Local home bakery Brownbaggins’ best-selling angel food cake is a blessing in the skies – this soft, fluffy round sponge cake topped with fresh berries is a godsend for fans of vanilla desserts.

Popularized in the US, the angel food cake is a kind of sponge cake that’s typically made with flour, sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar, a whipping agent. The combination results in a meringue-like sponge cake that’s light and fluffy in texture and subtle in flavor, making it a good base for jams, spreads, custards, and fruits.

It’s a simple but beautiful cake that Brownbaggins founder Mitchie Jimenez knew she wanted to sell, even without any prior baking experience. It was a treat she personally loved, but couldn’t easily find anywhere, so that served as her motivation to bake her own take on the cake and introduce it to sweet tooths around Metro Manila.

One bite of Brownbaggins’ generous 9″ vanilla angel cake (P1,299) and you might just hear angels sing – the thick sponge cake made with real vanilla extract is soft and airy (just like a heaven’s cloud) and the middle layer of vanilla cream is creamy, smooth, and mildly sweet, infused with real vanilla beans.

The mild vanilla flavor is contrasted by the tartness of the fresh, juicy imported strawberries and blueberries on top. The whole cake is then dusted with powdered sugar. After a few bites of this light but generous cake paired with a cup of coffee or tea, you’ll definitely be feeling berry #Blessed.

Each Brownbaggins cake also comes with a quote card, inspired by Mitchie’s penchant for virtues.

“At that time, my husband and I were talking about how virtues are even more important now with what’s happening in our world today. So I thought that it would be nice to have virtue cards that you can send out along with the cakes, which can be conversation starters at the dinner table,” Mitchie told Rappler, sharing that her desire to start Brownbaggins in September 2020 was mainly because of the lockdown.

“I’m grateful that I not only get to share my love for simple, delicious cakes, but also the virtues that are valuable to me and my family,” she added.

The rest of her desserts are also named after some of her favorite virtues: there’s “lovingly full of pecan cake,” the “joyous lemon angel cake,” and the “thankful berry angel cake.” The name Brownbaggins was derived from the “brown” paper bags she used to sell cookies in when she was 18 years old, while “Baggins” comes from her favorite character, Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit.

Brownbaggins’ generous vanilla angel cake is good for five to six people. They also have a “very generous” version at P1,799, made with twice the amount of custard.

Brownbaggins is located in West Triangle, Quezon City. Customers can place their orders via Instagram. – Rappler.com

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