Clean and organized store with a well-structured system, friendly customer service, and…read morehigh-quality boxes with a wide variety of options to choose from. Shout out to Maricel for her exce customer service skill and Aldrin for going extra mile folding the bulky boxes to make it easiet for me to carry. As a new customer, the entire process was smooth and hassle-free. Highly recommend!

If you're already planning your Christmas shopping, looking for attractive packaging for the cakes…read moreyou're selling, or have a cat you're hoping is going to make it big on YouTube, you're going to need a lot of boxes. It's too much of a hassle to go to plenty of stores looking for different shapes and sizes so it's better in the long run to just go to the source and cut out the middle man. The one stop shop for food related boxes in Manila is RM Box Center. RM is in the middle of Sta. Mesa so the traffic is a bit bad going to and from. Don't worry as it'll be worth your while. RM stocks practically every kind of boxes and food packaging you'll need. They have boxes for cakes, cupcakes, muffins, and pastries of any size, whether it's something as small as a macaron or as big as a whole loaf of bread. They even have pizza boxes! If for some reason they don't have a box with the specifications you need, you can have them make one for you!

There was once a time that I was hanging out with a friend of mine from Alabang Hills Village. We…read morewere smoking in his car just chilling when it suddenly hit him that he had yet to buy his girl a Christmas present. He was flustered. Panicking, the man dragged me along to Alabang Town Center to help him find a gift for his lady love. We went from one store to another. He had absolutely no clue about the kind of gift that he wanted to give his girl. I advised him that the least he should do is give her something that she could use. We ended up at Gourdo's of all places. Gourdo's just sells a lot of stuff that's related to cooking and baking. We ended up getting here a cookie cutter. I forget the pattern, but a year or so later I can distinctly recall here giving us a batch of cookies cut out in the shape of the cookie cutter that we bought that day.

My version of heaven would probably have an area that's a mixture of Gourdo's, Kitchen Elf, and…read moreChocolate Lovers. Basically, it will be a baker's heaven, with every ingredient, equipment, and packaging I could ever dream of for my kitchen, there for my taking. Unlike Kitchen Elf and Chocolate Lovers where I regularly (read: OFTEN) buy stuff, Gourdo's is more of a special occasion kind of thing. Why? Well, let's just say I need to save up for most of the products they offer. They have, for example, my dream Kitchenaid mixer (in mint or fuschia, please) for Php 27,000. They also sell a wide variety of Wilton products that are proven and tested when it comes to baking, but come at hefty price tags, too! If you're on a tight budget like me, I recommend that you visit Gourdo's during the holiday season (starting November). They're generous with sales toward the end of the year. Last year, I was able to score some Wilton frosting tips and a jigger/shaker at discounted prices!

My sister and I would always get into the entrepreneurial mood during random nights. Whenever we…read morewould have some recipe ideas to add to our arsenal of brownies, cookies and baked goodies ,and we would bake up a storm in the kitchen, one place that has everything we need is Chocolate Lover, Inc. The baking supply store looks like a castle made out of chocolate from the outside, and stepping into their selling floor feels like being handed a Golden Ticket to Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Here, you will find practically everything, from local baking ingredients, to foreign premium baking supplies. Everything can be bought per piece or even in small packets, or you can also snap up supplies wholesale if you want to save a bit of money by buying in bulk. You will find the solutions to all of your baking needs, from cupcake liners to molds, aluminum bakeware to decorating supplies and even wrapping and packaging solutions of all types, styles and sizes. Anything related to confection, desserts, and sweets, you will find here. What I love from this store are the gumpaste and fondant cake decors. I suck at making them from scratch and they are prettier and more lovely when left to the experts anyway. I also love buying the real Madagascar vanilla bean pods that I use to flavor my custards and my jar of sugar. Something to look forward to every visit are the sampling booths that hand out small bits of cake, cheese or chocolate. This is how I discovered my favorite local brand of cream cheese. There is always a huge crowd, and it might be better to call ahead to order and have your needs boxed up and ready for pick up since most of the essentials tend to run out quickly.

Warning: This business does not stand behind their exchange policy. Poor customer service.read more

The interior of Vanilla Cupcake Bakery is what I imagine the contents of Barbie's brain to be like…read more The crazily patterned wallpaper along with all the extremely cute furnishings such as the candy colored high-back chairs and chandeliers make me think, "Oh my god, I'm in a real life doll house." The decor can only distract me for so long before I finally lay my eyes on the centerpiece: the cupcakes. So many to choose from, yet so little time! The cupcakes they have are not only as pretty as the decor but are also very delicious. Unlike other bakeshops, they don't offer outrageously complicated flavors. They mostly stick to the simple ones and that's fine by me since the cupcakes they have are already so decadent that I can't really imagine what else I'd like to add. Aside from the cupcakes, they also offer meals such as pasta, sandwiches, and other heavier fares that you can enjoy as a prelude to your dessert. Overall, it's a nice place where you can relax and catch up with your friends. If you want, you can even pretend to dine with Barbie while you're there!

What will really call your attention to The Vanilla Cupcake Bakery is its super cute interior…read moredesign that says "TEA PARTY!!!" While at tea parties you have scones to go with your tea, at Vanilla Cupcake Bakery, you get pretty super Instagrammable cupcakes and sweets. While the cupcakes were super pretty to look at, I was having a bit of a hard time figuring out what to order and enjoy at home. I ended up wtih two pretty large chocolate cupcakes. I was super excited to devour them at home, but I was kind of disappointed that the cupcakes were a little bit too sweet for my taste. However, the cake base is very decadent and moist, so you have to give Vanilla Cupcake that. Another dessert I took home to try was their desserts in a jar. This one was just as pretty as the cupcakes and it came with a cute wooden spoon you can use to scoop out the sweet stuff from the jar. I like this whole idea of being able to see the insides of your dessert before you wipe the jar clean. I did enjoy eating it out of the jar, but again, like the cupcakes I tried, I found it a tad bit too sweet. Maybe I just haven't found that right dessert that I really like at Vanilla Cupcake, but I am willing to give it another shot.

I'm in no way a baker, but I really like this place as much as I like a good bargain. If you're an…read moreenthusiastic cook/wannabe kitchen goddess and you have in your area a well-stocked baking supplies store, consider yourself lucky. You can get so much ingredients way cheaper and in bulk at places such as these! For example, nuts of all kinds can get so pricey at supermarkets and health food stores. But, if you're willing to settle for no-name, humbly repackaged versions in decent quality, you'll be surprised at how much you can stretch your budget. Almonds, cashews, pine nuts, all types of nuts--they got it here! Another great discovery is that I can purchase vital wheat gluten here at a cheap price, and in big 1kl bags (as opposed to purchasing them in small boxes at health food stores)! For the rest of you wondering why I'm so excited about gluten, it's because it's used to make seitan, a type of gluten wheat meat/mock meat we weirdo vegans like to concoct in our kitchens.

I love to bake and the outcome of slaving away in the kitchen means so much because to me, it's…read moremore than just feeding a person. You can make somebody fall in love with you with a whiff of a cookie, impress the hardest person with a brownie and make a kid squeal with the mere sight of a biscuit. Baking is one of the best things to do in the world unfortunately it is an exact science and you cannot bake with a missing item on your list, or else it will turn out flat, uneven, tasteless and worst of all horrible. Luckily, in my neighborhood you would find a baker's haven with everything you'll ever need. Aptly called Dough-it-all, this shop has a wide array of baking supplies and equipment sold in the best available prices. You can also get colored boxes, cute ribbons and all sorts of things you can use to design your creations. I decided to bake for my family and friends a few Christmases ago and bought everything I needed from this store. It didn't punch a hole in my wallet, plus the owner helped me pull off this grand spectacle of mine by giving me a few helpful tips. Everyone who works here are mostly seasoned bakers and I often leave the place, a little more knowledgeable than when I walked in.

I'm not a fan of cheesecakes because I don't like the taste of graham cookies at the bottom of this…read moresweet dessert. But my wife loves everything sweet, particularly cheesecake, so I don't have any choice but to give in to her wishes every once in a while. One place we go to in order to satisfy her need for sweets is Cheesecake, Etc. Located at LP Leviste Street, the cakeshop is one of the oldest establishments in the area. My wife likes to pass by this place after getting her nails done in a nearby salon. It's also a good hangout place, especially in the afternoon, because it rarely gets full of people. I usually order the Latte and just have a bite of whatever cheesecake my wife orders. She always goes for the Sugar Free New York Cheesecake if it's available. If she really wants to indulge, she gets the Dulce de Leche. We also buy their whole Choco Dome Cake or Berry Temptation Cheesecake for gifts to our relatives whenever we visit them.

I love cheesecake (it's usually this kind of cake where in I would randomly crave for!). Because of…read moremy love for this, I would constantly check out menus for cheesecakes and well try to save room to always try whatever kind of cheesecake a restaurant might have. To my surprise I've stumbled upon this place a couple of times already and at the start it didn't give me much appeal as compared to other stores. The place is simple and the menu is straightforward. Don't expect too much! For the cheesecakes, well for the ones I've tried so far they are just okay. Nothing has wowed me (just yet). I think I should give this place another try, maybe by trying some special cheesecake I would be able to change my mind on this restaurant. So come here with no a lot of expectation. Just like the cheesecake speak for itself.

I love the way this chef thinks. While people tend to look outward for flavors, some tend to forget…read morethat we have a great palette of flavors to work with right here! Case in point, the way the Baker's Table takes candy from your childhood and uses it as the backdrop for pastry. Personally, I think it's brilliant. Candy's everywhere yet they've managed to take something so mundane and repackage it into something absolutely fitting. Three words, people: Butterball Caramel Cake. Predictable as I am, that was all it took to convince me of its brilliance. I love the fact that they never lose the essence of the candy. It's right there even if you're eating a piece of cake. They don't even commit the usual sins most bakeries do. The cake isn't dry and it isn't cloyingly sweet. Perfect with a cup of coffee (or tea, as my case was). I really can't say too much about this place. Candy has this sort of effect on people where no two experiences will ever be the same. It's really the kind of cake that's better experienced than read about.

This cake shop is a total childhood throwback, as they feature cakes made from local popular sweets…read morelike Hang, Potchi, and Haw Haw. Despite me living a few minutes away, I first saw them on TV, baking their bestseller: Haw Haw cake. I'd always loved that candy, and I still do. I buy some from sari-sari stores whenever I can, so I didn't waste time and headed straight to the bakery. That cake is such a hit. They didn't have any in stock during my visit so I had to drop by the next day. To my horror. I went back first thing in the morning and sure enough, a whole cake was there waiting for me. I think a single slice costs around Php 125, which isn't really bad. We're talking about premium cakes here. The Haw Haw cake reminded me of tres leches, for some reason. Light chiffon, a little moist. It has a thin cream filling and the frosting tasted exactly like the candy, only better.

This store awakened the baker in me…read more In baking, there is little room for improvisation. Usually, you have to be by the book, follow the measurements to a T and substituting ingredients most of the time changes the outcome of the cake. Well, at least for a novice baker like me. So what I like about Wonderbake is they have just about everything that a home baker and dessert enthusiast would need. Baking tools, ingredients, frostings, decorations, they have it. Some of my baking friends they are a tad more expensive than other baking stores, but it's cheaper than supermarket prices and I love that it's so accessible to me. I have no problem getting those baking ingredients because I can always make a stop at their store in SM Southmall. In fact, no SM trip is complete without me passing by Wonderbake. I'm practically in their top 20 suki. Their staff are so accommodating too.