Cebu Torta

I'm so glad Kat and Lala, our Kulinarya Cooking Club hosts chose Decadence for April 2011 because I've been itching to make Cebu Torta for a few years now but never had the courage to make them...they're too darn rich for my own good. Reading the amount of egg yolks alone is enough to give me heart palpitations. Cebu torta as described on many websites sounds like the love child of this extra-rich Filipino ensaimada and leche flan...let's see...

large number of egg yolks ✓
loads of lard or butter ✓
tons of sugar ✓
sweetened condensed milk ✓

I made a very small batch following the traditional recipe, replacing tuba (coconut toddy) with sweet wine and a pinch of yeast; the torta was a bit acidic and not very good but still edible. It's probably my fault for adding yeast and letting it ferment longer than necessary. I baked a second torta adapting Market Manila's recipe which uses baking powder as leavening. I used buco juice in place of water and baked one half of the dough in large muffin pans at 350°F which produced dense cakes with a slight bump at the center. The other half of the dough was baked in small shallow tartlet molds in a hotter oven. They came out less dense, not fluffy, just a tad airier than the large ones. I love them both. These cakes are super rich, sweet, moist, and may be addicting (not good). Torta spells D-E-C-A-D-E-N-T and should be consumed only once a year, the best time perhaps is on Easter Sunday when we are allowed to indulge after weeks of temporarily giving up rich food for Lent.

Torta
adapted from Market Manila's Torta recipe

1 cup buco juice or water
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
12 egg yolks
8 ounces sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces whole milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
ensaimada molds, extra-large muffin pan, or tartlet molds
cupcake liners

• In a small pan, heat juice and sugar until sugar dissolves; leave to cool to room temperature.
• Line molds with paper liners, set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350°F or 400°F.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high until light and creamy. Add the egg yolks and beat until well-mixed. Add cooled syrup, both milk, and oil and beat well. Add flour mixture; beat on low until well incorporated. Fill molds 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F until tops are golden, or 12 minutes at 400°F until tops are golden brown.

a slight bump at the center if baked at 350°F

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Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney (Kath, Trisha, and Trissa), who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

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But wait! There's more decadent Filipino fare to read here.

Bam-i

No I am not channeling Emeril Lagasse. Bam-i is a stir-fry of two noodles, a specialty of the Visayan island of Cebu in the Philippines. This Chinese-influenced noodle dish has mung bean vermicelli and fresh egg noodles sauteed with shrimps, boiled pork, vegetables, Chinese sausages, and wood ear mushrooms. The Chinese sausages impart a distinct Chinese-Filipino taste and a hint of sweetness to this very delicious noodle dish.

I didn't have the Filipino mung bean noodles nor wood ear mushrooms. I used the Korean glass vermicelli which are fatter but have the same consistency as the mung bean noodles. For the mushrooms I used dried wild mushrooms which is what I have at hand. I'm not sure if the mushrooms would have made a difference, crunch perhaps, I don't know. All I can say after downing a plateful is BAM(!)-I!

Bam-i
recipe adapted from Flavors of the Philippines by Glenda Rosales-Barretto

100 grams fresh shrimps in shells
1 tablespoon light olive oil
6 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons annatto oil (heat 1 T annatto seeds in 3 T olive oil)
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 medium onion, sliced
100 grams sliced boiled pork
2 Chinese sausages, sliced diagonally
5 wood ear mushrooms, soaked and cut into strips
50 grams carrots, sliced
200 grams mung bean vermicelli (sotanghon)
100 grams cabbage, sliced
500 grams fresh egg noodles
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
for garnish: 2 hard-boiled eggs, csnipped scallions, crispy fried garlic slices
to serve: calamansi or lime or lemon juice

• Shell and devein the shrimps and fry the heads in the oil in a saucepan. Add stock and boil for 5 minutes, then process in a blender and strain.
• Heat the annatto oil in a lark wok and saute the garlic and onion, then add, one at a time, the shrimps, pork, sausages, mushrooms, carrots, mung bean noodles, and cabbage. Mix well, then add the strained broth and 1 tsp salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Cook for 5 minutes, then add the egg noodles, toss and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste. Transfer into a serving platter and garnish with eggs, scallions, and crispy garlic.