red velvet – The Jellybeans Edit

Enjoy Thai milk tea at home with Jelly G

Despite the increasing frequency of rain showers in the metro, the times when the sunshine peeks through the clouds are the instances when we need something sweet and refreshing to quench our thirst, right?

Have you ever tried Thai milk tea? Unlike the more prevalent boba milk teas, Thai milk teas have actually been around a lot longer, have a myriad of health benefits and are also available in wondrous variety.

Local chain Jelly G, which has been operating since 2000, specializes in Thai milk tea, making its signature drinks from strongly brewed black tea spiced with anise and tamarind seeds and sweetened with condensed milk.

Together with fillers such as grass jelly, cassava pearls, yogurt, basil seeds, coconut jelly, egg pudding, cream cheese and poppers, the resulting drinks showcase the distinct exotic taste of Thai milk tea as well as introduce new ways to enjoy this traditional Southeast Asian drink that will appeal to Pinoy taste buds.

Over the years, Jelly G’s presence in malls have made this Thai delicacy more easily to Filipinos, and now, with heightened restrictions on dining out due to the pandemic, it can now be delivered to your home for you to enjoy with your family.

Really, now would be a great time to expand the family’s flavor horizons and say “Sa wa dee ka!” to new drink experiences by trying out some of Jelly G’s unique drinks such as:

Blueberry Milk with Coco Jelly and Cream Cheese. A sweet and tangy fruity drink with slivers of chewy coco jelly and topped with cream cheese.

Black Forest with Poppers. A rich chocolatey drink with tiny globes of fruity poppers.

Red Velvet Thai Milk Tea with Grass Jelly and Cream Cheese. A creamy dessert-like take on Thai milk tea made more nutritious with addition of grass jelly and richer with the addition of cream cheese.

Want to expand your Thai food adventure even more? Pair your Thai milk tea with traditional Thai dishes, also available from Jelly G.

Place your orders now by messaging +63 925 7816237 on Viber or via GrabFood or FoodPanda.

To know its latest promos and offers, follow Jelly G on Facebook or Instagram.

Check out my previous posts on Jelly G:

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate this feature article.

Valentine Cookies from Scout’s Honor, Santolan Town Plaza

Valentine’s Day may be over but it’s not too late to treat your loved ones to a sweet treat.

This is what I did this past weekend when Hubby and I made a stopover at Santolan Town Plaza and I espied a branch of Scout’s Honor in the area.

Scout’s Honor is an artisanal cookie store inspired by the Girl Scout cookie concept. Its cookies are made fresh daily with premium ingredients, certainly a treat for dessert lovers. Having expanded its menu to include hot comfort food, Scout’s Honor outlets became places where kids and adults can hang out in comfortably.

I decided to bring home some cookies for my kiddos to brighten their day.

Fortunately, I was able to get two pieces each of limited-edition Valentine cookies, Scout’s Honor’s beloved cookie flavors shaped into cute hearts available within February:

Ultimate Chocolate Chip (Php60/pc).

Cashew Macadamia (Php60/pc).

Rocky Road (Php60/pc).

Ultimate Red Velvet (Php95/pc).

To make an even dozen, I ordered two more pieces each of other Cub Scout Cookie flavors:

White Cranberry Oatmeal (Php60/pc).

1969 (Php60/pc).

For my Hubby’s toddler niece who was visiting our home that afternoon with her parents, I got a dozen of 1 Bite 2 Bite cookies (Php95) which consisted of four pieces each of Milk Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Fledge for the little one to bring home.

As luck would have it, I was able to get some treats for my fur-baby as well as Scout’s Honor also offers peanut-butter flavored Dog Treats (Php95). It’s a well-deserved for my beloved pooch and Guardian of Casa de Jellybeans.

Why don’t you bring home some sweet treats for your little ones to show your love today?

This Scout’s Honor branch is located at Ground Floor, Santolan Town Plaza, Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue, Little Baguio, San Juan City, open daily from 11am to 7pm.

Other branches are located at:

Second Floor, Uptown Place Mall, 36th Street Corner 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Ground Floor, Phase 2, UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Level 1, Ayala Malls Vertis North, Bagong Pag-Asa, Quezon City
Upper Ground Floor, Main Building, SM City North EDSA, Bago Bantay, Quezon City
Ground Floor, Pedro Gil Wing, Robinson’s Place Manila Ermita, Ermita, Manila
Upper Ground Floor, Main Building, SM City Fairview, Novaliches, Quezon City

Red Velvet Cake from Lia’s Cakes in Season

Momshies, did you know that red velvet cake is actually made with cocoa, making it, in essence, chocolate cake?

It’s a classic dessert favorite in the Southern US states, said to have originated in Maryland in the early 20th century. It gained the moniker “velvet” cake for having soft and velvety crumbs as opposed to its coarser crumb contemporaries.

During the food rationing of World War II, bakers started adding boiled beetroot to their cake ingredients to help them retain moisture and its juices to add color to their creations.

Traditionally, bakers used a light and fluffy French-style roux icing to decorate the red velvet cake. Variations using cream cheese of buttercream frosting came later.

I was recently gifted by a fellow momshie with a whole Red Velvet Cake from Lia’s Cakes in Season.

This dessert store is practically a landmark in the foodie haven of Kapitolyo in Pasig City. Set up by young entrepreneur Carlo Carlos in 2004 to feature “fruits-to-cakes in season,” cakes and pastries that creatively incorporate the freshest fruits in season.

Its Red Velvet Cake (Php990 whole | Php140 per slice), however, is the store’s take on the classic fave. It consists of a moist chocolate cake (colored a deep red, of course), wrapped in a smooth buttercream icing and topped with crystal bits for added texture.

To get your hands on this decadent delight, order through Lia’s Cakes’ online store or call +63 917 6605427 (minimum order of Php850) for delivery to anywhere in Metro Manila. Delivery is free for website orders over Php2,000.

So order now, momshies!

Lia’s Cakes in Season is located at 23 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig City.

Donut takeout from Krispy Kreme, SM Megamall

As some of you may have gathered from my previous blog posts, my kiddos are avid Krispy Kreme fans. Since the start of the quarantine, we have been relying on delivery services to get our hands on these donut treats.

However, when Hubby and I recently went shopping for school supplies at SM Megamall, our first visit to this mall since March, the opportunity to grab a box or two of Krispy Kreme donuts presented itself.

As required among all mall-based retail outlets, Krispy Kreme’s branch at SM Megamall adheres to safety and sanitation protocols such as requiring patrons to wear face masks and face shields, answer a contact-tracing questionnaire and sanitize hands prior to entering the store premises.

Dining in is no longer allowed, so unlike during my previous visits before the quarantine, there were no customers hanging out inside the store. In fact, only a handful of customers are allowed to be inside the store to maintain physical distancing.

All those restrictions are well worth following to keep ourselves safe. Plus, Hubby and I were still able to bring home a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for the kiddos (which I paid for using GCash, again, to minimize physical contact).

I got a Box of 12 (Php425) which contains Krispy Kreme’s “light as a cloud, melt in your mouth, pillows of goodness” yeast-raised donuts. Since the fam fave is still the Original Glazed donut, the package included nine of those.

I just added a piece each of Red Velvet, New York Cheesecake and Kreme-filled with Gold Sprinkles for variety and to complete the dozen.

Needless to say, the kiddos were delighted with our pasalubong and the fam demolished the donuts in no time.

I’m glad that despite the pandemic and the restrictions brought about by the quarantine, we are still able to enjoy simple and delish delights such as these.

This Krispy Kreme branch is located at Upper Ground Floor, Building A, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City.

To get your box of donuts, call +63 2 88879000, order online or via GrabFood.