Recipe File: Sweet dreams are made of this

MANILA, Philippines - John Sta. Cruz, owner and baker of Cake Planet & Café, credits much of his success in the kitchen to his mom. Being the youngest in the family, John recalls spending his afternoons watching his mom whip up her famous pineapple upside-down cake and other delectable desserts while his siblings were still at school.

“I always looked forward to my afternoons with her; I loved watching her put together different ingredients — I found it so magical,” John recalls.  “I was eight years old when I became really interested in the culinary arts, especially in baking. From then on, I became her partner in the kitchen.”
After years of being guided by his mom, he shares two of the most important lessons he’s learned from her.
“My mom always says that even if you have a great recipe, your technique is perfect, but don’t have the right ingredients, your dish will fall apart. So to this day I still use the same ingredients she’s used in the past. I use Magnolia All-Purpose Flour, Magnolia Full Cream Milk, and Magnolia Gold Butter in all my cakes and Magnolia Cream Cheese for my cake fillings.”

For more recipes, visit www.mygreatfood.com.

Magnolia chocolate dream cloud

Chocolate sponge cake

Ingredients:

6 pcs.                       large eggs

1 cup            granulated sugar          

1/2 cup                     Magnolia All-Purpose Flour

1/4 cup                     cocoa Powder

1/2 tsp.                     baking soda

1/3 cup

Magnolia Gold butter, unsalted, melted

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 9”-inch round with parchment paper. Set aside.

Whip the eggs and sugar until double in volume, at least 10-15 minutes.

Sift together the dry ingredients three times, and fold into the egg mixture.

Fold in the melted Magnolia Gold Butter into mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepare pans.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done. Cool the cake.

Coffee cream cheese

Ingredients:

2 bars                       Magnolia Cream

Cheese, softened at room temperature

6 large egg yolks

1/4 cup         granulated sugar

2 tsp. San Mig Instant Coffee Black, dissolved in

1/3 cup hot water

2 tbsps.        rum

1 tbsps.        Coffee-flavored liquor
1 1/2 cups Magnolia All-Purpose Cream

Procedure:

In a large heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until double in volume then add slowly the coffee mixture, and whisk until the mixture is hot to the touch and sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.

Cream the Magnolia Cream Cheese until smooth and light then add the egg yolk-coffee mixture. Stir in the rum and coffee-flavored liquor. Set aside.

Whip the All-Purpose Cream until double in volume then fold in the cream cheese-egg-yolk mixture until well blended. Then fold in the grated chocolate.

Soaking liquid:

Ingredients:

1 cup            Water

1/4 cup         Granulated sugar

1/4 cup         Rum

1 tbsp.          San Mig Instant Coffee Black

1 tbsp.          Coffee-flavored liquor

Procedure:

Combine water and granulated sugar in a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Add the coffee. Set aside to cool. Then add the rum and coffee-flavored liquor.

Assembly:

Split one sponge cake into 2 layers and keep the other sponge cake in the freezer for future use. Use only one layer of sponge cake.

Line the 9” X 3”round pan with cling wrap then place first layer of the sponge cake and brush it with the soaking syrup.

Scrape half of the Tiramisu cream into the soaked sponge cake. Smoothen the top with an offset spatula then place the other layer of the sponge cake, and brush it again with the soaking syrup.

Scrape the remaining Tiramisu cream into the soaked sponge cake and smoothen the top with the offset spatula.

Cover the pan with cling wrap and let set in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Unmold into a cake stand then garnish with cocoa powder or grated milk chocolate on top of the cake.