I love cheesecakes! I particularly love cheesecakes that are entwined with Filipino touch such as Indulgence by Irene.
The flavors - Queso de Bola, Ube, and Tablea - are the definitely the ones majority of Filipinos have grown accustomed to since birth. I tip my hat off to Irene for staying true to the Pinoy food roots instead of pushing for the completely Westernized version. It's refreshingly rare.
Queso de Bola Cheesecake
Queso de bola does not belong to my Most Beloved Cheeses of All Time list, mainly due to the smell. Let's be honest here, the spunk awakens your sinuses like no other.
The first thing I did when I got my queso de bola cheesecake was to do a quick sniff. Lo and behold, the scent was so subtle and definitely not offensive! As for the taste, well it was extreme - extremely delicious, that is.
The sweetness is just right for me. It doesn't have that annoyingly-sweet-your-teeth-starts-to-get-painful level. It's a perfect marriage of sweet with a minute touch of salty.
The taste of queso de bola is very evident from the first bite to the last. There are shreds of the favored Christmas cheese peppered all throughout the cheesecake. You get a creamy chunk every now and again. It's just another way to amplify the indulging factor. Damn good cheesecake! Addicting by Irene!
I liked this one so much that I ordered some as Christmas gifts for my friends. I also ordered one for my mother-in-law and told her that I baked it. She's highly critical of food because she is truly a kitchen goddess. I give her that. She was in awe of my/Irene's cheesecake. She bragged about it to her sisters. They asked me how I did it and I said, "secret" with a smile.
FYI: She doesn't read my blog, so it's okay. I will continue to fool her.
Ube Cheesecake
My mom used to have ube halaya made during Christmas time or any big festivities at home. It was cooked the old-fashioned way - wood fire. I would ask the cooks to save the clumped jam sticking all round the jumbo wok-like cookware. That's the best part; better than the final product itself. Those who have tried that smoked-flavored clumps of halaya can attest to this.
Irene's Ube Cheesecake tastes exactly like that, but so much creamier, moist, smoother, and well-mixed. This is my second favorite amongst the three flavors.
Irene's Ube Cheesecake tastes exactly like that, but so much creamier, moist, smoother, and well-mixed. This is my second favorite amongst the three flavors.
Tablea Cheesecake
If Jose Rizal were alive today, he would probably be Irene's number one customer. PHL's National Hero was reportedly very fond of tsokolate de batirol. I share this fondness with him. In fact, my paternal grandmother gave me one of her two batirols as an inheritance. It would've been better if it was, you know, money. Later on, however, I found out that the batirol {which she got from her grandmother} is solid silver. I can make a good buck out of that thing someday.
Irene's Tablea Cheesecake definitely exudes the authentic taste of the said sweet treat. It is spot-on. My boys favor this over the two because of the sweetness level. It's very rich and delicate, but no one ingredient dominates. It is not overpowering; not enough to cause one to lose interest after a couple of forkfuls.
What about the bottom? Honestly, that's the part of cheesecake that I don't eat. According to my boys, it makes everything extra good.
Indulgence by Irene Cheesecakes
Contact Nos. (63922) 830.39.00
(63917) 622.58.00
E-Mail: IndulgencebyIrene@yahoo.com
Facebook: Indulgence by Irene
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