by Lori Baltazar
It’s certainly a catchy gimmick ”“ take an ordinary word, change the spelling, and voila, people start paying attention.
That’s the concept behind Qitchen, (yep, kitchen with a “Q”), a home-based food business that specializes in what they call “hot specialties, frozen foods, and sweet treats.” Of course I’m most interested in the dessert, thus the photos of only sweets on this page.
Qitchen is run by Sharlene Tan, who named the business after her favorite part of the house. Originally a baking venture called Streusel, it’s now expanded into Qitchen, but with three categories — Hot Qitchen, Cold Qitchen, and Pastry Qitchen. Sharlene and her sister Jessica, who are responsible for Pastry, have been cooking and baking since they were 10. Of course talent at such a young age can’t go unnoticed, so it wasn’t long before relatives and friends began to take notice of Sharlene’s embutido and four-cheese lasagna, among others. Soon after college, Sharlene decided to zoom head-on into the food business.
Hot Qitchen, which is run by Sharlene’s mom and the family’s long-time cook, consists of home-cooked specialties ranging from Pinoy to American. Cold Qitchen on the other hand, offers dimsum favorites: siopao, siomai, radish cake, etc. Everything offered on Qitchen’s product list are road-tested favorites of Sharlene’s family, relatives and friends.
The Pastry Qitchen is a bounty of familiar treats that include cakes — chocolate, strawberry shortcake, rum; as well as banana cream pie and tiramisu. Miniatures of old-time favorites are offered as well: chocolate squares, apple crumble, carrot squares, cheese macaroons, and food for the gods.
In my book, anything that’s got bananas in it is already a winner. And if it’s in pie, that just does it for me. This is Qitchen’s banana cream pie (P250/P500 ”“ mini/regular): the thickest layer of custard I’ve ever seen on a pie of this sort blanketing a bed of banana slices resting on a graham cracker crust. Topping this celestial vision is a crown of whipped cream cleverly swirled and dusted with cookie crumbs. Eating this pie is for me, a sensual meditation, an almost-trance of which I wish not to awake from.
I have found the strawberry shortcake of my dreams, and let me tell you that it’s even better than Mrs. Yulo’s, Manila’s official benchmark for strawberry shortcake. All strawberry shortcakes in Manila look the same ”“ a majestic cake (almost always chiffon) cloaked in whipped cream icing, garnished with strawberries. The differences only emerge when the cake is cut ”“ differences in texture, crumb, and will it have strawberries in the layered filling?
My first bite of Qitchen’s strawberry shortcake (P500) had such an intoxicating effect on me that I did the strangest thing: with my finger, I prodded the interior crumb of the cake, delighting in its supple texture. Then surprising even myself, I stuck my face close to the cake and inhaled deeply. Ahhh, the sublime smell of cream and vanilla. Boo, who’s gotten used to her mom’s obsessive love affair with all things sweet, hardly noticed my peculiar behavior. She was too busy licking off the icing and eating her favorite part, the strawberries.
Qitchen also does a peach shortcake (P750), and mango shortcake.
Some years back, I was at a loss as to how to decorate my newly-frosted carrot cake. I don’t do marzipan carrots, so in a fit of creativity (or maybe desperation), I grabbed a leftover carrot and grated it over the cake. Qitchen’s carrot cake (P450) reminds me of that time, although theirs is more fancifully done. This is their signature dessert, dubbed super moist and nutritious. While I doubt the nutritious part for piggish reasons, I whole-heartedly attest to it being super-moist.
There are those who believe that a cake is simply a vehicle for frosting, though there isn’t a whole lot of it on this cake. All you get is what you see on the top, but when you consider the juiciness of the carrots, the tang of the cream cheese frosting, the crunch of walnuts, and the moistness overall, you’ll realize that not so much frosting isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Qitchen
Visit their website for product list and contact info.
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Boo is the cutest!!!
I think the Baby Yulo’s strawberry shortcake is over-rated. I eat it when it’s available (given to me or served in parties) but I wouldn’t buy it with my own money. Several times I’ve had it, the cake was soaked wet and the strawberries look tired after a couple of hours. What’s good though is her cheesecake but I guess nothing like your cheesecake which I hope to someday try, Lors!
Oh God! My knees went weak with the carrot cake! Is that for real? I mean – inside carrot shreds can actually be seen?!? Oh my!Kaya lang, na-sad ako ..minimum order needs to be 1k?!? 🙁 I only wanted the carrot cake 🙁
WOW…those jut look divine! I love moist carrot cakes so those pictures just sent my saliva glands on hyperdrive! Hahaha!
BANANA CREAM PIE! ARAGHRHAHR#@U*(#U(*!
Another torturous post. Thanks. I should’ve been born in the Philippines.
In my opinion I think that I have to agree with Gigi that Mrs. Yulo’s strawberry shortcake is over rated. I ordered the cake a few months ago but it was nothing special and indeed very expensive. But I heard that Yulo’s peach walnut pie, chocolate cake and her turtle pie were divine.
Hi Cathy B..
This is QITCHEN. You can order the carrot cake lang. Minimum of 1000 is applicable for deliveries only. Shortcakes, cream pie and carrot cake can be picked up without minimum order amount anytime at my place or at pickup points. Just tell us at least two days in advance.
QITCHEN
0922-8380308
http://qitchen.blogspot.com
the banana cream pie is excellent! i’ve already ordered twice and both times it was a major hit with my friends.
Yo yo yo,
Man all i gotta say to ya’ll is this is off the bomb!
Peace!
I beg to differ, Miss ‘Gig’i. I tried Mrs. Yulo’s shortcake. It’s the best! It may be a TAD bit expensive, but it was worth it. I’ve had many strawberry shortcakes, but nothing can compare with this one. I’m a huge strawberry fan, & from the taste of it, these strawberries are imported. All the ingredients are the best quality. I know this from the taste, to the texture of the cake & icing. THAT is the reason why it’s not cheap. But the money was well spent.
There is a new cake, you might want to try, it’s a caramel cake. It’s a nice, simple sponge cake, with caramel topping. It’s simple, but the taste is extraordinary. It’s blew my socks off.
our grandmother’s cake is good. and we’re not saying this just ‘cos she’s our grandmother, but we’ve actually tried them, & we love it.
and marie is right, the ingredients are imported. we know, because we watch her bake. we’re there in the kitchen most of time, we know the ingredients are NOT cheap, so it is logical to make the cakes a little expensive. for EXAMPLE:
if we sold brownies, made by us, baked from scratch, using only the best ingredients like lindt, and sold it for a price like, 450 then it’s unfair for us, because we’re using good ingredients that obviously cost more than we sell the brownies for. we spend a lot of money for the ingredients, and all we get is a measly p450 per box?
we’ve tried ALL their cakes. and when we say all, we mean ALL. from her strawberry short-cake ( which you think is overrated, but it’s totally not it rocks our socks, by the way) to her chocolate cake, to her fruit cakes, to her mocha cakes. maybe the reason the cake YOU tried was all soggy and stuff, was maybe because it was old, or you didn’t refrigerate it.
all we’re trying to say, is we got hurt when you dissed our grandmother’s cakes. overrated? we don’t think so. not worthy enough for you? don’t go there, sister.
from,
mariel, miguel, sabina YULO.
how embarrassing. : hmm..
okay, the comment above is officially not from me anymore. i can’t delete the comment, so i’m saying it here. the comment made by “mariel, miguel, & sabina YULO” is actually just made by mariel & miguel YULO. ignore my name. 😀
“I think the Baby Yulo’s strawberry shortcake is over-rated. I eat it when it’s available (given to me or served in parties) but I wouldn’t buy it with my own money. Several times I’ve had it, the cake was soaked wet and the strawberries look tired after a couple of hours. What’s good though is her cheesecake but I guess nothing like your cheesecake which I hope to someday try, Lors! –Gigi”
well, you can’t please everyone. 🙂