The Mommy Book

To us, nothing beats Chef Ronald's Ube Cheese Pan de Sialo.           Soft, chewy ube cheese pandesal have made a comeback these days and have found its way back into the hearts of many Cebuanos.   This purple yam salt bread has flavorful cheese filling inside so it comes with a hefty surprise when you bite into it.           My boys are not really fond of ube, but my sister-in-law and I were curious as to which among the many variants sold in the city were the best ones.   We got to try five of them and here we share our two cents’ worth for quick reference. 1.   Ube Cheese Pan de Sialo           For us this is, hand’s down, the best.   The bread is amazingly soft and chewy.   The filling, oh wow, amazing!   Chef Ronald Villavelez is the genius behind this pastry.   He uses cream cheese for filling if requested, but most times, he uses aged cheddar.   Of course he uses only fresh, real-deal ube roots.   As for the bread, he uses precision in measurements, timing and t

Olive Focaccia wrapped in paper and a box of The Chocolate Chamber's Mint Chocolate Powder   2 - 3 min read Cebu City, Philippines             It seems Hannah Choa, of Chocolate Chamber fame, has decided to bake homemade breads in the middle of quarantine.   She started with White Bread and now she experimented on Focaccia.             We got a sample of her Olive Focaccia at its infancy stage and it was ah-mazing!   If some people have a green thumb, Hannah sure has magic in her hands with baking!             So here we were with two packs of focaccia (along with The Chocolate Chamber’s powdered cacao chocolate with mint – plus cakes that deserve a separate article) and I wondered.   How may I serve this for my two teenage boys?   (And eldest Dad, of course.)             You’d be amazed at the versatility of this Italian bread.   So I decided 3 delicious ways of serving it.   I’ll share them with you here along with quick recipes. Olive Focaccia with Cheesy Italian