‘Presenting five of the 24 Best Desserts to be presented by Inquirer Lifestyle and SM Mall of Asia on Dec. 4’
IN A PLACE KNOWN AS A foodie haven, it’s amazing how Cebu’s Café Georg was able to carve a special niche for its Chocolate Decadence.

What started as a small corner at Ayala Center Cebu in 1998 has grown to become one of the city’s “must-eats,” almost in the same breath as Cebu’s iconic danggit and dried mangoes.

Sisters Bunny Ludo-Alcordo and Georgia Ludo run the homey outlet, which offers meals such as grilled pork chops, Mexican salad and lasagna. But, of course, people more often come for a slice of Chocolate Decadence.

The cake is among the 24 Best Desserts to be presented by Inquirer Lifestyle and SM Mall of Asia on Dec. 4, 3 p.m., at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium.

“Café Georg is all about simple food—unpretentious, down-to-earth and homey, the kind of food you can eat everyday,” says Alcordo (mobile number: 09178112027). The sisters have opened another branch along Banilad Road.

“Dining at Café Georg is walking into a familiar territory where most customers have their favorite spot and know what to order without looking at the menu. For customers who’ve moved out of Cebu, it is usually the first place they visit when they come home,” she adds.

Macadamia Cheesecake

There is also something very familiar with Kitchen’s Best’s White Chocolate Macadamia Brittle Cheesecake—a satiny smooth, melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake layered in white chocolate and macadamia graham crust.

Kitchen’s Best (mobile number: 09178966248) also offers other best-selling signature cakes such as Mango Sans Rival and Chocolate Obsession. But its piece de résistance has always been the cheesecake, which is served iced with whipped cream and showered with homemade macadamia brittle.

Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake, meanwhile, is the top bet of Karen’s Kitchen. A self-confessed dessert enthusiast, Karen Young (mobile number: 09175394968) learned the ropes right in the family kitchen, baking goodies for the folks on weekends.

“I used to crack the eggs and hold the manual egg beater. I felt nurtured every time my sister Joy made oatmeal cookies and tarts for us. That the baked treats are a three-dimensional expression of caring is one of my favorite parts of baking. Eating is my other favorite part.”

Young sold her first Black Forest Cakes (a recipe handed down by Joy) when she was still in college. While living abroad, Karen took up cake decorating classes with Wilton School’s Frances Salazar. There was no stopping her from then on as she pursued her passion through foreign trips, lessons, readings and endless kitchen sorties.

Red Velvet Cake, according to her, was borne out of her experiments in the kitchen. Little did she know it would one day become one of her bestsellers. She has now established Key Specialty Food Inc. with operations in Palm Village, Makati.

Frozen goodies

Homemade Ice Cream may be a simple name for a dessert, but it’s nonetheless a big shot in the business. It is made with carabao’s milk and fresh fruits. Everything is made from scratch—no artificial flavors, coloring or preservatives.

“Baking is really a hobby I discovered more than 20 years ago. It started when I asked my lola’s old cook to teach me a few family recipes like brazo de mercedes, tocino del cielo and sans rival. Since she was in her 60s then and staying with us, I thought it would be good to learn these recipes the way lola taught her, because she would probably be retiring in a few years,” recalls dessert maker Ginny Gonzales (mobile number: 09296834350).

Gonzales admits she has no formal training in baking or cooking. Yet that hasn’t stopped her from whipping out baked goodies more advanced than sponge cakes and cookies.

“Most of my desserts are chilled or frozen. I started making ice cream four years ago because I wanted to try something different. So I experimented and came up with a few fruit flavors, then I decided to incorporate some of my old recipes into the ice cream. And it just took off from there,” she reveals.

Gonzales now has over 50 different flavors and is still coming up with new ones “not because I need to but because I enjoy it.”

‘Inipit’

Now, if you’re driving north, chances are you may have taken these items home with you: Inipit from GemSevilla Sweets.

Gemma Sevilla Alcantara is now making sure the quality of her store’s products stays the same as the time in the early ’60s when her widowed grandmother Olympia “Lola Impiang” made and sold them to raise three kids.

GemSevilla Sweets (mobile number: 09179982247) can now be found at Market! Market! in Bonifacio Global City, Tiendesitas in Pasig, and SM City in Cebu. But the old store is on the long road to Nueva Ecija, the S.C. Sevilla Sweets and Coffee Shop.

“What’s so special about our products? Maybe it’s that I love what I do, so I try to give my best in making our products such as the inipit and pastillas de leche. Our customers are very important to us. We don’t compromise the quality of our items just to be able to lower the price,” says Alcantara, who is currently the town’s municipal councilor and daughter of former mayor of San Miguel, Bulacan, Santy Sevilla, “Lola Impiang”’s eldest son.