Yema (Custard Candy)

Ingredients:
1 big can condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of melted butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Optional Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of chopped langka (jack fruit)
3 tablespoons of chopped nuts

Materials for wrapping:
Plastic cellophane. Tip: Go get different colors of plastic cellophanes to make your “Yema balls” attractive.

Procedure:

1. Mix in a bowl the egg yolk and condensed milk and vanilla extract.
2. Then in a regular frying pan, put the butter to oil the pan
3. Pour in the mixed ingredients. Cook slowly over medium fire by stirring.
4. Continue mixing it to avoid sticking. Cook it until it thickens,
5. Add your chopped nuts or jackfruit.
6. Let it cool (not too cool so you can still form the shape you want.)

Tips:

1. use a regular frying pan to get the best result, not the non-stick one.
2. cook it in medium heat only
3. Use metal spatula for stirring the mixture, scraping the bottom of the pan.
4. do it continuously to avoid burning the mixture.
5. yema is done if your condensed milk is sticky or if it can form balls

Servings: Makes 80-100 small balls

Polvoron

Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
1 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup refined sugar
Japanese paper or cellophane
Polvoron Molder

Procedure:

1. Toast cake flour on a pan on moderate heat for 15 minutes. Make sure to stir constantly to avoid burning
2. Add the powdered milk and toast for another 5 minutes, also stirring constantly.
3. Add sugar and melted butter. Mix well.
4. When the flour looks brownish remove it from the pan and transfer the mixture to a big bowl.
5. Fill the molders with the mixture, press it by using a spoon.
6. Chill the polvoron in the fridge inside an airtight container for half an hour or until firm enough to be wrapped.
7. Keep refrigerated.

Super Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated carrots, peeled
20 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1/4 cup chopped walnuts plus 1/4 cup for topping
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz 1/3 fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices; stir well with a whisk.
2. In a medium bowl, combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Add grated carrots and pineapple; mix well. Fold wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. Fold in 1/4 cup chopped nuts.
3. Spoon batter into an 8" x 3" cake pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 40-50 minutes, depending on pan size or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool cake completely on a wire rack.
4. To prepare frosting, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish with remaining chopped walnuts.

Servings: 16

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups minus two tablespoons sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix oil, melted chocolate and sugar.
2. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla and stir in.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into oil mixture; stir just until combined.
4. Chill dough several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350F degrees.
6. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into powdered sugar and roll to cover the entire ball of cookie dough.
7. Place about 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until soft in the middle but set. Take care not to over bake.

Sugarless Banana-Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/2 cups raisins
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together, beating well. Let mixture set for 5 minutes for oats to absorb moisture.
2. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Let stand for 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet.
5. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Biko (Sticky Rice Cake)

Ingredients:
3 c Sweet rice (sticky rice or malagkit)
3 c water
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk OR coconut milk from 1 medium sized coconut
1.5 c brown sugar

Procedure:

1. In a rice cooker, mix the sweet rice and water. Steam cook. Then set it aside.
2. Using a big wok, mix the coconut milk and sugar. Let it boil on medium high heat while stirring it continuously.
3. Lower the heat to medium temperature once it starts to boil.
4. Let it boil for 15 minutes or until the consistency is thick or creamy.
5. Mix in the boiled rice slowly. Mix thoroughly.
6. Lower the heat to medium low.
7. Continue stirring the now sticky rice. The continuous stirring of the Biko is one of its secrets.
8. When the mixture doesn’t spread too much or when it is really intact when left without stirring, that is when the biko is done.

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. Stir flour, coconut and salt in a large bowl then stir in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla using your hands until well blended. Use an ice cream scoop to drop dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about golf ball size.
3. Bake for 12- 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until coconut is toasted.

Fresh Fruit Salad

There are no hard and fast rules as to what fruits can go into the salad. My family’s preferences include mangoes, melon, bananas, seedless grapes and apples. Papaya and pineapple are good choices too. You can even add buko to your fruit salad.

I recommend chilling the fruits (in the fridge, not in the freezer), as well as the cream and sweetened condensed milk, before preparing the salad.

Some fruit like bananas and apples discolor fast. If you don’t intend to assemble your fruit salad immediately, you may want to toss your sliced bananas and apples with a little lemon or kalamansi juice to retard the discoloration process. Aside from that, there’s not much to making a fresh fruits salad. Just remove all inedible portions of the fruits and cut into more or less the same sizes.

Then pour in your dressing and toss. Most people prefer a 1:1 ratio of cream and sweetened condensed milk but my taste buds say that’s too sweet. I prefer a 1:2 ratio — one part sweetened condensed milk to two parts cream. Just stir them together, pour on the fruits and toss. How much depends on the amount of fruit you have prepared. As a guide, for four mangoes, half a melon, four bananas, one apple and a cup and a half of grapes, I used one cup of cream and half a cup of sweetened condensed milk.

Once the salad has been assembled, place in a covered container and keep in the fridge until needed.