Baker's Bites: Tuna Corn Casserole

Now that I have a bit of free time on my hands, I've been home a lot. I promised myself that after a couple of days of a much-needed break, I'm going to get back in the kitchen to make and bake. My past posts have been of the dessert kind but this time around, I'm sharing a quick and easy recipe for one of my all-time favorites from our kitchen. This isn't exactly the same one my mom used to make but I made do with the ingredients on hand. You need about 10-15 minutes prep time and then probably 30-45 minutes for the whole cooking time.

Cook 200 grams of elbow macaroni (we usually use fettuccine but we didn't have any on hand) in 2 liters of water with salt. Wait for the water to boil, pour in the macaroni, and cook for 8-10 minutes until al dente. Drain right away and set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter (I used Calaboo) and sauté half a red onion that's been diced. Add cream of mushroom (I used a 10 fl oz can of Campbell's) and half a cup of grated cheese (I used Quickmelt, lol). Stir until cheese has melted then turn off the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in a can of tuna flakes and a can of whole kernel corn (drain both before adding!) to the sauce. In an oven-safe dish, transfer macaroni and toss in tuna sauce. Make sure to coat all the pasta with the sauce before topping with more cheese. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 300F for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Click and save the photo below for future use! Tag me if you decide to make it. (:

Baker's Bites: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (VIDEO)

I helped out my cousin with her school project yesterday. She's supposed to come up with a baking demo on video for her class. So we made cupcakes! I couldn't resist making my own video. So amateur, I know. Haha! Can't wait how Shannon's video turns out. Hope her teacher likes it.

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Baker's Bites: Happy 87th Birthday, Lola!

My dad's mom turned 87 last Saturday. Baked her some chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies to share with everyone for lunch. I love making chocolate chip cookies! They're always a big hit as proven by the crumbs left from the dozen I left for the house. My dad says the box we gave lola was also wiped out. Hooray!

I usually cut up the butter into blocks before creaming so that the mixer doesn't have a hard time whipping it. I also cream the butter a few minutes before adding the sugars. Usually, recipes tell you to mix the white and brown sugar first or cream all three ingredients together. I don't know. This technique just seems to work better for me.

I like that the cookies stay almost the same shape as I scooped them whenever I use a silicone mat. They kind of just flatten a little which results in...

...perfect cookies—all the time!

They were just the right kind of chewy and the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips were ooey gooey. Can't wait to make another batch. What are your favorite cookie recipes? Care to share?

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Baker's Bites: Order A Dozen

Early Sunday morning baking. A dozen Kahlua Cupcakes topped with Cream Cheese Roses. Like Macy's Fields on Facebook! (:

Baker's Bites: The Inception Cookie

I've been wanting to try this ever since it popped up on my browser on one of my many blog-hopping sessions. A cookie within a cookie. How genius is that? I was kind of disappointed (maybe I was expecting too much?), but topped with a scoop of Vanilla Almond ice cream, it was perfect!

Cool Tip: Cookie dough chilled overnight results in better cookies. Don't have 24 hours? Keep your flour in the fridge. It works the same way. (:

Baker's Bites: Mini Black-Bottom Cupcakes

I attended a surprise bridal shower for one of my good friends and Candy's former fashion editor over the weekend. Since it was potluck, we were thinking of bringing dessert—her favorite Macy's Fields Black-Bottom Cupcakes. I recently bought a mini-muffin pan so I can make miniature versions of my cupcakes. I made 47 perfect little cuppycakes (the 48th one was missing a bottom, haha!) that were worthy of their spot in Margaux's bridal shrine, heh. (: Can't wait to make these again!

Baker's Bites: The Making of a Wedding Cake

There are a few things on my baking bucket list and one of them is to make a wedding cake. I've actually had a delusion of making my own wedding cake, but after this, I may have to think twice. Haha!

One of my very good friends got married over the weekend and she asked me to make her wedding cake. I told her that I wasn't an experienced cake maker and I could only manage a 3-layer cake. No tiers, no height, no nothing. On the morning of February 25, I set out to do a 3-layer Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting in between the layers. I whipped up some Swiss Meringue Buttercream (since the wedding would be out of town and I wasn't sure if the Cream Cheese Frosting would hold for hours) and piped a very simple "design" with my trusty 1M star tip. After almost 6 hours in the kitchen, I made it in record time, delivering this cake and 20 individually packed cupcakes (for her giveaways) to my friend's condo.

There were so many things I wanted to fix. The uneven layers (the cake tilted ever so slightly to the right), the messy frosting, and the cake board (could have used an extra inch or two!). But I was so happy when my friend texted me, "Cake is soooo pretty, Mace! Galing mo! Thanks so much for everything! Love you!"

And just like that, it was perfect. I made my very first wedding cake. (:

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Baker's Bites: Red Velvet Cupcakes + Cream Cheese Frosting

P600 for a box of 12. Like Macy's Fields on Facebook. (:

Baker's Bites: Singapore-Manila Cookies

My friend D-an wanted me to make Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Reese's Peanut Butter Chips for her brother and mom. I was able to make a batch of these late last year thanks to a rogue bag of said chips. I would later find out that they're super hard to find here (to prove the fact: I went to five different groceries and none of them carried the item). So when she headed to Singapore, she brought home a bag with her! Some of the cookies turned out crunchier than chewy since I failed to take them out of the oven right away. D-an and her family enjoyed them, anyway. I'm glad. (:

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Baker's Bites: Red Velvet

I tried to search for a recipe for these cupcakes that were "the best Red Velvet cupcakes ever" according to a friend. I tweaked the recipe I found a bit till I found  just the right mix. If you're curious, head on over to my Facebook Page and order a dozen (or two!). (:

Baker's Bites: Cookie Fail

I've been obsessing about these melt-in-your-mouth brownie cookies for a while. I had some egg whites left over from making the Chocolate Turtle Pie for New Year's so I tried the recipe over the weekend. They came out chewy and too sweet (I didn't have any dark chocolate around so I used semisweet). Next time, I think I will use more egg whites and lessen the chocolate (maybe just 1 cup).

The only missing ingredient in this picture are the egg whites. Yes, these cookies have no flour at all!

They looked puffy when I took them out of the oven, but quickly deflated. I tried leaving them in the oven longer, but the chocolate cooked too much and turned chewy. I promise to try this again with better results!

Baker's Bites: Chocolate Turtle Pie

Ran out of pecans so I put lots of whipped cream on top. I have 5 egg whites in the fridge. Maybe it's time to attempt those melt-in-your-mouth brownie cookies? (:

Baker's Bites: Chocolate Chunk and Pecan Cookies

Had a small block of chocolate left from my cake pop experiment a few months ago (the end product is in the December issue of Candy!), so I decided to chop them into chunks and mix chopped pecans with it into my cookie batter. Delicious chocolate chunks in every bite! Merry Christmas, everyone! (: