My hubby has this thing with cooked eggs. Despite his allergic reactions to it, he just can not resist its white and yellow allure. Maybe it is true what they say about our subconscious rebellious streak in wanting the things you can't and shouldn't have. For my husband, it's eggs... For me, for now, it's something else but it's censored... hahahaha..... just teasing....
Anyway, back to eggs... His favorite dessert are those with eggs - canonigo, leche flan, tocino del cielo and yup, brazo de mercedes... the white fluffy roll with yellow custard filling. It's cross section looks like an egg cooked sunny side up.
In a trip to Cebu last year, we went to our restaurant since he wanted to learn how to make his own brazo. Helen, our pastry chef, gladly demonstrated the procedure and it looked easy enough. Back in Manila, we followed the recipe to a T but concluded we missed out on the technique part since our first attempt flopped. The egg white perhaps wasn't beaten well enough or it was overbeat. Nobody ever said baking was easy. :-(
Ever the persistent (a.k.a. kulit) one, Boydee insisted on going for it a second time. The second attempt only succeeded in wasting more of Lola's tray of eggs. But we did get some insights from the experience. We realized the following: our clean kitchen oven doesn't produce the right heat temperature; the clean kitchen oven can only fit small trays; in baking, the recipe isn't the secret-it's the technique and the timing; it is not advisable to change ovens midway into baking; equipment is important; always pre-heat the oven; and lastly, is there ever such a thing as overnight, instant bakers?!?
Boydee calls our creation Brazo de Hyundai because it definitely did not pass for a Mercedes. Up to now, we laugh at our first attempt at baking. It was a fun experience especially when Lola started looking for her eggs. That was during the Christmas season of last year.
Fast forward to August of this year... It was Ate Rona's and Boydee's birthday party last August 6 and I took charge of the 'celebration'. I prepared a Spanish buffet spread and of course wanted to include Brazo de Mercedes in the dessert menu. First, because it was Boydee's favorite dessert (tocino del cielo proving to be very expensive from Cafe Ysabel at P25 per piece. Imagine that!) and second, it was conveniently a spanish dessert.
I went through my reference book "Guide to Manila's Best Restaurants" and called Tita Margot Osmena to help me choose between two suppliers since one of the suppliers was a Vargas which meant that maybe she was related to Tita Margot. Carmen Vargas WAS her Tita and she made the best Brazo and butter cake in town, according to Tita Margot.
So on that Sunday gathering, I served the Brazo de Mercedes and the Butter Cake. Both cakes earned raves especially the Brazo. The brazo was sinfully rich with the luscious, yellow filling literally oozing out of the dessert. The outer layer was light and white with a super thin layer of burnt sugar coating. It was a sweet tooth's dream come true.
On that day, we consumed 2 orders of 17-inch Brazo and for the upcoming baby shower of Lai, Ate Rona specifically requested for the Brazo to do an encore. So this Saturday, it's Brazo time again!
For now, there is no immediate need to learn how to make brazo since we've found the perfect supplier. For now, no more brazos de hyundai and wasted eggs. During Christmas time, that's another story since Boydee is determined to make his own version of his favorite dessert to give away to friends. Lola better start hiding her trays of eggs!
Our new-found Brazo and Butter cake supplier:
Carmen Vargas
#02-8107529
Brazo de Mercedes - 17 inch - P650; 6 inch - P320; Mini - P150
Butter Cake - 10x14 - P650; 8x10 - P400; 5x8 - 300; 3x7 - P150
Anyway, back to eggs... His favorite dessert are those with eggs - canonigo, leche flan, tocino del cielo and yup, brazo de mercedes... the white fluffy roll with yellow custard filling. It's cross section looks like an egg cooked sunny side up.
In a trip to Cebu last year, we went to our restaurant since he wanted to learn how to make his own brazo. Helen, our pastry chef, gladly demonstrated the procedure and it looked easy enough. Back in Manila, we followed the recipe to a T but concluded we missed out on the technique part since our first attempt flopped. The egg white perhaps wasn't beaten well enough or it was overbeat. Nobody ever said baking was easy. :-(
Ever the persistent (a.k.a. kulit) one, Boydee insisted on going for it a second time. The second attempt only succeeded in wasting more of Lola's tray of eggs. But we did get some insights from the experience. We realized the following: our clean kitchen oven doesn't produce the right heat temperature; the clean kitchen oven can only fit small trays; in baking, the recipe isn't the secret-it's the technique and the timing; it is not advisable to change ovens midway into baking; equipment is important; always pre-heat the oven; and lastly, is there ever such a thing as overnight, instant bakers?!?
Boydee calls our creation Brazo de Hyundai because it definitely did not pass for a Mercedes. Up to now, we laugh at our first attempt at baking. It was a fun experience especially when Lola started looking for her eggs. That was during the Christmas season of last year.
Fast forward to August of this year... It was Ate Rona's and Boydee's birthday party last August 6 and I took charge of the 'celebration'. I prepared a Spanish buffet spread and of course wanted to include Brazo de Mercedes in the dessert menu. First, because it was Boydee's favorite dessert (tocino del cielo proving to be very expensive from Cafe Ysabel at P25 per piece. Imagine that!) and second, it was conveniently a spanish dessert.
I went through my reference book "Guide to Manila's Best Restaurants" and called Tita Margot Osmena to help me choose between two suppliers since one of the suppliers was a Vargas which meant that maybe she was related to Tita Margot. Carmen Vargas WAS her Tita and she made the best Brazo and butter cake in town, according to Tita Margot.
So on that Sunday gathering, I served the Brazo de Mercedes and the Butter Cake. Both cakes earned raves especially the Brazo. The brazo was sinfully rich with the luscious, yellow filling literally oozing out of the dessert. The outer layer was light and white with a super thin layer of burnt sugar coating. It was a sweet tooth's dream come true.
On that day, we consumed 2 orders of 17-inch Brazo and for the upcoming baby shower of Lai, Ate Rona specifically requested for the Brazo to do an encore. So this Saturday, it's Brazo time again!
For now, there is no immediate need to learn how to make brazo since we've found the perfect supplier. For now, no more brazos de hyundai and wasted eggs. During Christmas time, that's another story since Boydee is determined to make his own version of his favorite dessert to give away to friends. Lola better start hiding her trays of eggs!
Our new-found Brazo and Butter cake supplier:
Carmen Vargas
#02-8107529
Brazo de Mercedes - 17 inch - P650; 6 inch - P320; Mini - P150
Butter Cake - 10x14 - P650; 8x10 - P400; 5x8 - 300; 3x7 - P150
3 comments:
hahahahaha! super funny story! i can just see lola's FACE when she was told all her eggs were nonexistent!
awesome writing bang!
This is the maker of "BRAZO DE HYUNDAI"... Not to degrade the vehicles made by Hyundai, but for a lack of a better description - because this self-unproclaimed baker's cake did not rise, the result is of inferior quality... IN OTHER WORDS, because your maker ain't a qualified one - you get what you pay for = a flat cake called BRAZO DE HYUNDAI.
EGGS EGGS EGGS - my wife knows me more than myself. After reading through the blog, i realized that anything that has eggs on it - i tend to love. It's all because of the temptation that eggs aren't good for me, and because i can never have enough of it - i will always say, I LOVE IT. I can have them hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, scrambled, fried, even raw (even raw with soft drinks!). I can have eggs mixed with any kind of food - be it mixed with sukiyaki, omellette, even just eggs over rice with a bit of salt. I have what you call "asthma of the skin" - although not much anymore because i'm much older, but because of this - i was trained when i was small not to have it because it stimulated my allergies. Hence, because i could not have enough of it - darn! It's such a temptation now, that I sort of can't live without eggs. Brazo de Mercedez is made up entirely of eggs with a bit of condensed milk - EGGS EGGS EGGS.
1st - another great journaling! funny story too! where's the picture?! make sure you take pictures next time!
2nd - kuya, may hahaba pa ba sa comment mo?! haha! you should start your OWN blog! :D
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