bubungka

My parents were so excited when I told them I wanted to make and sell bibingka. They even asked someone to comb the streets of Divisoria to look for the clay stove and clay pot used to cook bibingka. So, I bought cookbooks with bibingka royale recipes and set out to work. It looked easy enough when I observed the person manning the Ferino's outlet in Gilmore. So, it should be a piece of cake for me, right?

WRONG!

The very first bibingka that came out was flat, and looked more like flattened hotcake. That time, it was my dad who was doing the cooking, and I was prepping (and watching The Apprentice). After 4 flattened bibingkas, he finally gave up and left me and Emmy to do the work. I showed the bibingka to my mom, who laughed and said we should call it bubungka instead. Harrrr... very funny. Harumph! When I build my bibingka empire, I will tell that story to Entrepreneur magazine -- how my mom made fun of my initial efforts at making bibingka.

So, after adjusting the flour, we came out with an improved version. Although the bibingka became fluffier, it still bore no resemblance to the ones being sold at Ferino's. I compared the recipe I used with the other recipes which I haven't tried yet, and I discovered that the problem was with the amount of baking powder I used. Oh well, will try other versions soon.

In the meantime, I am stuck with 8 bibingkas, 3 of which I had to practically force people to eat , 1 I offered as a peace offering to my brother (harhar... malamang after eating it, magkagalit na naman kami), and the other one I had to eat by myself. There are still 3 cakes left. Any takers? =)