Best Birthday Popsicles

Speaking of my birthday -yes, let's all pretend you read my previous post, please- I discovered an awesome to make awesome chocolate popsicles on my birthday. My mom had bought a bottle of buffalo milk a couple of days before, and fearing that it would go bad before we could finish it, I decided to make popsicles with it! I just squirted all of the leftover Goya chocolate syrup we had left into the milk (also I put some milk in the bottle and shook it really hard a number of times to make sure I get all of the syrup!) and shook shook shook~ !

The result was popsicles that were much creamier than when I used instant coffee with just water. Buffalo milk is allegedly lower in cholesterol compared to cow's milk, and is certainly richer than the latter. The flavor really went well with Goya syrup. nyamnyam :3

My brother and I still remember the day our parents brought this popsicle maker home. It was the most amazing thing we've ever seen. It even has a base that gathers all the molten popsicle stuff and a straw to drink it with! Now it's a little banged up, but still pretty good. We were so excited when we found it while my brother was "spring" cleaning.

Thanks, kuya Monj!

It's smoother at the tip compared to the base which still feels like ice candy, but the flavor is good all throughout.

Even Sansa wanted some! But even though I usually share with her when I eat ice cream, I couldn't this time since it was chocolate. So we just pretended:

Yup. She got way into character.

Nifty Baby Feelin' Fifty

So I've got this nice drawstring bag that I love a lot. It's ultrablack and velvety and even if it has the tendency to attract mosquitoes and heat because of how black it is (the details are really black, but somehow the main fabric is much much blacker... hmmm.), I find it has the perfect mix of beautiful and simple for everyday use.

But a problem I often have with it is fishing my stuff out of the thing, especially when they're small. My trick so far has been to put anything small in the reasonably sized zipped pocket inside, so that it's close enough to the light of outside and doesn't have too much space for my hand to search in order to find a specific flash disk or pen or bill.

But then this baby enters the picture:

It was an impulse buy during our trip to Vigan; we often went to National Bookstore (he even went without me once because I was too tired) and one time we bought a book about card magic, some cards, and this pink thing. I used it to read books, sure, but today I thought of a better use for it:

Tadaa! It's perfect. I first thought I'd have to clip it to the zipper, which doesn't work well anyway because it doesn't clip shut, which it needs to ensure it doesn't trigger the light. But I realised that the tiny clip on it is perfect for the tag inside the bag! And so it is now permanently installed in my beautiful black hole of a bag.

In very unrelated news, my cousin posted this old picture of us on Facebook:

Beardy said it looked like I was already feeling old.

It was my second birthday.

Lastly, here is a picture of Sansa (I haven't posted pictures of her here for a while!) looking very happy to see us all home, and proud of how newly bathed and fluffy she is:

The contrast of her and my mom's expressions is priceless.

Cupcakerazy

Let's talk about cupcakes a little bit.

I have to admit: I'm definitely enamored by them. The special snowflake in me tried to deny it, but nope. it's love. Let me tell you why:

• They are auto-portioned. You get the satisfaction of finishing a whole cake without the guilt of finishing a whole cake.
• They are BEAUTIFUL! I love that cupcakes make it a point to LOOK good. That's literally half of what makes them what they are. I'm already perfectly happy with getting something that tastes delicious, but cupcakes make it a point to look nice. I like that.
• There are so many ways to make them! And you'll inevitably get all the elements in one cup. And whatever crazy shenanigans you decide to do when you make your cupcake, it usually carries its weight well because it's compact.
• They are fully customizable: from batter to frosting to topping to holder.

Cupcakes are the epitome of "WHY NOT?" when it comes to desserts. In fact, there was a point in my life where I wanted to have one tattooed on me. That was years ago. I wanted to remind myself that it's good to keep trying to make things your own, to go beyond the requirements and make things sparkle and pop. To exert myself creatively. Something that I need to be reminded of up to this day. Because why not?

I've moved on to wanting that, but every time I get cupcakes, I still get really excited. It's like unwrapping a gift when I pick one to eat. Getting free ones yesterday, a full box (plus one!) even, especially ones I've been wanting to try for a couple of months, felt like an awesome early birthday gift.

I poured some tea for my mom and me a little while after dinner last night and finally got to try "Midnight", which I've been staring at in pictures for weeks. I shared it with her. WORTH THE WAIT. The caramel was already dripping at the sides by the time of unboxing so it didn't exactly make neat pictures and instead looked like a sexy disheveled caramel-oozing volcano. Still good!

"Midnight"

It's got a chocolate cake base, a nice swirling chocolate midnight sky frosting, a nice sprinkling of white chocolate star chips, and a big chocolate full moon on top, hence the name.

If the seven cupcakes were the seven deadly sins, this one would have been gluttony. Or greed. I dunno. But it tasted like sin. (I'm pretty sure the one called Death by Chocolate would be Lust, in case you were wondering why not that.). The dense whipped-fudge-like full moon on top added more dimension to the already well-paired cake and frosting. All three were rich but worked nicely altogether. The cake was moist, the frosting velvety in my mouth, with a deep dark chocolate flavor. The moon was on the lighter, sweeter, milk chocolate side. The white chocolate "stars" added a playful bite. My mom exclaimed a greedy "GUSTO KO PA!" after it was all gone.

I let her pick the next one, and I guess the Midnight sent her on a roll and she wanted a full dose and picked the Death by Chocolate one at first... But I cautioned that we'd run out of the chocolatiest ones if we ate that one too so she picked the mango one instead. Hehe.

Mango Dulce Has since been upgraded to a Matcha Green Tea batter base!

The Mango Dulce had a nice light fluffy base, which made me think of a fluffy soft version of ladyfingers. Its simplicity made it a stable contrasting vessel to the flavors of the whipped frosting, sweet caramel glaze and ripe mango dices. It amazed me how sweet the mango bits are! I'm not exactly sure if they are fresh but they sure tasted like it! Imagine running a café complete with packed entrée and drinks menus and still making sure the fruit you buy is fresh, perfectly ripe and diced neatly! So amaze.

This one was very wholesome and balanced, and seemed like a polar opposite to the first one we had. It tasted heavenly, light and clean instead of sinful, and whereas the other one looked like midnight, this one looks like the hot summer sun! Tastes very summery, too.

But still very sexy. Check out that mango waterfall. (warning, nsfw image. Imagine Let's Get it On by Marvin Gaye playing in the background):

I've yet to try the other ones, and I'm super excited! Let's hope I find the strength to resist just downing them all in one sitting. Lawwwd give me strength. Join me in staring at all of them one by one:

Cheesecake Crumble

This one's the Cheesecake Crumble. It's the most rustic looking (very Nigella, haha) and I'm looking forward to having this one next! Cheesecake frosting, strawberry topping with crumbly bits on top. Not sure what the base cake is, but the colors look super cute with its pink foil holder. The travel home shook some of the bits off, as if it's trying to beckon me to eat it already by scattering pieces of itself around. Not that I needed much convincing. :3

Update: I just shared this with my mom and brother while finalizing this post... I.. have no words....

Just kidding. I have a bunch of them! Blew my mind, this one. I was already forewarned by this post that expectations are to be exceeded when it comes to this one, but even with expectations already raised, I still got my mind blown much like the cupcake's crumbly bits all over the cupcake box lining. The base was so light and balanced while still being very creamy and dense and just... wonderful. It tasted like how infatuation feels. Yep, I know what I said. I'll leave you to soak that in for a bit. Try to imagine it. That's what it was like. I wish I didn't have to share it! But I just HAD to share the love. And true enough, my mom and bro were also very surprised by how good it was. My brother was like,, What is that??

Oreo Cheesecake

This one's the Oreo Cheesecake! ...or at least I could swear that's what it's called. My cousin had made oreo cheesecake cups before when she had her baking phase and I LOVED those flavors together, which really surprised me. So this one is exciting! Not to mention super pretty: it has a royal blue foil holder. I love these colors together. It feels very boy-me. Haha.

Red Velvet

This one came in the super cute separate box~ and it deserved the spotlight! Look at this beauty. It looks like an elegant bride with its ivory cheesecake frosting, edible gold balls and silver holder. It's the red velvet one, and I appreciated that the base wasn't super red (at least from the outside.. haven't seen what it looks like inside yet), because it would have taken away from the elegance of its presentation.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

This one looks like the Midnight Cupcake's fraternal twin. Looking forward to seeing how the cookie dough dollop would go with whatever surprise waits for me inside ~ I've never ever heard of or tried this combination of flavors before :o But somehow I can imagine it... And what my imagination has conjured is making my mouth water right now.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

Last but not the least, the devil itself. Excuse the blurry photo, this subject is like a ninja to me, as it's all browns and blacks. Actually, it looks better in this group photo:

Look at how evil and sneaky it looks amongst the other ones. How titillating. I'm sure it will sneak up on me when I eat it too, and I don't just mean as an extra milimeter around my thighs. I meant as an intense explosion of chocolate indulgence in my pie hole. Chocolate on chocolate on chocolate (...on chocolate, in this case) has never failed me yet.

DJMA Commercial Abel Nosce Street, BF Resort Village, 1747 Las Pinas

EDIT: THEY HAVE SINCE MOVED TO ROBINSON'S PARANAQUE 

[click for facebook page]

In case someone stumbles onto this and wonders how they can get their hands on these cupcakes, Kat's Café is in Las Piñas*, just refer to the details above! And say hello to ate Kat for me! They've got more than just awesome cupcakes; they have coffee, tempting frozen blended beverages, tea, sandwiches (the bread is made from scratch!) pasta, and other main dishes.

*and hopefully soon, in many places more ;) ;) ;) (didn't get the go signal to say where, and I don't wanna jinx anything!)

As much as this sounds like a sponsored post, it really isn't! XD these cupcakes really gave my weekend an awesome start. I can't wait to eat the rest! gahhhh :3

Sah-weet Surprises

I innocently went with my mom to her office because I didn't have work today and ended up being spoiled rotten.

The day was already good from the start, even if I did have less sleep than I would have liked to have on a no-work day. I got up, got dressed, had iced coffee and watched this cool Game of Thrones related video (I've been so hyped up about the upcoming season premiere.. GRAAAH!).

Then on the way to the office I managed to fight off some morning sickness (I get that when I wake up too early) with some orange juice; very fortunate that my mom suggested getting some mcDo drive-thru for breakfast. Even though I did forget that Egg McMuffins are not the same as Sausage McMuffins with egg (darn it, THAT's the one I wanted) and I didn't feel like eating hashbrowns because I've been feeling bloated lately.

While I was sitting there doing nothing, (and being the oldest one of the "kids" that everyone brought to work yesterday) my mom generously treated me to a couple of treatments at the spa across the street.

And if that wasn't overly indulgent enough for one day, I later ended up being treated to some of the sexiest, most delicious (and photogenic) cupcakes in all deh land ~~~

I met ate Kat during one summer when I took a summer job at my mom's office many moons ago. I warmed up to her pretty quickly (I get shy and quiet around most people I meet through my mom) and found her super cool (I feel that it's important to say at this point that she introduced me to Neil Gaiman). Now she owns her very own café and it's the cutest, quirkiest little piece of trippy heaven. Regrettably, I did not get to bring Atom with me earlier, but I'll be sure to the next time I go ~ hopefully after I've had him repaired; he still has that little shutter quirk. >.< I'd love to write about how cute and creative the place is!

He did however get to help me out on snapping some pictures right after coming home, most of which will be shown in the next post.

Ate Kat told me she'd treat me to a meal when I stop by, but I didn't have as much time as I thought I would have. My mom asked that I be ready to get whisked away back to the office at a moment's notice so I just chatted with her and decided that I'll buy a box of cupcakes to go when it's time to leave. After mama called telling me I'm about to be picked up, we went to where the cupcakes are so I could choose which ones to get. One box fits six cupcakes; I decided I couldn't not try each one I could see, but after counting twice, I realised there were SEVEN kinds! Oops! Ate Kat said we'll just sneak another one in there. I thought, hey I'm going to get treated to a cupcake after all! But then she suddenly said I didn't have to pay ...for any.

 –I told you I'd treat you if you came!, she said.

WHAAAAA??? *tries to keep composure but weeps inside*

So in the end I got seven free cupcakes, and even the one extra was all boxed up really pretty! Sometimes I'm really shocked by how generous some people can be. Numerous things people do that you hear about make you doubt the entire human race, but a select few do things like this to you in real life and all of a sudden you think you might have gotten it all wrong.

That got way too deep. Sorry, I have too much sugar in my blood right now.

You could see how much attention and care she gives to her products, even from the packaging. Check out the adorable sticker:

It's the apostrophe on her logo, and it's the most adorable thing. I saved this one because I wanted to stick it onto my journal for today, a reminder of how inspired I felt today to create something in my life that is authentic to me. Oops. There I go again. Don't worry, these sugar high trances don't last very long.

I already had two of them, and I’d love to tell you how awesome they were! But alas it is already too  late and I have to sleep now to make the most out of the weekend…

(Finn Nelson Voice)To be continued...

PS: Who else watched the final episode of My Mad Fat Diary?! I HOPE IT GETS RENEWED. More of dis fez plz.