New toys for the baker wanna-be

I've been in hiatus for too long!

It has been a crazy past few weeks at work that when I get home, all I do is sleep. I also have been MIA in our kitchen the past few weeks, but not for long!!! especially with my NEW BAKING TOYS!!! :D

Remember the entry when my boyfriend and I baked cookies for the first time? How his muscles were put to test because I used him as my manual mixer? So, for my birthday, he gave me a mixer!!!

I was ecstatic. Excited. Beyond the clouds happy. I LOVE IT. I did not enjoy baking then to the fullest because of the manual mixing part. But now, here it is, I have my own mixer!!! FINALLY! It was totally unexpected.

A few days before my birthday he teased me that he got me a Minnie Mouse shoes and a pedal-type mixer. I did not know if there really is a pedal-type one. But true enough, he wrapped the mixer in Minnie Mouse wrapper, and I was laughing so hard thinking "so he did buy me a Minnie Mouse shoe?!" I was readying myself for the shoes and the pedal mixer, and instead, it's a legit mixer! He chose the Oster hand and stand mixer because I was raving about it and as he said "it's practical"! And then it was there! :)  (My KitchenAid Artisan mixer dreams will have to wait, I have to "perfect" baking first in this mixer, before I step up and spend a lot on a mixer I might not even use when baking decides I'm not for her. HAHA.)

My siblings also had the same idea. They wanted to buy me a mixer, but to their relief, my boyfriend gave me the gift first so they were spared from the trouble and "expense" haha!

Nevertheless, they bought wonderful baking goodies. ;)

When I saw the card, Gourdo's,  I immediately know what is inside. It could only be baking materials! And they were! It's Wilton's beginnner's cake decoration set. I swoon.

I'm particularly excited about these tips!!! I can just imagine the decors to do!!! GAAAH.

HAPPY BAKING TO ME!!! <3

Mangoes with vanilla cream

The Philippines is widely known for its freshest and sweetest mangoes! And once again, it is the time of the year again when mangoes are aplenty, harvests seems endless. ;) Here in our home, we actually have a lot of mango trees. It's exciting when I get to pick fruits, and eat them. They feel and taste so fresh! It really is different when they are grown from your own backyard. Speaking of which, we have a lot of vegetables thriving in our backyard soil, I love it except for the bitter gourd, I pray for its demise. But that is another story! ;)

Now, going back to the mangoes...... 
Pardon the very low-res photos. They were taken through my iPad. :(

My officemate, Ara, learned a vanilla cream recipe when she tasted a dessert offering from one of the fast food restaurants here in Manila. She mentioned that they had this dessert with suman (rice cake?) topped with mangoes, and has this yummy sauce. 

So she ended up calling the restaurant, asking what the sauce was, and they obliged to mention that it was vanilla cream sauce.

So we did our very own version, minus the suman of course! 

I'm telling you, it IS yummy. It's perfect for desserts or even snacks! 

Sharing the recipe with you guys:

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 Sooo, this was what we came up with. Ara did her own research and experimented on the recipes online, and she shared this recipe with me:

1 and 1/2 cup of whipping cream

1 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of flour

1/2 of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions:

Over medium heat, beat the whipping cream, sugar and flour until smooth, add the butter and continue mixing until it starts to boil. Remove from the heat source then stir in the vanilla extract. Serve chilled or warm. 

Enjoy!!!

Happy summer!

 That's me and Ara , in matching outfits! :} 'Til then!