TOP 10 Manila's Finest CAKE's !!!

This is a list that I should be spinning out annually, really – and I have – except for 2006, which I missed out on. (My bad). After all, if I were asked to write the story of my life, it would be told in chapters of dessert: Chapter 1: “Butterscotch Pudding”; Chapter 2: “Chocolate Chip Cookies”; and so on. The current chapter in my life would be called “Chocolates and Cheesecake,” because those are precisely what comprise my most-loved desserts of the moment. On this list alone, there are three chocolate cakes and four cheesecakes. It sounds a bit repetitive initially, but you’ll see soon enough that they all deserve their individual places of merit on this list.

On this website, I speak for no one but myself, so the desserts here are my Top Ten, and not necessarily anybody or everybody else’s. The same desserts can’t please everybody, but they sure as heck have pleased me. Here, in no certain order, are Manila’s Best Desserts, 2007. For a look back, click here for Manila’s 10 Best Desserts, 2005.

TOP 1

Chocolata of Sweet Bella

 

I met Cristina Santiago-Rivera in the boxing ring at the gym, believe it or not. Like all fans of the sugar-obsessed, we began talking about dessert, and in between jabs and upper cuts, I found out that she’s the pastry chef and proprietor of Sweet Bella, a cakes and pastries company. As part of the family that owns Melo’s Steakhouse, Cristina parlayed her dessert expertise into the family restaurant melding classical desserts with innovative design.

Cristina’s Chocolata is the first of two of her desserts that are on this list. Yes, her sweets are that good. The description of her trademark Chocolata is simple enough: “Moist chocolate cake layered with rich chocolate ganache.” In reality, it’s a dense cake with resounding notes of chocolate that echo in every bite. It’s moist beyond belief without crossing the line to being gooey or underbaked. And that ganache, oh that ganache — that fills the spaces between layers and glazes the cake — never have I tasted anything quite like it: substantial but light at the same time, yet chewy and full-bodied.

TOP 2

Strawberry Charlotte of Sweet Bella

 

To say that Cristina Santiago-Rivera’s desserts are gorgeous is like saying that foie gras is just liver. Sweet Bella’s desserts are perhaps the apotheosis of edible beauty usually finished with a crown of sumptuous chocolate curls, or in the case of the Strawberry Charlotte, a cluster of imported strawberries sparkling in their lush fullness.

Unlike the traditional charlotte which is a sponge-lined pudding made in a mold, this is a torte of four nougatine layers interspersed with the fluffiest, most delicate cream sweetened with a light hand. A most majestic, luxurious dessert, this one will undoubtedly have family members fighting over every last piece, as mine did.

Sweet Bella
844-0680 / 844-9905 / 0928-5025027
1730 Banyan St.
Dasmariñas Village, Makati
sweetbellacakes@yahoo.com

TOP 3

Virginity of Sucrée

Its name is quite the attention-getter, yes? But I kid you not when I say that there’s a cake out there with that moniker. Sucrée is a café-bakery that specializes in cakes with lyrical labels such as Caramela and Melania Meringue along with all-time favorites such as the Oreo Cheesecake and the Orange Rum Bundt Cake. The café-bakery recently moved to their new digs on Scout Borromeo in Quezon City after a few years along nearby Times Street, and they’ve also expanded to another branch in Robinson’s Place Manila.

Anyway, the aforementioned Virginity is what I’d expect in a cake tagged with that appellation. It’s pristine in color — almost white actually, (virginal!) – a sponge cake perfumed in vanilla caressed by the lightest layer of dulce de leche. Occasional bursts of macadamia praline add textural interest and keep the mouth enticed. Truly, while this cake is purely immaculate in looks, there’s nothing virginal about it in taste.

Sucrée
#19 Scout Borromeo, Quezon City
415-0943
Open: Mon-Sat, 7am-9pm

TOP 4

White Chocolate Cheesecake of Apartment 1B

I’ve been to Apt. 1B more times than I care to count, and while I always order something new every time, I always have their White Chocolate Cheesecake for dessert. Sometimes, it’s my only reason for eating there, truth be told. A rather unassuming, squat piece of pie, the cheesecake sits off-center on a plate decorated with strawberry-puree hearts. That same “coulis” – if you will—dots the top of the cheesecake that’s somewhat obscured from view by its peek-a-boo cloak of whipped cream.

What begins as a rather adequate cheesecake transforms into a treat that tantalizes once my teeth capture and crunch into the white chocolate chunks. Immediately recognizable as Toblerone white, the familiar flavor glides and rides upon the velvetiness of the cream cheese, turning up the vanilla note of the dessert. Touches of sweetness round out the harmony and then there’s that graham cracker crust that beguiles with its straightforwardness and substantial thickness.

Apartment 1B: Gourmet Comfort Food
One Lafayette Square
132 L.P. Leviste Corner Sedeno St
Salcedo Village, Makati
Tel: 843-4075

TOP 5

Chocolate Cake of Celine

It’s a somewhat strange but true fact in Manila that some of the best chocolate cakes are bought at gas stations. Shell Magallanes has Polly Garilao’s Chocolate Cake, and the Caltex at the corner of Buendia and Pasong Tamo has a chocolate cake made by someone I only know as “Celine.” I’ve never met this Celine nor do I even know how to order from her and what else she may sell, but I fondly call her cake the “Celine Cake.” This is the cake I buy when I’m feeling stingy but want an immediate, ultimately gratifying hit of chocolate.

That this cake is also sold at a gas station automatically invites comparisons to the Garilao cake, and both have their attributes. The Celine Cake is denser, with a more robust crumb, its swarthy chocolate frosting is fudgey and moist – the type that sticks teasingly to the fork, dissolving only after a few insistent licks. But what I like most about this cake is it’s sheer lack of frippery: with fork in hand, I jump in and the flavor comes up to greet me. It’s a splurge of chocolate flavor that’s sweet and uncomplicated, a cake that satisfies on all levels, and icing that has just a glimmer of vanilla.

Chocolate Cake of Celine
Caltex at the corner of Buendia and Pasong Tamo, Makati.

TOP 6 

Ube Cheesecake at The French Corner

If you’ve ever thought that the color purple is no good for food, this dessert will make you change your mind. For good. Made from the vividly-hued tuber that’s anything but lowly, this cheesecake is its perfect partner. Out it comes with its halo of golden spun sugar being hailed in a bliss pool of pandan cream and strawberry slices. And there in the center it sits: ube cheesecake!

Its crust is surprisingly, fresh-from-the-box cornflakes, a most unlikely but willing partner. Conveying none of its characteristic crunch, it’s been crushed to a smooth paste until it takes on almost the same texture as the custard it carries. Expressing surprise at the avant-garde use of this native crop, I marvel at its exquisite smoothness and coo over its delicate flavor. It’s like eating crème brulee. A dessert that stands up to deep exploration in mind and on tongue, this dessert is an exceptional tour de force of legendary chef Billy King.

The French Corner
Commerce Avenue corner Filinvest Avenue
Westgate Center, Filinvest Corporate City
Alabang, Muntinlupa City
771-2345

TOP 7

Trio of Frozen Brazos from Karen Young

I’m amazed at how the frozen brazo went from being an innovation on a classical dessert to one that’s teetering on the brink of entering the mainstream. Correct me if I’m wrong but Dimpy Camara of San Lorenzo Village may have been the first home baker to offer this frozen delight to the public late last year. Other home bakers have followed suit and I’ve tried those but I’ve yet to try the original, which is Dimpy’s.

Meantime, one of my favorite home bakers and friend, Karen Young, has come out with yet another twist on the frozen brazo: flavored variations in strawberry and green tea. Imaginative, yes? She also offers the original frozen brazo – graham cracker crust, yema custard filling, mantecado ice cream, and swathes of meringue that she’s whimsically dubbed “Manila Vanilla.” Her Green Tea Frozen Brazo has its separate components steeped in green tea to infuse flavor and color thus, a green tea chiffon cake, green tea yema, green tea ice cream, and meringue. The green tea flavor rings through, its sharpness rounded out by the creaminess of the yema.

The Strawberry Frozen Brazo has a piquant strawberry taste that’s a true-to-the-fruit flavor that perks me up quite nicely. With its profusion of color in brown, yellow, pink, red, and white, it’s indeed a striking dessert. I have my doubts however, as to whether the chocolate cake bottom layer fights or flows with the strawberry, but you be the judge. A caveat: let frozen brazos defrost at room temperature for a few minutes to facilitate slicing. Lesser knives have been known to break and wrists strained while attempting to “saw” through.

Karen’s Kitchen (KEY Specialty Foods)
428 Adalla St. Palm Village, Makati
632.8982280

TOP 8

Chocolate Fudge Cake of Gina Lopez

Every time I eat Gina’s Chocolate Fudge Cake, I feel that all is right with the world. A plump and pleasing 8-inch affair, its thick and buttery batter bakes up into a cake with an open crumb that focuses solely on chocolate, its frosting even more so –waves of fudge stroked into almost flouncy curls, an unceasing reverie of butter, cocoa, and sugar stroked with vanilla. Such is its potency for pleasure. Gina makes phenomenal crinkles and carrot cake too, but her chocolate cake is one of those desserts where every bite is an affirmation of how good it is.

it looks so adorable just laying there!!

Paisley Pastry by Gina J. Lopez
850-9917
0920-9280528

TOP 9

Cookie Dough Cheesecake of Chelsea

 

I have a pressing attraction for cookie dough, raw or cooked. When I make chocolate chip cookies, a large part of the batter goes into my mouth, never even making it onto the baking sheet. Apparently, it runs in the family since Boo likes it too. And don’t get me started on cookie dough ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s or Sebastian’s only, please.

My elation is unparalleled when I discover that Chelsea’s cookie dough cheesecake is as good as it looks. In the past, desserts like these are an insult to both cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies, two stalwarts in the dessert pantheon, so I’m momentarily put-off by the concept. But Chelsea’s take on this very 90’s dessert is the way it’s meant to be.

The custard itself is relatively pristine, its top liberally strewn with cookie dough that bake up into these mini chocolate chip cookies when done. The whole bounty rests on a cookie dough crust speckled with mini chocolate chips. Sweet, crunchy, creamy, smooth, there’s enough going on here that make me feel like I’m getting two desserts in one, and that’s never a bad thing.

Chelsea Market & Café
Bonifacio High Street, Serendra,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
909-7011 / 909-7012

TOP 10

Cheesecake of Jill Sandique

There can be no humbler name or more beautiful cheesecake than that of of Jill Sandique’s. And I, a former full-time cheesecake maker know that to be the gospel truth.

Possessing a shadow of a crust – almost an afterthought, really – it’s the perfect foil to the gently-baked custard. So soft is it that it almost quivers in its lusciousness, brought on by a mixture of whole eggs and egg yolks married with cream cheese and just enough sugar. Long, slow cooking – most probably in a waterbath – ensures a surface that is unblemished, unequalled, umarred. This cheesecake is, in a word, utopia.

Jill Sandique of Dèlize
33 Sunrise Drive, Cubao, Quezon City
721-7022 (ask for Lea, Mimi, or Vangie)
Allow a minimum of 2-3 days for your order(s).