Classic Mamon

Mamon (or Filipino Sponge Cake) is a kind of soft bread which is sometimes classified as a dessert because of its sweeter taste. Its main ingredients contain egg and butter which make it creamier in taste than the other breads.

Local bakeries in the Philippines serve classic Mamon with only the basic ingredients included. However, there are variants with different fillings such as strawberry or orange extracts.

 Mamon

I was actually planning to prepare the variant which I normally buy from our neighboring bakery back home. Unfortunately this is what I made – but still tasty, creamy, and sweet.

Ingredients):

- 2/3 cup all purpose flour

- 2/3 cup granulated sugar

- 100 grams salted margarine

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 3 eggs

- ½ tsp vanilla extract

What you will need: 

 

- muffin cups

 

- muffin tray

Procedure:

- preheat oven for 5minutes

- put the margarine in a mixing bowl

- using an electric mixer, cream the margarine

- gradually add the sugar, mix well

- add vanilla extract

- add eggs one at a time, beat until texture becomes smooth

- using a strainer, sift the flour and baking powder to the butter and sugar mixture

- using a spatula, gradually mix them together

- prepare the muffin tray and put muffin cups over each space

- scoop a tablespoon of the mixture over each muffin cups, repeat until all spaces are occupied

- bake for 20minutes over 170^o C

- serve and enjoy

Baked Mac Bechamel Mix

I was planning and craving for Macaroni Cheese snacks but turned out to have this Baked Mac using Bechamel mix instead. Some Mac&Cheese ingredients are not available in the kitchen so I decided to prepare something like this instead. Béchamel is a mixture of flour, butter, and milk among others which is normally combined with pasta and serves as a base pasta sauce. A not-so-big difference with the taste between my cravings for Mac&Cheese and this one, still fine anyway :)

 Baked Macaroni Bechamel

Ingredients

- 200gms macaroni

- 100gms salted margarine

- 160ml evaporated milk

- 10 slices puck cheddar cheese

- 1 ½ cups of water

- pinch of salt and pepper

Procedure

 

Cooking the macaroni and sauce

- boil macaroni until semi-cooked

- remove from heat, rinse with water, and drain well

- meanwhile, preheat oven for 5mins

- on a separate cooking pan, heat 1 ½ cups of water

- before the water boils, add the butter and let boil

- gradually add béchamel powder, mix well

- add the evaporated milk

- cook until mixture becomes thick

- remove from heat and set aside

Combining them together 

- combine semi-cooked macaroni with the béchamel mixture

- grease a baking pan with butter

- place 4 pcs of puck cheddar cheese at the bottom of the pan

- layer with macaroni béchamel mixture

- place again some cheddar cheese on top and add the next macaroni layer

- bake on 200^o C initially for 5minutes

- top with cheddar cheese stripes

- bake again for another 5minutes of until cheese stripes become semi brown

- remove from oven and enjoy

Bibingka

I will always love every variant of Bibingka but this one is the one I like the most. 

 Bibingka using Glutinous Rice Flour

Ingredients

- 3 cups Glutinous Rice Flour

- 2 ½ cups white sugar

- 2 tsp baking powder

- pinch of salt

- 14 oz coconut milk

- 5 large eggs

- 1 cup melted and cooled butter

- 1 tsp vanilla

Procedure:

- preheat oven to 350^o F

- combine glutinous rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl

- in a separate bowl, beat egg, mix coconut milk, melted butter, and vanilla

- gradually combine them all together

- pour in a pan and bake for 30mins to 1 hour