts or fruit, but if the cocoa you used isn't a trusted brand, the cookies will fall short.

We mostly use Hershey's cocoa for our baking requirements.