Spanish Bread

The hubs has been bugging me to make his favorite bread since he saw it on a friend's FB post a few weeks ago. Finally, I was able to make some for him the other day. For the bread, I used my favorite White Roll recipe from Red Star Yeast, and for the filling, I combined butter, sugar and vanilla. I'm glad they turned out soft, buttery and beautifully browned as the ones we used to eat back home.

These yummy looking rolls are what we call Spanish Bread in the Philippines. I honestly don't know why it is called as such, because there's really nothing "Spanish" about it. I guess it's just a result of the very strong influence that the Spaniards brought to the Filipino Cuisine in the more than 300 years of colonization. 

Spanish Bread is a Filipino favorite bread next to Pandesal which is best eaten with coffee for merienda (snack) and sometimes, for breakfast. It has a sweet buttery filling which makes it so perfect for the Filipino taste buds. Try the recipe and see for yourself! 

Mamon Espesyal

With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought of sharing with you one of my favorite Filipino treats. It's not something chocolatey, but who says Valentine's Day is all about chocolates? It is a day to show our love and appreciation for those we care about, and I believe one of the perfect ways to do that is to give them homemade sweet treats (which doesn't necessarily mean something with chocolates!). Homemade treats never fail to show your thoughtfulness and for me, it's the simplest but sweetest way to say "I love you". The effort and time you spent in making them will never go to waste, I tell yah! But don't get me wrong...you don't have to spend the whole day in the kitchen. Neither do you need to be an experienced cook to make something lovely and yummy. Like these Mamon, for instance...

It only took me a little mixing and less than 30 minutes to make them! Mamon is the Filipino version of sponge cake which is really soft and tasty. What makes Mamon different from regular sponge cake is that they are baked in small molds which are good for individual servings. They are usually served for merienda (snack), and can be eaten plain or topped with butter and grated cheddar cheese. The ones with toppings are what you call Mamon Espesyal (Special Mamon). When I was growing up, only the regular Mamon was available. I was already in college when I first got to try the one with toppings. Well, I honestly love them both...and believe me, they make perfect gifts for any occasion.

Follow these easy steps (adapted from Goldilocks Bakebook) and enjoy Filipino-style mini sponge cakes yourself!

Puto Pao

If there's one Filipino snack that I didn't get to enjoy when I was little, it's Puto Pao. I was already in college when I first got to try it. They're so good and that made me wonder why my Nanay (mother) never made nor bought Puto Pao. 

So what is Puto Pao?  Well, it's a steamed rice cake like Puto with pork filling which makes it similar to Siopao. It is usually topped with slices of salted duck eggs and cheese. The hubs is a big fan of this yummy snack and so, making Puto Pao at home is a must. I've tried making it several times using the Puto recipe for the batter and the Asado Siopao filling recipe that I've posted before but the outcome was always not as spongy as the Puto Pao I remember eating back in the Philippines. 

There's this recipe that I found at Pinoy Business Ideas which requires the use of egg whites in the batter. I tried that and the result was better. Though still not as spongy as I think it should be, it's better than the previous ones I made without egg whites and I believe is worth sharing. My daughters don't like salted duck eggs so I just used cheese for topping, and added slices of hard boiled eggs in the filling.

Check out and try the recipe and let me know what you think!