Desserts / Ice Cream Archives - Page 11 of 12

Magnolia Ice Cream’s Frozen Delights & Summer Bloggers Party

Last week, we were invited to Magnoliaâ€™s Summer Bloggers Party for the launching of their new ice cream products, their Frozen Delights. I came with fellow foodies and bloggers who participated in their Facebook promo. It was definitely a night to remember. Iâ€™ll post more of my coverage of the event on my personal blog Just Another Pixel so stay tuned for that.

Going back to the launching of Magnoliaâ€™s Frozen Delights, I was genuinely glad that they were re-launching or re-introducing Magnolia as an ice cream brand. Most of us may be a little more familiar with the flavors of other popular ice cream brands, but from all the ice cream Iâ€™ve tasted during the bloggers party, you sure would love to get a taste of these delicious new ice cream from Magnolia.

There are a total of 5 Magnoliaâ€™s Frozen Delights that were featured at the launch, one of them were introduced for the very first time so I was pretty excited to try it. Itâ€™s Magnoliaâ€™s Spinner, their very own ice cream cone. It comes in two flavors: Vanilla and Chocolate (Php 20 only).

I only got to try the Vanilla flavor. There was an ice cream-eating contest that my bro Ken and I joined and I got to try the Chocolate flavor. I loved them both, though I got brain freeze during the contest so I didnâ€™t completely get to enjoy it. 😀

I also got to try one of Magnoliaâ€™s Fun Bar Surprise ice cream, the Cool Bubblegum flavor. I didnâ€™t know my lips turned blue â€˜til my blogger friends started laughing at me. 😀 Hahaha.

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Selecta Hersheys Ice Cream with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Ever since my bro Ken came back from Singapore, heâ€™s been craving for different kinds of food. That includes his ultimate favorite Mekeniâ€™s Tocino. 😀 But, since it was already summertime, he started craving for this:

He loves Reeseâ€™s Peanut Butter Cups. And so, when he saw this Selecta Ice Cream with Hersheyâ€™s chocolate and Reeseâ€™s Peanut Butter Cups, he couldnâ€™t stop thinking about it. He saw it while he was at Victory Mall in Monumento, where youâ€™d find Samsung TVs LCD , refrigerators and other appliances at very affordable prices.

He didnâ€™t buy it â€˜cause it was a liâ€™l expensive for a 1.5L of ice cream. The other day, he finally convinced me to split the costs with him. This ice cream tub costs Php 240. I was pretty excited to get a taste of it, too, since I love chocolate ice cream.

I wanted to take a photo of the ice cream BEFORE they get a chance to scoop out anything. But, as you can see, I was too late. 😀

We were actually a bit disappointed. No, not because it wasnâ€™t good. Itâ€™s just that we expected more Reeseâ€™s Peanut Butter Cups pieces mixed in the ice cream. Ken commented that you have to let the chocolate ice cream (Hersheyâ€™s) completely melt in your mouth before you can finally taste the peanut butter cups. I guess itâ€™s better to eat Reeseâ€™s peanut butter cups separately than having it mixed with anything. The chocolate flavor was too strong, which made me very happy. 😀

I still enjoyed it a lot â€˜cause I loved the Hersheyâ€™s milk chocolate flavor of the ice cream. I was on sugar high after my serving of it, pictured above. 😀 Iâ€™ll stick with their plain chocolate ice cream next time though. 🙂

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt, SM City San Lazaro

A few hours after my brother Kien flew back from Singapore, we didnâ€™t waste any time and went out. I was picking up my new babyÂ that day in Manila. Since weâ€™re a few blocks away from SM San Lazaro, we decided to head out and look for a place to hang out or to pass the time and test drive my camera.

I was craving for gelato that day, but we werenâ€™t sure if thereâ€™s a store that sells it in SM San Lazaro. So, we were glad we found Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt as soon as we turned a corner by the entrance. We opted to try their froyo instead.

Iâ€™ve already tried frozen yogurt from 3 places â€“ The White Hat, Red Mango and Yogiberry. So far, I enjoyed all of their own versions of froyo, Yogiberry topping the list, followed by Red Mango at close second. So, I was really curious how Tutti Fruttiâ€™s froyo will compare with them three.

First off, I think I was an (frustrated) interior designer in my past life â€˜cause I enjoy taking photos of interiors of food places I visit. This is the table where me and my bro hung out to enjoy our froyo. I love the fun colors they used inside their store and the dotted design of the chairs.

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt has the same concept as Yogiberry â€“ self-service. They have numerous dispensers with different flavors of frozen yogurt. You can mix flavors if you prefer.

Kien loves vanilla flavored anything so he chose that. I chose coffee â€˜cause, well, I love coffee. Plus, he also wanted to try it.

According to what Iâ€™ve read about Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt store, they have 50 different yogurt flavors. Every week, they change flavors of the froyo they have available at the stores. A fun experience for frozen yogurt lovers indeed.

The other flavors they had available when we were there were Death by Chocolate, Original Tart, Very Berry Raspberry, Lychee, Taro-bly Delicious and Strawberry Banana.

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Merienda Time!

Every weekend, my nanay is usually just at home and let me tell you, she gets easily bored. I guess I got that from her. 😀 So, what does she love doing? Well, fattening us up! Hahahaha. 😀

She loves cooking and preparing different dishes, mostly for merienda or snacks. It’s one of the things she does to pass the time. Trust me, if you stay at our home for even a week, you’re surely gain weight. She’s got this way of convincing you to eat what she prepared no matter how dedicated you are with your diet. Plus, everything she prepares is delicious. None of my friends were ever successful in saying no to her ’cause she’s an awesome cook! 😀

Here are some of my favorite merienda or snacks that my mother loves preparing or buying every weekend, starting off withÂ Palitaw! My favorite merienda! My mother got sick of cooking this for me. :DÂ I’ll post her recipe next time. 🙂

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Mango Brown Betty : Quick and Easy Microwave Recipe

My brother Ken considers himself a microwave chef. He can bake pastries with just the use of our trusty microwave and can do it in minutes! That’s why I so miss him being around. He’s currently in Singapore, trying his luck there. I miss his out-of-the-blue cooking or baking trips.

Everyone in my family loves to cook, even my dad, who usually cooks with wine, rhum or brandy :D. We’re not experts, but we do make really tasty dishes. Try staying at our home for about a month. Let’s see how many pounds you need to lose afterwards. 😀

Anyway, we’ve got mangoes at home right now and I wanted to try making my own Mango Brown Betty. It’s a very simple recipe that my brother shared with me years ago. Trust me, you’re going to enjoy making this. And, probably you can even make this now because the ingredients are readily or usually available in most kitchens.

Pardon the poor quality of photos. These were taken back in 2009, when I didn’t know better. 😀 I shared some of the things I learned about food photography on my geek blog.

Mango Brown Betty Recipe

(by Ken)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups of mango slices (long cuts)
4 cups of bread crumbs (read step #1 to make your own)
1/2 cup of butter or margarine
1 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

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Strawberry Farm in La Trinidad, Benguet near Baguio

Though we’ve been to Baguio a lot of times in the past, we never got to see Strawberry Farm for some reason. So, when were in Baguio last December, it was really part of our itinerary. We headed up there as early as 8am since we were going back to Manila in the afternoon.

We hired a taxi for the day and he was pretty familiar with the places in Baguio. He’s actually from La Trinidad, Benguet so getting there was a breeze.

As soon as I saw the strawberry farm itself, I got all excited. I love strawberries! No, I don’t like the powdered or artificial strawberry flavors. I want the actual fruit.

Outside the strawberry farm, there are a lot of people selling a lot of goodies. There are also pre-packed strawberries being sold there and you can choose to buy them instead of having to pick your own strawberries at the farm. But, I mean, c’mon. You’re already there so why not do it yourself, right? 😀

Before we get to the Strawberry farm, we had to try the Strawberry Taho in Baguio. It was sweet and I love that they put actual strawberries in the taho. Yum! 🙂

We also tried the Strawberry dirty ice cream being sold there. I forgot the price, but I think we paid Php 15 for this cone of ice cream. It’s a little bland for me compared to the ones you can buy at the grocery. But, yeah, duh, right? Of course, it’s being sold at a cheaper price so it was okay. There were bits of strawberries, and the flavor was just okay.

Anyway, when we asked how much it is if we pick our own strawberries, they said it’ll cost Php 300 per kilo. Way expensive, right?! They explained that it covers those strawberries we’ll smash, plants we’ll damage, and those we’re going to eat while we were there. They have a point ’cause I saw a lot of other pickers actually doing all of the above. 😀

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Pasalubong Ideas from Baguio – The Good, The Bad

First of all, I hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS! Have a Blessed New Year everyone! 🙂

If you’ve been following my other blogs, especially my personal blog Just Another Pixel, you’d know that I just got home from a 5-day Luzon vacation. We’ve dined and bought a lot of goodies or pasalubong from our 4 destinations (yes, 4 destinations in 5 days! :D) and I’ll be writing about them in the coming days so make sure you keep posted for that.

To start, let me show you some of the goodies we brought home with us from Baguio. Some were really good and worth giving away; the rest, ugh. Read on for my Baguio pasalubong recommendations.

The Bad 🙁

Lina’s Chewy Milky Balls are too milky for me in a not so good way. The texture is also weird that I didn’t even finish one piece. Ken also didn’t like it at all. It tasted more of coconut (unpleasantly), even the texture or the chewiness.

Lina’s Chewy Choco Balls may look yummy in that photo, but they weren’t good at all. Well, at least for me. Again, just like the milky balls, the texture is way too weird and I barely tasted any chocolate. I think itâ€™s just food coloring. 😐

I actually bought 2 variants of Jamber’s Lengua de Gato – chocolate and strawberry-flavored. I had high hopes that they’ll be good, but they were a big disappointment. First, they weren’t even crunchy. They were too soft and chewy. I want my lengua de gato a li’l crunchy, just like the ones from Pines Maid.

(The Good after the jump!)

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I Miss A&W Root Beer and Float, too!

I remember, everytime we go to SM North Edsa in Quezon City, I never miss going to the A&W store at the Annex. Their root beer float is the best I’ve had and I so love their root beer, too.

Too bad that all the A&W stores here in the Philippines closed 6 years ago, in 2004. I so miss their root beer and their float, served in their heavy mugs, topped with vanilla ice cream scoops that complements A&W’s root beer so well.

Okay, I may be a li’l exaggerating here, but A&W root beer is the BEST I’ve tried. Well, I’ve only tried 4 brands of root beer – Mug, A&W, Zest-o and this other brand we bought from a duty-free shop in Subic, I forgot the name. And if you love root beer, too, you’d completely agree with me that A&W is THE best in making them.

It’s been years since I last had a taste of A&W’s root beer. I tried to make my own root beer float at home using Zest-o’s root beer and my favorite vanilla ice cream, but the taste is just not the same. Even the fizz and the froth were different.

So, I was really glad when I found these A&W root beer in cans the last time we were at SM Hypermarket in Mall of Asia. I was too excited to have a taste of their root beer again that I put one can in the freezer so it’ll be ice-cold quickly.

And, when I pop-opened the can, the aroma of A&W’s root beer brought back sweet memories when I used to dine at their old store in SM. I really missed those times when I used to meet my friends (or boyfriend) in SM. It’s like whenever I’m near any A&W store, I can’t help but crave for a mug-full of their root beer float.

The A&W root beer in cans though aren’t as good as the ones they had in their stores, coming out of their taps in their serving area. It was different. But, still, I’m just happy I can still enjoy my favorite root beer.

I remember a couple of my fellow foodie bloggers talking about A&W and why they closed their stores here in the Philippines. Some said they weren’t able to catch on to the Filipinos’ taste. But, I think we’re more mature now as a nation to appreciate A&W’s food. Just look at all the food bloggers and foodies out there who are now into trying out different things. I know a lot of us miss A&W’s root beer. I just wish they’ll open stores here again.

For now, I’m just going to enjoy my A&W root beer in cans. â™¥â™¥â™¥

For the Love of Root Beerâ€¦

Our entry this week for:

Image credit for A&W Root Beer float: Allenooi

Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream – My New Indulgence

Sadly, Haagen-Dazs has decided to close their operations here in the Philippines.Â Click here to read more.

I’ve been wanting to try Haagen-Dazs ice cream for months now and it was only last September that I finally had a taste of their luscious ice cream. The idea came to me ’cause I was having a really rough day and I needed something to boost my mood. And, so, with my brother accompanying me, we decided to finally head out to HÃ¤agen-Dazs in SM Mall of Asia to try their ice cream.

Some may be a li’l intimidated to try Haagen-Dazs’ ice cream. I can’t really blame them because, first, the name is hard to pronounce. Hahaha. Seriously. I can’t really pinpoint where the name HÃ¤agen-Dazs originated, but this brand of ice cream was established by two Polish entrepreneurs back in the 60’s.

Another reason why most people I know haven’t tried HÃ¤agen-Dazs ice cream is because of the price, that you need a high-paying finance job to afford their ice cream. They’re really expensive, even for me who don’t usually care about the price as long as the food is great. So, that very first time in September that I got to try their world-famous ice cream, it took me a bit longer to decide on what to order ’cause I forgot to withdraw money from my ATM account (hahaha). Good thing one of their staff gave us their menu so we can decide on what to order within my budget. Oh, I love their menu! I wanted to take them home with me! *LOL*

I also love the ambiance inside their store. Their staff were also very friendly. The guy at the counter even offered to take our photos, but I declined ’cause I looked like a mess after what transpired the night before. Anyway, their staff who was waiting on us to order was very patient and even suggested a couple of things we should try. I so wanted to try their Fondue, but I was afraid my bro and I won’t be able to finish everything since we’re planning on having dinner later.

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Gelatissimo : My First Gelato Experience

Yes, it’s my first time enjoying a cup of gelato. And all I can say is I don’t think I’m going back to eating plain ice cream very soon. Thanks to Gelatissimo CafeÂ at Trinoma!

If you’re not yet familiar what gelato is, it’s actually Italy’s variant of ice cream. It’s mostly made up of the same ingredients as other frozen dairy desserts, but the difference is how it’s frozen. Also, gelato is known to have less butterfat and sugar contents. I guess that’s why it became an instant hit here in the Philippines.

Kien and I desperately wanted to try gelato after readingÂ “Eat, Pray, Love”. Since we were scheduled to watch The Social Network at Trinoma, we decided to head out to Gelatissimo.

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