A new cupcake trend

We first noticed them in trade shows and bazaars – the lovely, bite-sized cupcakes topped with a variety of colors and flavors.

It started in America, and it caught fire. Soon enough, Filipinos took it up and are now successful purveyors of the new trend. We’re talking about those little cupcakes sold in some US bakeshops which within the last two or three years “invaded” our country. Thus we now have the mini cupcakes. We first noticed them in trade shows and bazaars – the lovely, bite-sized cupcakes topped with a variety of colors and flavors. It has become a trend and just as well, for its practical size and creative designs.

But if you are not anywhere near a bakeshop selling those cupcakes or if you missed those weekend markets, fret not, for you can bake your own minis by using the Smart Planet Mini Cupcake Maker, which we chanced upon while conversing with a young enterprising homemaker who offers the sleek machine online through Shopaholics for Kids.

The cupcake maker is efficient, as any smart item is expected to be. It uses less energy and takes less time – in no more than 10 minutes the cupcakes are ready. Costing P1,500 a unit, it comes with a non-stick baking tray and a recipe book. Any standard mix, such as Maya, can be used. Voltage is 220. Don’t be afraid that when you open the machine to get the finished cupcakes, steam comes out.

The exciting thing is little girls can have fun making their own cupcakes as well. Needless to say, like our active four-year-old apo, little girls like to play cook, so with adult supervision, they can be bakers. Contact Shopaholics at www.facebook.com/shopaholicforkids.

Another trend is healthy eating. To some, healthy eating means dieting and dieting in turn means to deprive one’s self of the pleasure of enjoying delicious food. Not quite, according to the book “Healthy Eating” which our eldest daughter gifted us with recently. It is a thoughtful gesture, since these days everybody – certainly that includes us – needs to eat, conscious of our health. This is part of the Confidential Cooking series published in Australia and exclusively distributed here by Anvil Publishing Inc.

The main thrust is to make well balanced food choices that will last a lifetime. There is no need to cut out all indulgences. What must be done is to select a range of foods in their right proportions. Leafing through the book, we find that flavorful lamb in pitas, pork fillet on skewers marinated in vinegar and char siu sauce, and beef curry made a la Madras are all ideal healthy main courses.

It is a pleasure going through the pages of the book, which gives recipes for dishes covering meals, snacks, desserts (yes!) and hearty fresh fruit combinations as smoothies. And there will be much more satisfaction “indulging” in food that we know will not hurt us but make us lead a good (and maybe a longer) life.

Eat healthy today and all days.

E-mail comments and questions to [email protected].