Let's Cake It with Ms. A. Florendo & Ed a huge success

By Ed Dychauco
Pots and Pans
DESPITE Pacquiao's bout with Morales that day, many cake enthusiasts attended "Let's Cake It with Ms. A. Florendo & Ed (Part IV) at the Grand Caprice Restaurant last November 19, 2006. Participants from as far as Zamboanga, Marawi, Camiguin, Butuan and other neighboring cities and towns were mesmerized by the creativity and innovativeness in the art of baking, cake decorating and flower making of Avelina C. Florendo, Philippine's Cake Queen and ICES (International Cake Exploration Society's 2005 Hall of Fame Awardee and the teacher of Who's Who in the cake industry, Ms. Penk Ching, Ms. Heny Sison, Ms. Sylvia Cancio, Ms. Melissa Lim and many others!) and Ms. Ma-ay S. Florendo, daughter-in-law of "Tita" Avelina, who also teaches at the CCS Bakeshop and Cake Decorating School in Quezon City.
The show started with me and Ma-ay doing several simplified versions of cake and brownie recipes with a twist, which were for both the beginners and seasoned bakers alike. Recipes included Peotraco's special dark chocolate cake with chocolate glaze, fudgy brownie, moist chocolate brownie, honey browns rum pound cake, nutless fruit cake and many others. Florendo did the "Tres Leches Cake" from scratch and frosted it with boiled butter icing (which is really a very, very rich and special cake by itself, having learned the recipe from the US recently).
She then did some petunia flowers using royal icing and decorated the cake with it. Since the yuletide season is just around the corner, Poinsettia flowers were also featured using the same type of icing. The highlight of the show was when Ms. Florendo introduced her latest invention, "Avelina's flower moulder," using "cold porcelain" where more than 10 assorted flowers (the Rose, Carnation, Anthurium, Calla Lily, Cattleya, Stargazer Lily, Vanda, Sampaguita and many others) and leaves can be made from the flower board. Due to time constraint and several minutes of black out, only the Regal Rose was demonstrated together with the exotic Vanda, Double Quick Bloom, Majestic Cattleya, Calla Lily and few leaves.
A wreath made of cold porcelain where all the flowers can be made from the flower board was flown in and displayed prominently in front for everyone to admire, touch and see up close. Cold porcelain is the latest trend in Europe and the US because of its durability, unbreakable quality and ease in the preparation and making of the flowers. Unlike gum paste, it does not dry easily making it easy for beginners to try. However, it is not edible but also non-toxic. Cold porcelain can last for a very long time if displayed. And it is also washable! An excellent idea for those who wants to have a piece of the cake flower and keep it as a souvenir.
All recipes uses Peotraco's premium cocoa powder, Peotraco's honey browns, Peotraco's caster sugar, Peotraco's premium powdered sugar, Peotraco's semi-sweet chocolate chips, Peotraco's sugar decor, Peotraco's coloring gel, Peotraco's corn syrup, Peotraco's muscovado sugar and Peotraco's disposable pastry bags. Marca Leon's corn and vegetable oil were also used in the recipes as well as Royal Miller's whipping cream, a new, easy to use and versatile whipped cream, which was formally introduced during the demonstration.
Cupcakes were decorated using this latest cream, which comes in three flavors (plain, yoghurt and blueberry). Yummy! We also use Royal Miller evaporated and condensed milk, Marville Butter and Marville Margarine in all our recipes. A total of 10 new cakes and brownies recipes, including that of cold porcelain and fondant were given to the participants, who also savored the baked goodies that were prepared. Snacks arranged by the restaurant were also served. Best of all, everyone gets to go home with a certificate of attendance and a little token of appreciation from Pots and Pans Home Bake and Coffee Shop, which incidentally is celebrating its 30th year. Our beloved and distinguished guests from Manila got a gift basket from Fopanormin (Food Processor's Association of Northern Mindanao), an association where I also serve as the vice president, bouquets, plaque of appreciation and most of all, the memories, love and respect of our friends from the baking and cake industry.
A side trip to Camiguin and Camp Philips in Bukidnon highlighted their short but exciting stay in Northern Mindanao. I would like to thank the following sponsors who, despite in short notice, helped me in welcoming our guests: Vienna Haus Cafe, Candy's Cafe and Restaurant, Butcher's Best Barbeque, Sentro 1850, Mc Donalds Divisoria, Grand City Hotel and Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin. My sincere gratitude also goes to Marlou Abejuela of Wolfram Video for helping me with the posters and coverage of the event, Rina Paras of Parasat Cable, Mom's Radio, Mike dela Serna, Carl Ramirez, Goldcrest Marketing, News Express and Abigail of Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

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