Sweet Cravings

CEBU, Philippines - Good tidings we bring to the sweet tooth. This Holiday Season, we feed your sweet cravings and send you to sugar rush nirvana via this round-up of "happy hormones". We take care of the Noche Buena desserts, party/after-party treats …anything that'll make your Christmas merrier and sweeter!

Be of good cheer; embrace the sweet life with Eleanor "Ellen" Yu Lee as she fills your country basket to the brim with home-baked pastries of delectable whole cakes and their mini portions of tasty cupcakes each spruced up with cream cheese frosting in classic flair, coffee-match (assorted) bar cakes, soft yet not airy loaf cakes and muffins, lace and oatmeal cookies, and little pleasures of meringue in vanilla and mint variants (in pretty pastel colors!). Ellen has a long standing good reputation as a dessert supplier to local coffee shops and this time, she's taking her baking chops a notch higher by opening her first pastry shop, Country Basket – a brainchild which is a dessert haven of her specials and customer favorites. Leading the pack is the decadent Kahlua Walnut Cake, a layered moist dark chocolate specialty with walnut filling at the center, which according to patrons is Ellen's winning creation. The chocoholic did not design her cozy and eye-candy patisserie to be her version of a chocolate factory, hence added non-chocolate-based to her pastry line-up which includes another crowd favorite, the creamy Blueberry Cheesecake, spongy Banana Muffin with walnut and pecan nuts (freshly baked!), and other fruit-based options. Cupcakes, of course, are good mini cake options if you wish to take home a hodgepodge of flavors: Salted Caramel, Chocolate Nutella, Very Blueberry (a personal favorite), Mangoes and Cream, Chocolate Dulce de Leche, among other uncommon flavors. Baker Ellen also rocks the kitchen to come up with different sandwiches and pasta delights to whet the appetite - Ham and (mozzarella) Cheese, and Spanish Sardines Pasta as must-tries. To those who wish to take out any of Ellen's creations, Country Basket is conveniently located at Prestigio Arcade (across JY Square), Lahug. For orders, dial 2339743/ 5163243. (Photos by Reynan Villena)