Take A Peek Into What Goes Into Every Dessert At Park Avenue Desserts
"Masarap is masarap," is how Chef Buddy Trinidad of Park Avenue Desserts describes baking, and if you see and taste the kind of desserts, especially the cakes, that Chef Trinidad and his team in Park Avenue Desserts create, you'll see that their desserts can only be "masarap" indeed!Â
It's easy to imagine that when you see that the bakery really does use the best ingredients.Â
Baking with Integrity
Chef Trinidad, who is the head of the research and development department of the bakery, is all about the ingredients and really, when you see the kind of ingredients he does work with, you'll understand why his tip for new bakers (and even those who just want to bake at home!) is about the ingredients.Â
"If you start out with good ingredients, the goal is to keep the integrity of that product whether it's chocolate or strawberry or mangoes or what have you," says Chef Trinidad. "Because if you stay true to (the ingredient's) integrity, then you have done the product justice."Â
"To quote the great Wolfgang Puck, "Just use the best ingredients and don't screw it up." To this day, I truly believe that. That's the piece of advice that I always try to impart to people wanting to bake for the first time."Â
The Desserts of Park Avenue DessertsÂ
"Here at Park Avenue Desserts," Chef Trinidad says, "we try to have a balance of cakes and brownies and cookies, so, on the cakes, we always have a couple of fruits. Of course, (we also have) chocolate-based cakes and some desserts off the beaten path, like the salted caramel cake and things like that. We try to have something for the people that are curious, (who) will look at the cake and think, I will try this one."Â
You just need to look at the cakes to know that their cakes are a testament to this philosophy, where different elements make each one unique and oh-so-addictive, such as a leveled-up Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake, their gorgeous Strawberry Mango Bloom cake, and the pastel-pretty but addictive Strawberry and Pistachio Macarons.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake
For chocolate lovers, there's the Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake to satisfy your cravings for the confection. It's made with three rounds of moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and salted caramel sauce sprinkled with salt flakes between the layers. It's covered in more chocolate ganache before it's glazed with a glossy chocolate glaze. A little pizzaz is added with stripes of yellow and red glazes and a trio of chocolate ganache roses on top.
Strawberry Mango Bloom CakeÂ
You'll get a little bit of everything in their Strawberry Mango Bloom cake! It is a vanilla sponge cake base with vanilla mousse, fresh mangoes and strawberries, and meringue cookies for a little crispiness. It's decorated with more chocolate and vanilla meringue cookie sticks and an abundance of strawberry and mango slices on top so you know exactly what you'll be tasting when you have a slice.
"It's critical to this dessert that you use the freshest product, when it's at its most ripe. That way you get the full flavor of the fruit. You want to make sure that there's mango in every bite, and make sure there are strawberries everywhere, too," says Chef Trinidad.Â
Strawberry and Pistachio Macarons
If chewy yet crisp almond cookies from France are your favorite kind of dessert, the duo-colored Strawberry Pistachio Macarons will surely delight you! These hot pink and pastel green cookies are filled with pistachio buttercream and homemade strawberry jam.
How It's Made in Park Avenue Desserts
How Park Avenue Desserts make its desserts is rooted in Chef Trinidad's baking history.
"When my mom taught me how to bake, my mom always used fresh fruit," said Chef Trinidad. "It was just a natural way to combine something fresh and something baked which to me is the best of both worlds. The shelf life is short, so you have to eat it today or until tomorrow only, and we found that the majority of our customers preferred that because they knew it was fresh."Â
So what else can Chef Trinidad say about their cakes? "Baking is really very easy. Just stay focused on the integrity of (the ingredients that you are using) because masarap is masarap. It's as simple as that."Â
Watch the full video including how the cakes and macarons are made here:Â
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