If you’re still holding on to that diet you promised to make last New Year, then don’t read this.

A couple of weeks ago, our church, Christ Commission Fellowship, went on our yearly fast. This happens on the second week of the new year. The method is for members to fast for a week from things they enjoy doing the most, such as computer games, television, a favorite sport, or food. I chose the last. So it was just water for me the entire week. What happens is that one becomes so hungry, one wakes up in the middle of the night to pray. You lift up whatever worries you have and ask Him to bless you with rest and peace.

The primary objective is to develop a closer relationship with God by getting to know Him more. But the bonus is that it is good for one’s health. Many impurities get burned up when the body is denied food. Last year, I lost 12 lb while this year I lost 10. One breaks the fast slowly while taking in something easy to digest. I had a bowl of fish congee. That bowl tasted so good.

The following week, I was in front of a variety of macarons and five cakes baked by pastry chef Sam who had just finished a baking course in New York. As soon as I saw that display, I told myself, this is where I gain everything back. There were a variety of macarons: chocolate, coffee caramel, kaya, pistachio, lemon, salted caramel, peanut butter and jelly, sesame and others. After sampling them, I moved on to take a slice of each cake. I had the Chaz, which was red velvet with fudge bottom with cream cheese frosting; Tosi, sponge cake with a butterscotch center very similar to a delicious crack pie, and covered with butter cream; Schmoe, toasted marshmallow cake with s’mores; Thirty Seven, which is Oreo in cheesecake; and Garth Vader, peanut butter in three textures—fluffy, silky and crunchy—covered in dark-chocolate ganache and then with chocolate meringue.

I felt each mouthful go straight to my love handles, never to depart. There goes my diet.

I enjoyed three the most: Tosi, Thirty Seven and the chocolate macaron. But the one that stood out was the peanut butter cake. My brother-in-law, architect Tonichi Mendoza, drools every time you mention Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It is his all-time favorite and I couldn’t agree with him more. In this Garth Vader cake, you will find the taste of Reese’s in some parts; you also bite into crumbles of Butterfinger.

I love peanut butter. For those who are like me, this will make you faint with pleasure. I dream about this cake. You know how when you try different sweets, one jumps out? This one hurtled out of the bunch. Sarap! I see this as a bestseller in the near future. Check it out!

Lately, after the bout with the lunch crowd at Wooden Spoon, I find myself walking to a nearby building and feasting on a peanut butter bar. And you know you’re hooked when you have no cash to buy one and end up borrowing money from the tip box just to satisfy that craving. I have been going there for three straight days now. It just beat my daily struggle with Dairy Queen’s Black Forest Blizzard. The bar is called Peanut Butter Paradise. It is dark-chocolate ice cream hand-dipped in peanut butter and rolled in homemade peanut butter cups. It is to die for. What a way to start the year.

So for all of you out there still holding on, keep it up, but as soon as you break, have a look at these two peanut butter goodies—the cake and the ice cream bar.

Happy eating!

Garth Vader Peanut Butter Cake is made by chef Sam of The Noodle Bakes, tel. 0920-9207268.

Peanut Butter Paradise is made by Sebastian’s Artisan Ice Cream, Regis Center, Katipunan Avenue. It’s a few meters away from Wooden Spoon.