I’m still here! I haven’t abandoned this blog, even though I’ve been absent for a few months (you can always find me on Instagram). If you’re still here, too, thanks for sticking around. And if you’re new, welcome! I’m Bianca and I love food and travel (well, pre-pandemic travel). I think about dessert constantly. Banana bread is one of my favorite things to make (top of the list is brownies) and while I won’t ever say no to a slice of the classic, this Blueberry Banana Bread might just be my newest baked good go-to. The fresh and juicy blueberries and the crunchy sugar-sprinkled top makes it ..read more

This coming week marks the one year anniversary of staying home because of the pandemic. I’ve baked my heart out. I made layer cake, cheesecake, brownies, ice cream pie, icebox cake, chocolate cake, snack cake, and many more desserts that didn’t make it to the blog. We stopped traveling. Instead we just stayed in and did almost everything virtually. We worked out at home, called family and friends on video, ordered so much takeout (I was featured in this Boston Magazine article on how to take actually stunning photos of take-out food). We’ve mastered the art of looking Zoom-ready every day wh ..read more

It’s a party as long as there’s cake. Birthday Cake 2021 is an Olive Oil Layer Cake with Dulce de Leche Filling and Chocolate Frosting. A mouthful, indeed, and a twist on a classic. I turned 40 this month, and in a pandemic-free world, I would’ve had a big party celebrating my and Matt’s birthdays (only two days apart!) and invited our friends and families. But in-person celebrations will have to wait. Instead, I spent my birthday at home, with video calls, our favorite food delivered, and so much sweets. All day long I was showered with love and surprise desserts: a basque cheesecake from Ma ..read more

Basque cheesecake has a burnt top on purpose. There is no crust, no water bath needed, and cracks and deflating are expected. It’s exceptionally creamy, with the burnt top lending a slight umami flavor to each bite. I wanted to make it with ube, the flavor of my youth, the taste of home. It was a late Thanksgiving dessert, and this is a late Thanksgiving blog post. Rewind to September. A couple of hours after I pressed “publish” on my last post, my husband Matt and I found out that my father-in-law has passed. It was devastating, to say the least. He and I had a special relationship, and we i ..read more

My husband and I were fighting over the last tube of Shanghai Tang lotion. Little did we know that the last time we mindlessly took home a couple of miniature amenities from the Conrad, one of our favorite hotels, that we would be cooped up and quarantined for months and months like the rest of the world. Little did we know that it would be more than a year before we could check in to another Conrad again, when we typically stay at a Conrad location at least twice a year, from Tokyo to New York and a few other places in between. Little did we know that one whiff of that scent will take us bac ..read more

I don’t know what the future holds but I know there will be brownies. It’s been over four months since we last had people over, which was the last time I made brownies. That’s four months quarantine with my sweet husband, filled with mixed emotions and lots of delicious food: adventurous new recipes, old stand-by’s, Filipino comfort food, delivery from our favorite restaurants, multiple pints of ice cream, different kinds of cake. But no brownies. Until now. And let me tell you: these brownies are the best I’ve made in years. And I have made a lot of brownies. These Whole Wheat Fudge Brownies ..read more

I’d like to take a moment to celebrate. Even in the midst of a pandemic and a heartbroken and enraged nation, this weekend we are celebrating Juneteenth, the Summer Solstice, and Father’s Day. And to me, one of the best ways to celebrate on a summer day is with ice cream. Ice cream is also a perfect treat to honor my dad, who is like me in so many ways: early-riser, TV-watcher, planner. Sometimes we are like two peas in a pod: always waking up before everyone else, indulging our sweet tooth when possible, devouring articles and books, relying on facts and data, patiently waiting for my mom wh ..read more

A classic Black Forest Cake is a chocolate sponge cake, layered with a cherry filling and whipped cream, and topped with chocolate shavings. It is one of those things that I grew up with and never really cared for, until I became an adult and discovered the magic of pairing cherries and chocolate together. Thanks to my mom, who is my biggest food influencer, and who has exposed me to all sorts of delicious food from the very beginning (literally from the time she was pregnant with me). She and I share a deep appreciation for cheese, anchovies, key lime pie, pasta, dips, and so much more. Rece ..read more

Do you want to bake something but don’t have eggs or butter? Do you have an aggressive craving for chocolate almost every day? Do you need a distraction from what’s happening with the world? Do you want a snack cake / breakfast cake / celebration cake / quarantine cake? If you answered yes, then you are me and I am you. It’s been several weeks since this pandemic hit the world, and every day, I’m rolling in a wave of mixed emotions: anxiety, fear, frustration, hope, acceptance, gratitude, rinse, repeat. Some of us are luckier than most; others suffer unfairly. If you are one of the more fortu ..read more

Hello there. To those who are still here, reading and following, thank you. To those who are new, welcome. These are scary times we live in right now. Everything feels surreal, and my heart breaks to hear the news of the devastation that COVID-19 has brought to our world. I am so worried for my family, friends, and community. But I’m also grateful. Grateful to be safe and healthy, to have a paycheck so I can afford to help others in need, to feel so much love. While it may seem trivial to post a cake recipe right now, I also know that having a sense of normalcy helps. Baking calms m ..read more