No Encore Just Yet
In my Top 10 for August 2005, I list the ube cake from Red Ribbon as one of my favorites. I grew up on this cake, a staple at all family get-togethers because my lola (grandmother) was (and still is) crazy about it. The best thing about it is that the cake tastes the same now in my 30s as it did when I was a teenager, soft and gently redolent of ube, with a resplendence of velvety frosting.
Ube (OO-beh) is a purple yam, a tuber used in Filipino rice cakes and desserts. Obviously, its color tends to turn food it’s mixed in with, a Barney-the-dinosaur shade of purple. Quite unique really, since how many foods can you name that are purple?
An ube cake, on the other hand, gets its remarkable color (depending on the recipe used) from a large dash of violet food coloring, ube powder, and some of the actual rootcrop. It’s essentially a chiffon cake that has a filling and frosting made from ube buttercream, although I’ve seen some recipes that actually use melted ube ice cream or ube jam (haleya). That this cake has an intoxicating aroma of ube is another plus. Ube cake is not regularly found in local bakeshops nor is it found on restaurant menus.
So I’m ecstatic when I come across a home baker, Minnie Fong, whose specialty is ube cake, or ube macapuno chiffon cake (P500/9”) as she calls it. Minnie’s baking business, Encore! Desserts, has a limited but sufficient product line that consists of pound cakes, choco-mint cupcakes, and a strawberry cake with crème chantilly. Of course I waste no time ordering the ube cake and the lemon pound cake with dark chocolate glaze (P450/loaf).
Refreshing in its lack of adornment, I marvel at how smooth the ube cake’s buttercream is. It cuts cleanly, revealing its thin filling of macapuno (sport coconut). The cake itself has decent flavor but its dryness mars its appeal. What ruins the cake for me however, is the buttercream. By definition, buttercream must use butter; a light and creamy frosting made with powdered sugar and a liquid (usually milk or cream) and sometimes egg yolks for color and lushness, it’s uncooked and can be flavored in a myriad ways.
So, though the buttercream used here is smooth in appearance, its taste is quite its antithesis. It coats my tongue in a most unpleasant way, conveying a feeling of pastiness. I rub my tongue on the roof of my mouth trying to diminish the unpleasantness. I suspect that since the buttercream lacks the rich flavor and melting qualities associated with real butter, I suspect that Minnie has used margarine and/or shortening instead. When asked, she confirms that she uses margarine in the buttercream and I am disappointed.
I know that some bakers don’t use butter in their buttercream for various reasons – cost-cutting or the longer staying power against the humidity, especially if it’s a wedding cake, etc – but it’s disappointing. Butter melts quickly and completely from body heat, so it has a pleasing mouth feel. Margarine, on the other hand, has all the disadvantages of butter without the flavor advantage, and it melts incompletely leaving nothing but a disappointing, very waxy mouth feel.
The lemon pound cake with dark chocolate glaze (P450/loaf), when cut, uncovers a striking contrast between brown and yellow, chocolate and lemon. The brightness of the yellow is almost staggering – how many lemons and eggs would you have to use to achieve such a startling hue? The tight, almost stiff crumb is rendered immovable by the stern chocolate glaze. I taste nothing but an artificial lemon flavor, similar to Halls honey-lemon cough drops. Minnie says the flavor is due to lemon oil.
I’m alarmed at my reaction to these two desserts so I bring them to four foodie friends that I trust, which include a noted chef and a pastry chef in a popular restaurant. Without saying a word, they echo my sentiments.
At this point, you may be wondering why I even bother to devote a post about two desserts whose descriptions are less than flattering. My point is to be objective and honest. I’ve ordered desserts from some home bakers that were atrocious — there was nothing I could say about them because they were so bad. But with these desserts from Encore!, it’s just a matter of tweaking a few techniques, changing a few ingredients and I’m confident they’ll be a success. I also think these desserts are worth writing about because well, you might prefer margarine in your buttercream, who knows? I’ve given Minnie a few suggestions and she’s been more than receptive. She’s told me, “… future orders I have will definitely be the improved version.”
Encore! Desserts by Minnie Fong
0917.5183720
[email protected]
http://encoredessertery.blogspot.com/
18 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- "baseball odds www.coachescorner.com" - italy food cultureeemp
Leave a Comment
Backyard BBQ Cook Off
A honest opinion from an excellent food writer. Thanks Lorie, you’re blog never fail to make me smile.
[Reply]
I love how Minnie is taking it, I wish her well =)
[Reply]
Hi ! Can I make a suggestion for other bakers who insist on using the word “buttercream that’s not !” in their recipes ? Maybe they should call it
” mock buttercream ” ( buttercream wannabe comes to mind ! )or something like that . At least, they can’t be accused of tricking or confusing their clients, right ?
See you again in the Food-Tasting Circuit !
[Reply]
I really like the ube cake from Red Ribbon as well, its moist and not too sweet. For the last two yrs, ive been back home twice. My aunt and i would attend the novena in Baclaran, and we always eat at Red Ribbon after the service! Although there is a filipino bakeshop here in Toronto and they make ube cake, i think nothing beats Red Ribbon for their ube cakE!
[Reply]
Wholehearted agreement about butter vs margarine. I’ve had pastries or desserts where you can smell they used something non-buttery, and it leaves an ick factor in both my nose and my palate. Maybe it was the generation that was raised on margarine that doesn’t mind it, but it’s not for me.
[Reply]
I love the Ube Cake from Red Ribbon as well, so it was surprising for me when I found hthis Ube Cake from Mocha Blends. I’m not sure if there’s a lot of difference for you, but for me, the Ube Cake from Mocha Blends definitely suits my palate!
[Reply]
Same here on butter vs. margarine! I really can’t abide margarine, the smell alone turns me off. Some people say it’s more authentically Pinoy to use it on things like kakanin (bibingka, puto, etc.), but I don’t agree. We had “mantequilla” way before margarine was invented! The one thing I don’t mind margarine on — and this IS very Pinoy — is Star rice. I remember enjoying it as a kid. But butter’s ALWAYS better in my book.
I once bought what I thought was butter, without reading the pack properly. Once I put it in my mouth, though, there was no mistake. I looked at the wrapper again, and true enough it said, “genuine butter TASTE.” Apparently, it was a blend. I hate when labels trick you like that! And coming from advertising, I had to kick myself for not noticing it immediately. :-/
[Reply]
Folks, I wanted to contribute my two cents to this discussions. Maybe for how sophisticated I think my palate is, in reality, it’s not. My favorite ever spread on bread is BLUE BONNET MARGARINE. I will take it over any butter, local or imported. There’s something so comforting in the taste of that specific brand of marganrine that I’ve never quite outgrown. Which reminds me, I should get a tub in the grocery store and spread it on hot pandesal.
[Reply]
Oh, how I love Red Ribbons’ Ube Macabuno cake. YUM.
[Reply]
….and Katrina… butter has recently been labelled by health authorities as healthier than margarine!
[Reply]
i love red ribbon cakes like the ube one too
[Reply]
I know it’s not real tiramisu… but i do love red ribbon’s tiramisu cake.
[Reply]
Tina, I know Blue Bonnet! Back when imported goods weren’t readily available and required trips to Dau, my dad would always buy that margarine, which he LOVED. Naturally, I was all excited to taste what he kept raving about. But I did NOT like it at all! Do you think maybe this Blue Bonnet thing is rooted in nostalgia?
Joey, I know! In the 80s, they thought margarine was healthier since it’s vegetable fat-based, but they realized several years ago that it’s SOOOO bad for you. They say even ants won’t touch it! This is what I’m curious about: people trying to be “healthier” choose products like “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter,” which isn’t butter, but supposedly isn’t margarine either. So, WHAT is it???
[Reply]
Hi Lori! Are you still able to buy ube cake from Red Ribbon? Last time I looked for it in their Jupiter branch the staff told me they don’t sell the cake anymore… they only have the ube roll. ???
[Reply]
I haven’t tried her ube cake, but I ordered her “very berry cake with creme chantilly” (but it had mangoes instead of strawberries) for a family dinner a few weeks back and everyone loved it! maybe you can try it next time…
[Reply]
HELLO WILL YOU GIVE ME A REALLY GOOD RECIPE FOR UBE CAKE! IM AM DESPERATE! YOU KNOW YOUR STUFF! THANKS
[Reply]
If you love ube cake, you must try A LA CREME’s ube cake. They have branches in San Fernando Pampanga and one near Clark but none in Manila yet, I think. They’re more than P500 but it is divine!!!
[Reply]
I love the Ube cake from Red Ribbon too! Really my comfort food — not too sweet but so soft and yummy!
[Reply]