Chicken Empanada

Chicken Empanada is a popular Filipino pastry that is stuffed with chicken meat, potatoes, carrots and peas. It's excellent for lunchboxes and snacks to go served hot or cold.

My mother-in-law gave me a tip in making these yummy delights. It's better to make the filling in advance and freeze it. It will be easier to place in the dough and form that empanada shape.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

I have been thinking about what dessert to bring to our first ever Christmas gift exchange this year. I checked out Martha Stewart's website and immediately decided to try making my very first cheesecake. But, what kind? After some soul-searching (right?), I decided on making Red Velvet Cheesecake - perfect color to celebrate Christmas.

I am not a huge cheesecake fan. Actually, I'm not a huge cake fan. Hahaha. Ironic, right? I just love to bake. And nothing's more satisfying for me than to have my creations consumed by people important to me. That's what I love and enjoy about baking - sharing it. But this recipe is amazing that I became a fan! I finished two slices one after the other. It's light and smooth, not too rich - hits you in just the right spots.

Purple Zebra Cake

My niece turned 16 and for her cake she wanted the zebra print incorporated with her favorite color, purple. Her 16th party was just a simple get-together of very close friends and relatives, not that elaborate Sweet 16. Being a Filipino, the big party doesn't get done until our 18th birthday. This is a simple design. I wanted to try my hand in making fondant roses and found a video online on how to make it without tools. I think the cake came out pretty good.

I added 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to my usual Marshmallow Fondant recipe to make brown fondant. And then kneaded in the black icing color to turn it black. You will use up less black icing color that way than turning pure white marshmallow fondant black.

This is a pretty easy cake to make with hardly any tools used. Here's how I put everything together.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Whenever we crave for some chocolate and give in, I end up baking Chocolate Muffins, to save us from too much guilt. It's easy to make and what I usually bake before a long road trip. The whole family can eat it for breakfast on the road and for snacks when we get hungry in between meals. I found a great recipe from joyofbaking.com. My son loves it. He would gobble up a couple of muffins right out of the oven.