Where to get kakanin-inspired donuts, ice cream this holiday season

MANILA, Philippines – Food is a central part of the holiday season, and for Pinoys, what makes up most of the Christmas feasts are sweets, desserts, atbp!

Keeping it traditional and nostalgic, two local brands – local ice cream maker Sebastian’s and bakery Poison Doughnuts – have incorporated familiar Filipino flavors and favorite kakanins into their limited edition collections of sweet treats. Rice to the occasion and check out these creatively elevated, kakanin-inspired desserts, just in time for Noche Buena!

Wish you a Merry Cheese-mas

The cheesiness doesn’t stop at heartfelt family gatherings and long-awaited reunions – these sweet-savory cheese-based treats bring on the cheese for those who love the classic queso de bola.

Sebastian’s Ice Cream hails the Filipino Queso de Bola as king with an all-new line of ice cream sandwiches called Crispwiches, where freshly grated Queso de Bola is baked to form deep-toasted, crisp, and delicate wafer-thin crisps that really pack that salty, cheesy punch.

The thin sandwich houses home-made ice cream flavors: Gatas, Ube, Mantecado, and Peach Mango Pie. Each crispwich comes at the price of P165.

Queso de Bola King is also the brand’s latest scoop into ice cream cake-making, which has the famed cheese in its cake batter, ice cream icing, and toppings. One slice costs P175, while you can snag a full cake at P1,850. 

Need another reason to say cheese? Poison Coffee & Doughnuts offers a Truffle Ensaymada-flavored bicho-bicho donut, the bakery’s upscale take on the Filipino twist to donuts. Filled with indulgent truffle ensaymada buttercream and topped with grated queso de bola, this perfectly chewy and soft donuts with a bite is just the right balance of sugary and cheesy at the price of P125.

Kakanin is the star

A true Paskong Pinoy is not complete without the wide variety of kakanin – sticky rice cake sweets.

Sebastian’s uses Puto Bumbong in its new ice cream flavor, topped with grated coconut and muscovado sugar at P150 per scoop or P450 per pint. They also use the kakanin’s flavors in a Puto Bumbong Deluxe ice cream cake containing cake batter made with rice flour, margarine, and muscovado sugar and their Puto Bumbong ice cream. This comes at P175 per slice and P1,850 for a full cake.

Sebastian’s Ice Cream also gets inspiration from the classic bibingka in their Bibingka Espesyal ice cream cake (P175 per slice, P1,850 per cake) topped with salted egg and grated cheese, and featuring Queso de Bola ice cream and a new Itlog na Maalat flavored ice cream (it really tastes like salted egg)! For those who just want to try the new sweet and savory offering, the Itlog na Maalat ice cream comes at P165 per scoop and P495 per pint.

Poison Doughnuts is also offering a bibingka-flavored bicho-bicho donut generously topped with salted egg slices and filled with the creamiest coconut custard that isn’t too sweet and cheddar cheese – a burst of salty and sweet goodness. The donut comes at a price of P120.

Christmas classics

Keeping it simple, you can check out Poison Doughnuts’ Tablea Doughnut (P120), their bicho-bicho donut with a rich and deep tablea custard and topped with cashew praline for the right balance of smoothness and crunchiness.

Sebastian’s uses seven types of milk in their Siete Leche ice cream cake, a Tres Leches Cake with Dulce de Leche Ice Cream, Pastillas de Leche Ice Cream, and Leche Flan, topped off with condensed milk crumble. These sweet and milky desserts are not for the lactose-intolerant!

Sebastian’s also offers Crema de Fruta – pound cake ice cream with spheres of peach, pineapple, and maraschino cherry sorbets, bringing forth a new way to enjoy everyone’s favorite fruitcake.

Order from Sebastian’s Christmas Collection here and Poison Doughnuts’ bicho-bicho range here. – Steph Arnaldo and Ally de Leon/Rappler.com

Ally de Leon is a Rappler intern.