First of all, let me greet everyone with a big shout out, HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!
Call me cheesy, call me corny, but yes I am admitting that I am a big romantic at heart. I enjoy celebrating the over-rated Valentine’s Day! In my own little way, I try to spread as much love, positivity and cheerfulness in this season of love. Yes, believe me, I really do! 🙂 So it also goes without saying that I love receiving my kids’ and The Hubby’s mushy Valentine’s Day cards, the expected bouquet of flowers and the little sweet gifts too. I guess this once-a-year day of love reminds me so much of myself and the things I love…hearts, roses and pinks, chocolates and strawberries! Everywhere I look just seem to radiate this “sickly sweet” feeling of romance!
I know, I know…I have to tone down a bit since there are still a lot of people who don’t appreciate the cheesiness of this day — and that’s fine with me. (And I think I know why, but let me not get into that, lol!) There are also people who frown upon the wide commercialization of this day… and I surely don’t blame them for that. After all, who appreciates the exorbitant costs of flowers and the suddenly-high prices of restaurants on this day? I certainly don’t! 🙁
But let me stop kidding myself here. There’s one more very important aspect of Valentine’s Day that I haven’t mentioned yet… and that’s actually the main reason why I just “cannot not love” this day. I love this day because… this is the day of my favorite dessert combo : chocolates and strawberries! Don’t you agree?
(You know I’ve written about my favorite Chocolates and Strawberry desserts here and here...)
So in this season of my favorite things, let me share with you one really good cake I just had…
VALRHONA STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE
3 magic words that spell L-O-V-E to me.
Valrhona without a doubt, is one of my favorite kinds of Chocolate in the world. Strawberries, are my favorite fruits of all time. And Cheesecake, is a cake I so love, I can have a good cheesecake everyday.
These are 3 words that say HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to me too! 🙂
But before anything else, let me share with you the story behind this cake….
One day, as I was going through my list of favorite desserts, I realized that I haven’t actually had a Cheesecake with Chocolate in it! I went through my list of home bakers and none of them carry a Chocolate Cheesecake in their product list. What I usually see are Cheesecakes topped with fruits (Strawberries and Blueberries are the most common), plain New York-style Cheesecake (which I also love), and the classic Filipino invention Quezo de Bola Cheesecake. But a Cheesecake made with really good quality Chocolate? Now that’s something I have yet to find!
Thankfully, I remembered that I have a budding and award-winning pastry chef in my speed dial. (How can I forget?) His name : Miko Aspiras. He used to be the pastry chef of Impressions, a French restaurant in Resorts World Manila (which by the way, is one very good restaurant for dinner dates and Sunday brunches – click the link here to see my post) but is now heading the pastry kitchen of the newly-opened Raffles Fairmont Hotel. I’ve ordered a couple of cakes from him in the past, such as this Felchin Dark Chocolate with Fleur de Sel (or Salted Chocolate Tart) from the Thanksgiving Dinner I hosted at home and this Strawberry Mille Feuille Cake from my Birthday dinner with the family, and both have been good.
So to finally satisfy my unusual and weird craving for a Cheesecake and Chocolate in one, I then called him up and asked him if he can make my “dream cake” come true. And after discussing with him what I want in my cake, he willingly agreed to do it and said YES!! For really, what is too hard and complicated for a pastry chef like him?!
So here’s one slice of the cake from me to you 🙂
The Cheesecake was covered with a thick Valrhona chocolate glaze on top and at the bottom lying on the crust were large pieces of chocolate brownie chunks.
The Cheesecake itself was smooth, creamy and light. It perfectly balanced the sweetness of the Valrhona glaze. The brownie chunks that came with it were a surprise to me and these complemented the cheesy flavor of the Cheesecake. And of course, the fresh, juicy, red Strawberries on top just sealed the whole deal for me!
Another good thing about this cake? It actually tasted even better on its 2nd day!
So if you’re going to order this from Chef Miko, just say : The Spoiled Mummy’s Dream Cake!
So there you go, ladies and gents. My favorite cake on my favorite day of the year. The Spoiled Mummy’s Dream Cake is a dream come true.
Hope you all have a wonderful day today filled with lots of love, sweet things and of course, chocolates!
Chef Miko Aspiras – (0927-387-2703)