Copycat

Here are a couple of things you've probably seen elsewhere that I recently made my own versions of. I do not mean to be a copycat but sometimes it's just nice to know that, rather than buying, I can just make them myself...

Fruit/Vegetable Shopping Bags

You've seen these around, haven't you?

Each fruit/vegetable pouch opens up to reveal a shopping bag scrunched within. Neat, huh?

A few days ago, I found a great tutorial on how to make one of these cuties! While I didn't need another shopping bag (I already have heaps!), I nevertheless tried to make one, just for the fun of it.

I made my pouch a little bigger since my fabric was thicker...alas, it still wasn't roomy enough. I see now that it was a bad idea using medium-weight fabric since I really had to squish the bag into the pouch. I ended up making it very wrinkly, which is not great at all. But it was worth the try anyway. I would probably do this again once I find out where to buy the right material.

Purple Yam (Ube) Cake ala Red Ribbon Bakeshop

We had a small gathering last night to remember my brother Rey on the 40th day since his passing. I made another purple yam (ube) cake for our after dinner dessert. This is one cake I have been trying to perfect for a while now.

Red Ribbon Bakeshop makes the best commercially available ube cake in the Philippines. They have branches in the USA but none here in Australia, so there is really no way I would be able to satisfy my craving for this kind of cake than by baking it myself. I have in fact already come up with a recipe that more or less approximates the same taste and texture. But what I really wanted was something comparable to the Red Ribbon ube cake look. So that is what I set out to do. I think I finally did it!

The cakes on the left are file photos of Red Ribbon ube cakes on the web. The one on the right is mine. Both versions are three-layered chiffon cakes covered with whipped cream frosting and ube cake crumbs. Both have piped rosettes on the top too but I added the stars in the bottom because I had leftover frosting. I know my cake looks more like indigo (deep blue purple) in the photos but really, in person, both cakes are very similar in colour. Both vibrantly purple!

Instead of using the same whipped cream frosting as filling, I made an ube/macapuno pastry cream to spread in between the cake layers.(Macapuno is basically young coconut that is simmered in water and sugar until the mixture becomes syrupy. It is readily purchased in bottles.)

Did my cake taste like Red Ribbon's? Absolutely! It was super moist and turned out as beautiful as I had imagined it to be. The pastry cream made it so much richer...too rich for my taste actually...I think I will just stick to whipped cream and keep it simple...

My copies weren't perfect...but they were in fact quite good. For sure, I can only do better next time around.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!