Somebody at work asked if dinner – namely the food laid on our table – was good and I had all energy to reply: “Masarap sya. Tikman mo! ” (It’s delicious, taste it!)
After which a colleague of mine teasingly said: “Pleaaaase. Don’t ask Annalyn anymore. Everything with her tastes good.”
Hehe. I have to admit she gave me some food for thought there. I am actually wishing I was taking an appetite suppressant or something. My consolation is the fact that am not gaining weight (sexy pa rin daw..hmmp!), maybe because of my freakin’ work sked and all those late-night shifts. On the other hand, am not a complete glutton since there are some food I won’t eat for the life of me. These include dinuguan, papaitan or anything with innards (except sisig). I do not even eat the tuwalya in kare-kare.
I am also not fond of sweets. So when my officemate John told me that he’s embarked on a second career as a pastry chef, cake-maker (whatever you call it), I was secretly impressed. After all, he has a steady job with our company and happily married with a kid. How many people are there who pursue their passions and turn it into a business? And how many guys do you know can actually bake cakes?
Apparently, John now has a thriving career supplying cakes to selected coffeeshops in Makati and Metro Manila. So when he invited me to sample his creations at the Coupe Coffeeshop in Better Living Subd., Paranaque City, I gave it no second thought. Thankfully, my buddy Notty was game enough to drive me to the place, which had the equivalent distance of Tawi-tawi by my Manila Girl standards. I was lucky that Coupe’s flavored coffees were really good, like the one with Kahlua, hazelnut and Bailey’s. There are not too many of these establishments which offer this around.
But of course, John’s cakes were another thing. They were simply heavenly. Like this Chocolate Eminence which he described as ” a chocolate sponge cake with ganache and hazelnut praline.” Mmm, truly sinful but absolutely indulgent. I soon realized that I had a sweet tooth after all.
My personal favorite was this Turtle Pie, which is more like a cake than a pie because of its irresistible Oreo crust. It is filled with chocolate mousse and gooey caramel sauce, then topped with chocolate glaze and embedded with walnuts. I’ll definitely order it for one of those special occasions soon.
The tiramisu< was also to die for. John makes this Italian sponge cake with coffee liquor, cream cheese, Savaion filling and Marsala wine. For the record, I tasted four slices of cakes that night which had me worried about my increasing hip size while at the same time coveting the other cakes on display in the counter, namely: the almond sans rival and the Concorde cake beautifully adorned with chocolate meringue sticks. Needless to say, i was one contented cat that night. Thank you John for believing in me enough to "plug" your products in my blog (haha!)Hope you'll be a big name like Sugarhouse someday.
For high-quality, special cakes, please call John SC at 0916-6665315. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t deliver overseas…duh:(
I’m impressed with your officemate John’s baking talent. They all look good! I just love tiramisu — yum, yum. I’m a certified sweet tooth talaga kaya ayan, panay ang punta sa dentista. 🙂
Where did he study how to do all these wonderful creations?
Take care and God bless, AJ.
OH MY GOODNESS! Makes my mouth water! One of the things I miss in Manila — cakes! Pag uwi ko sa December libre mo ko ng cake… hehe
wow cakes! naku ajay napapauwi na tuloy ako sa pinas because of these pics! :-))) yummy and take note wala dito nito, hmp!
thanks for sharing :-))
Thank you Ajay for a very wonderful write-up about my passion, which is baking. Being a self-acclaimed “PATISSIER”, i make sure that all cakes that we make are made of the finest ingredients available in the market. We never scrimp on ingredients whether they may be local or imported. We never mass produce nor store our sweet creations for a long period of time and everything we provide to our clients is freshly baked. Bon Appetit!!! Thanks again Ajay!!!
Hi.
I have been a fan of John for years now. What started as a hobby is now a sinfully delicious second career for my kababata. He started playing around the kitchen with Pineapple Upside Down cake when we were still kids. Now, he has expanded to include more delightful cakes for us…I don’t which one to get. And really, after enjoying his cakes, you would find other cakes unsatisfactory. My personal favorite is his Macintosh Pie.
He also teaches others how to bake and I once attended his baking session….it was a real eye-opener and made me appreciate his cakes more. For those of you who would want to learn how to bake cakes, John is willing to take on more students.
ros
nammmmmm grabe! will surely hunt your friend John when I’m home:)
sayang talaga, he does not deliver abroad 🙁
picture pa lan, ang sarap na! what more pag natikman ko! i never say no to chocolates, kahit nagkakaroon ako ng breakout ng taghiyawat! here’s to all the chocolate-lovers in the world!
Hi Jayred. I believe John is a self-taught baker. So that should make us hopeful..we could learn to satisfy our sweet tooth cravings by ourselves too;)
Am flustered..wala bang cakes sa Norway at China AL & Siena? No problem, just show yourselves to me..treat ko kayo ng cakes, hehe
Chef John, thanks din for treating me to all those cakes. Awat na po tayo sa plugging, hahaha. Here’s wishing you all the cake-y, chocolate-y best!!:)
Ros, good of you to put in more good words about John. Whew! I still have to try the Macintosh pie*wink* And I hope to attend his baking lessons one of these days too. Bilib ako sa passion ng iyong friend sa baking. I am sure he’s gonna make it big soon:)
Thanks for dropping by Cheh and Owen. IT’s always good to touch base with fellow foodies. Take care y’all
Hay naku ju, may cakes dito pero hindi sila masyadong creative. Kakaunti lang ang choices di katulad sa atin. Kung meron man ditong mouth-watering cakes, hindi ko alam kung saan sila nagtatago. 🙂
gosh ajay, those cakes look really good. i wish i could just reach into the screen and take a slice! i want sans rival!
Ganon ba Anna Lyn? Bagay nga ang desserts dyan sa malamig mong lugar eh.. kahit hindi mo na ilagay sa ref..lol
Uy Toni, infanticipating ka na yata..hehe:)
good Lord. i better track you down when i visit ‘Pinas so you could drag me down to all the right places. 🙂
Dexie, please do..:-D would love to see you
they all look so yummy! 😀
hi ajay.. this look so good! yummyyummyyummy.. i’ll have one of those someday..
Yummy talaga, Duke & Dessa (you know where to call!) A little indulgence wouldn’t hurt sometimes 🙂
Galing naman niya, self-taught baker.