I warned you! Prepare to be smothered in photos of desserts as I bring you the 5th installment of my Food Memories Series. I will be sharing with you the desserts that I've had through the recent years and the memories that come with them. If you want to check out the other posts in this series, you can click the links below:

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_{Early Heartbreaks Over Burgers and Ramen: Food Memories #1}

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_{Reliving Old Moments with More Ramen: Food Memories #2}

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_{Breakfast Beckons: Food Memories #3}

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_{My Love for Buffets: Food Memories #4}

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A PARTY WITH A DESSERT BUFFET

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May 30, 2019

I was invited by a friend to attend a fiesta in a nearby town. The celebration was at the house of an alumnus from our student organization. My friend knew that I had a lot of time in my hands because I was single again. I was slowly reconnecting with my old friends that I had unintentionally neglected.

We arrived at the place, and we were the only guests! So we had the whole buffet table to ourselves. What caught my attention was the dessert buffet filled with different kinds of sweets. There was a cake in the middle with jars of marshmallows on the side. Plates of square cakes (one plate had brownies) were also on the side. At the front of the cake were chocolate puffs and what I think were panna cotta or cheesecake. At the front of the table were plates of chocolate truffle and French macarons.

Of course, I tried everything! They were all really good. Our host is a baker and sells cakes online. I was not disappointed. He even prepared cocktails for each of us.

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MANDATORY DESSERTS AFTER DINNER

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June 11, 2019

June in the Philippines is the month of avocados. We don't have avocados all year round, and the people go crazy for it during the last weeks of summer. I remember I was out with a "friend," but I can't remember why. Maybe I just wanted to see her. But I remember we had dinner at a pungko-pungko stall in my city. We passed by a new dessert store at the plaza, and we decided to try their avocado dessert. Think mango float but replace mango with avocado. And instead of condensed milk, put soft served ice cream. I wasn't impressed by it, but it was avocado, and so I still liked it.

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July 8, 2020

It was Monday, and my "friend" and I attended worship night at a mall. Afterward, we had dinner and decided to grab some dessert at a place called Mango Six. So we ordered a mango dessert served with cream, cracker crumbs, and ice cream on top. It was good, and we shared it while talking about a lot of things.

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July 15, 2019

A week after we had that mango dessert, we returned to Mago Six after having dinner and attending worship. We ordered a drink that had mango, tapioca pearls, and whipped cream on top. We wondered if we should mix the drink or drink it as it is. The cream on top was heavy and was coconut-based. I can't remember what the combination of the different components of the drink tasted like. But I didn't like the coconut cream on top. Look how cute our metal straws are, though.

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CAKE OVERLOAD

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May 11, 2020

This was the day after Mother's Day. I remember stressing out on Mother's Day because I could not order a single cake from anywhere. It was my mistake not ordering a cake weeks before. I wanted a specific sugar-free cake from a local cake shop, but they were very busy, and all the delivery drivers were also busy buying and delivering cakes. It was 3 months after the start of the pandemic, and it was so difficult to go out and buy what you want. I just straight up gave up and decided to get the cake the next day. I contacted a shop called Chef's Table, and they had Banoffee (Banana Coffee) and Moist Chocolate Cakes. I decided to order the two because we had three mothers at the house. We still got to celebrate Mother's Day the day after.

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December 30, 2019

It was one of the last parties I attended before the pandemic. The Christmas party was at the house of the president of our student organization. There was a lot of food, and I think we had three cakes during the party. I just chose to show one because it looked nice. I can't remember what it tasted like, but I was just intrigued whether or not the flower in the middle was real or sugar. I remember drinking so much at the party that I went home at 5 in the morning. Those were the days.

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July 1, 2020

This was my younger brother's birthday. And I was finally able to order the sugar-free cake that I wanted. I got it from 10 Dove Street, a local restaurant and cake shop. I wanted this cake because my mother is diabetic, and I wanted her to enjoy eating something sweet during a special occasion without worrying about her blood sugar. The cake was Ube-Pandan, and it was so good! You wouldn't think it was sugar-free. The combination of the ube and the pandan was great. The cake was quite expensive, though. It was P1795 (USD37), but it was worth it.

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December 16, 2020

It was my research adviser's birthday, and he brought so much food to school. He ordered two cakes, and one was a Caramel Chocolate cake from Tazza Cafe and Patisserie. You can't see it from the photo, but the sides of the cake had almond slices, and I thought that gave the cake a nice crunch and texture. If I went to their restaurant, I would order this cake.

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MAKING MY OWN BANANA CAKE

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June 27, 2020

The world was a sh*t show. Covid-19 cases were at an all-time high. The whole family just recovered from what I think was Covid. Because of quarantine, people were looking at other ways to spend their time. I remember working out and doing yoga every day. I also tried making a banana cake. We don't have an oven at home, so I looked for a steamed banana cake recipe. My first attempt was not very good. I added too much baking powder, and the cake turned out really bitter.

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July 2, 2020

I decided to have another go at the banana cake. I adjusted my ingredients, and I think I did a good job at improving the recipe. I still had a problem with the bitter aftertaste, but the texture was okay. I knew what I had to do, and I decided to "perfect" my simple recipe.

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November 27, 2020

It would be months before I would make another banana cake. I made the cake for the fourth time, and I knew I had perfected my recipe. It had the right sweetness and zero bitter aftertaste. The texture of the cake was soft and moist. I think I'll be sharing my recipe in another post.

I remember the world was slowly opening up. There was news about vaccines. I was able to go out and spend time at the beach. Things were looking up.

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COOKIES WITH LOVE

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July 9, 2020

My girlfriend and I spent most of the first year of our relationship away from each other because of the pandemic. We'd spend our Saturday nights video-calling each other or watching a movie together (by pressing play at the same time). I remember she would deliver food to my house or my "secret workplace." On this day, she baked chocolate chip cookies and had them delivered to my house. The cookies were so big! They were a bit too sweet, but I like sweet things, so I was fine with it.

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COLORFUL CHEESECAKES

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March 4, 2021

I was back at school. A new research project had started, and I was hired as a researcher. The laboratory in charge brought mixed berries cheesecake that her daughter made. They looked so delicious! I tried one, and it was good, although the crust at the bottom was a bit too salty. Still, I enjoyed it and ate another one. The mint leaf at the top made it so extra.

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April 15, 2021

My colleagues and I went to UCC Clockwork to have coffee after having a hearty lunch at a pochero place. We ordered a few cakes, and one of them was a blueberry cheesecake. I did not quite enjoy it because it had a weird sour aftertaste. However, I enjoyed their Kori Kohi, a coffee drink prepared from iced coffee cubes poured with hot milk and sugar syrup.

May 9, 2021

I will write a few posts about the trips I made on this day. My colleagues and I went to many places, including Charlie's Cup, a restaurant located high up in the mountains of Cebu City. We ordered their signature food, and that included a cheesecake with sprinkles on top. The sprinkles threw me off, but the cake was quite good. I would order it again when I get the chance to go back to the restaurant.

May 31, 2021

A new coffee shop, Beans & Boba, opened across the school, and @ybanezkim26 and I tried it. I thought their coffee was unimpressive, although I only order Americano in coffee shops since I discovered I'm lactose intolerant. We ordered their blueberry cheesecake, and we were a bit shocked about the price. It was a bit expensive for its size. It was just plain blueberry cheesecake. I remember we didn't even finish that very small serving.

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NEW EATS

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March 18, 2021

My girlfriend wanted to try a dessert place called Merci because of their French macarons. She wanted to know what a good macaron for her own baking. I asked her to have dinner first at Sip Cafe, which is now one of my favorite restaurants. We tried the English breakfast and tiramisu macarons. They were quite good. The texture was perfect. We also tried their strawberry shortcake, which was terrible. It was overpriced and tasted like chiffon cake with some icing and strawberry jam.

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April 22, 2021

After reading @wandergirl's post about Tamp Cafe, I wanted to try their cakes. I had to make a reservation because the place was quite small and many people wanted to go there. They have a promo with their cakes. If you ordered a meal and a drink, you'd get a slice of cake for one peso (USD 0.02). I asked my girlfriend to have dinner there. Their food was good. Their cakes were delicious, and I realized that they served the same cakes as Tazza. I enjoyed a slice of that Chocolate Caramel Cake with the almond slices on the side. My girlfriend got the Tres Leches cake and it was also good.

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FROZEN DESSERTS

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May 5, 2021

My colleagues and I had dinner at SM, a mall in Cebu City. We chose a restaurant that was not too crowded. I was with my research adviser, and he ordered so many for us. I was so full when dessert came. We had halo-halo, a Filipino dessert made from shaved ice, milk, a bunch of toppings, ice cream, and Leche Flan. You're supposed to mix everything, thus the word, halo-halo. Halo means mix in Filipino.

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May 20, 2021

My colleagues from school decided to have lunch outside. We went to a silogan for lunch and looked for a nearby dessert shop. There was a dessert place called 18 Degrees. They sold frozen yogurt and served it in different ways. We ordered frozen strawberry yogurt with different toppings. My adviser wanted to eat more, so we ordered their mango parfait after finishing our first order. I barely finished mine before we left. I was so full! I think I'll be writing about this shop in another post.

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That's it! I tried my best not to grab the nearest dessert I can get while writing this post. My mouth was watering the entire time. I hope I was able to stimulate your gastric juices with my photos and the accounts of my memories.

It's been a while since I posted. I have been occupied with many things, but I still have so much content inlined for Hive. I've recently become an OCD Posh Curator, so I'm still lurking in Hive, although I'm not writing.

I'm not sure what to write next for this series. But I know for my next food blog, I'll be writing about cooking. I want to go back to travel blogs first because I've recently traveled a lot, and I have so much to share.

Be share to look out for my next posts. Cheers!

_{He’s a dreamer and a thinker. He tends to sensationalize a lot of things. He got that from his mother. He’s also a bit melodramatic. It must be from his father. Bear with him as he shares his thoughts and experiences about his travels, dreams, and the variety of things he’s trying to learn and improve (personal development, writing, cryptocurrency, fitness, etc.). If you like this article, please give it an upvote, and if for some reason you’re interested in more future content, please don’t hesitate to follow.}