Few people in the world can rival Filipinos when it comes to our love for rich, creamy and sugary desserts. The success of this recent book launch devoted to everything sweet and pretty to eat proves, yet again, how we Pinoys take our desserts seriously.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Photos by Maica Maglipon
Thanks to the collective sugar rush guests experienced from sampling all those sweet, delicious and pretty desserts, almost everyone who attended the recent launch of Inquirer Lifestyle’s “Best Desserts,” the fourth listing of its kind (complete with addresses, websites and telephone numbers) by journalist Vangie Baga-Reyes, most likely went home full, happy and bursting with excess energy despite the expected but unwanted spike in their blood sugar levels.
Like in previous launches, this year’s event at SM Aura’s SMX Convention Center drew countless dessert lovers and the simply curious to what could probably be the biggest gathering of established and fledgling dessert-makers—all 127 of them, from the biggest hotels, restaurants and bakeshops, to private individuals and aspiring entrepreneurs living in gated communities and residential towers—under one roof.
Valerie’s Kitchen, for instance, featured its cinnamon rolls and rum cake with salted caramel glaze, while the more established Costa Brava offered organic caramel cake and rainbow cake with the signature butter icing. There was also Holiday Inn & Suites Makati’s ube cheesecake and crepe samurai as well as Plantation Bay Resort and Spa’s Chocolate Stonehenge and Belle Bellevue Manila’s Patres Superbia.
Individuals poised to take their sweet, homemade offerings to the next level included Karen Young and her creamy avocado pie, Ginny de Guzman and her carrot cake, Gigi Gaerlan and her crusted rum cake and Cay Cuasay and her green tea strawberry shortcake.
Some have ventured into the realm of special, but nevertheless delightfully sinful desserts like Jertie and Jaq Abergas of Jertie’s Kitchen and their gluten-free vegan dark chocolate cake and Jamie Lao of Paleovore and paleo chocolate cookies.
It wasn’t all desserts, mind you. To provide guests a respite from the saccharine overload, organizers invited a number of participants to serve water, coffee and even gourmet and stuffed lechon with a range of sauces.
And just like in years past, guests, many whom came armed with huge cake boxes or their matching lids as well as rectangular plastic containers, went around stuffing their loot boxes, so to speak, with all sorts of treats they could get their hands on. Apart from coming up with whimsical displays, exhibitors were generous enough to provide guests free samples of their goodies.
If you think the range and texture of colorful desserts they amassed in the course of an entire afternoon were an awesome sight, you should have seen and felt the energy and enthusiasm they displayed as they worked the entire room in search of the season’s best sweets. They weren’t just methodical. They were also relentless. High blood sugar be damned!
Inquirer’s “Best Desserts” Book 4 (P395/copy) is available at the Inquirer office on 1098 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati. It will also soon be available at all National Bookstore
