(Caution: Please proceed with full stomach; might get hungry while reading and I'm not liable for that! Haha!)
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The Bunnylato (in bubblegum and strawberry milk flavor) of The Bunny Baker Cafe & Cake Studio. I know you'll all agree these gelato are screaming cuteness!
While summer has ended and rainy season has began here in the Philippines, countries with four seasons had just welcomed summer. Summer, the perfect time to enjoy outdoor activities and gatherings with friends and family! And after the fun and exhausting activities under the heat of the sun, you can only think of indulging something cold to freshen up your tired body. You crave for something cold and sweet. (I wonder what is! I wonder what it is!) Ice cream! But suddenly, you got chills thinking all the calories and fats you're getting from eating ice cream. (The sweetest sin!)
Worry no more! Do you know that you can enjoy eating ice cream with less guilt? Ever heard of gelato? Your favorite ice cream's counterpart? And when I say counterpart, I mean a healthier alternative. You must have heard of gelato somewhere sometime in the past but just brushed it off because who got time to know such bizarre things in a busy and fast paced world anyway?
Believe me, now is the time to get enlightened by this heaven-sent dessert! (Heaven-sent, because it's the ice cream of angels, angel-ato? Haha!) And we're beginning by knowing more about the regular ice cream we usually eat for us to have a comparison to gelato.
THE ICE CREAM TEAM
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Different types of ice cream.
If we try to scoop more information about ice cream, we'll find out that there is more than what we can get from our local supermarkets. There are different kinds of ice creams just as dogs have different breeds! The type of ice cream we can conveniently buy at the supermarkets is the hard ice cream. Hard ice cream is usually the American version of ice creams. Some other variety of ice cream aside from hard ice cream are soft serve ice cream, light ice cream, no sugar added ice cream, lactose-free ice cream, gluten-free ice cream, organic ice cream, french ice cream and gelato.
Going back with the ever popular hard ice cream, this ice cream superstar from the ice cream family is made up of sugar, milk, cream, stabilizers, eggs(optional) and additional flavors like chocolate, nuts, fruits and the like, to make the ice cream more satisfying and enjoyable to eat; and most of all more deliciously tasting to our palates.
The hard ice cream is the most common ice cream and has common ingredients just like its other ice cream family member. The process of making hard ice cream begins with a custard base. When the custard base had cooled, the process of churning comes next. The base is churned in a high speed to be able to incorporate more air, thus, increasing the volume. It is served in a cold temperature which makes the hard ice cream creamy, light and smooth.
THE GELATO
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Choc-nut and Mexican chocolate gelato from The Bunny Baker Cafe & Cake Studio.
Gelato is how they call ice cream in the European country, Italy. In short, gelato is an Italian word for ice cream. So we can safely assume that gelato originated from Italy, isn't it? (Haha!) Anyway, gelato is like the ice cream family's foreign relative.
Well, the ice cream version of the Italians share almost the same ingredients as its other relatives too but one thing that makes it quite different from its ice cream relatives is with its proportions. Gelato is made with lesser cream and more milk, and eggs; but most likely without eggs. Like hard ice cream, gelato starts with a custard base and goes the same process of churning BUT with a slower speed which results to less air being incorporated making it denser than the hard ice cream. Gelato is served at a warmer temperature too compared to hard ice cream bringing out a soft and silky texture.
ICE CREAM VERSUS GELATO: THE BETTER SCOOP
(image source: Google.com; text edited by Katsanslimites)
American ice cream and the Italian ice cream.
The moment of truth! Which is the wiser choice?
▪ Health
Definitely, gelato is the choice to go if you are a bit health-conscious but still want to enjoy a cup or more of ice cream. Hard ice cream is more on cream and less milk while gelato is made with less cream and more milk resulting to less fat. So feel free to eat your gelato ice cream without worrying too much of your fat intake.
▪ Taste
Hard ice cream and gelato are undoubtedly equally delicious but if you are looking for something intense and more flavorful, then you should go for gelato. As we know, hard ice cream is served in a much cold temperature than gelato making the cold fat coat our tongue which deprives us to have its real taste. Meanwhile, gelato has less fat and is less cold than hard ice cream giving you the real deal flavor you've been wanting to taste!
▪ Quality
Hard ice cream is churned in a fast speed which means more air is added to increase its volume. Just imagine those rants online about most chips you buy are 10% chips and 90% air. Well, isn't that quite similar with hard ice cream? Opposite to hard ice cream's fast speed churning is gelato's slow churning process; that means denser and more packed.
Guess which one melts faster?
Hard ice cream. Why? Because of the air being incorporated in it. Gelato is slower to melt because less air is added to it despite its soft and smooth texture.
▪ Price
When it comes to its price, I believe gelato costs more than the regular ice cream. Why? (You may want to go back reading the three previous bullets.) You certainly get what you pay for in the best way! So shut up and enjoy your gelato! Money can be earned back but the moment of savoring the gelato at the most perfect time won't. (Right? Lol!)
Now, if I will be choosing between a gelato and the hard ice cream, of course I'll choose both!(Haha! I'm selfish!) Whatever ways they were made of, they will still be ice cream in my eyes and I love ice cream. Yes, my love for ice cream is unconditional and unsophisticated. But I will always keep in mind that gelato is a better option.
ENJOY GELATO IN DIFFERENT WAYS
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The Bunny Baker's gelato counter.
Since gelato had won the face off(and the given topic for the double reward), I'm giving you a scoop of some fun ways to eat gelato in the Philippines! Correct! Gelato is also available in the Philippines and other countries and not just in Italy.
It's been a year since I discovered this uber cute cafe/cake studio in Manila where I had a taste of my very first gelato. Sadly, I doubt that there are or there is a gelato shop in our province that's why I am glad that I was able to have a side trip to The Bunny Baker Cafe & Cake Studio when I went to Manila(Yay!) The Bunny Baker Cafe and Cake Studio offers tons of cute and sweet dessert, cakes and other dishes but for this post I am going to highlight their proudly homemade gelato. They make artisinal, small batch of gelato churned at the store everyday! Well, entering this store is like getting into another gelato dimension (in a cute way) because they have pretty different flavors of gelato and is served in the most creative way for customers to enjoy the much loved ice cream even more!
▪ The Bunnylato
(image source: Facebook.com; collage by Katsanslimites)
The bunny gelato also known as "The Bunnylato"
First on the list is The Bunnylato. This bunny gelato with marshmallow bunny ears is surely the cutest gelato in the metro! The cuteness of this dessert will definitely capture the hearts of the kids and those kids at heart too!
The gelato flavors on the photo above are strawberry milk, bubblegum, mint choco chip, raspberry and blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. You can also try topping your gelato with a pure hot matcha.(Lower right photo) Oh wow! I want to try it someday!
If you really want some cute gelato, this is the place to go!
▪ The Gelatte
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The Gelatte!
Do you love latte and gelato? Then you'll certainly fall in love with The Bunny Baker's "gelatte", latte and gelato in one! Flavors shown at the photo are strawberry, matcha and dark chocolate. (I didn't know they have gelatte when I went to the store before! If only I knew, I could have tried one of the flavors! *sobs*)
▪ Gelato squished between two fluffy pancakes
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Gelato in pancakes!
How would you love to have gelato in two fluffy pancakes? And The Bunny Baker also offers different flavors for you to choose from! "Salted Caramel" pancake(upper left) has salted caramel gelato, honey comb crumble, whipped cream, salted caramel drizzle and pancakes. "The King"(lower left) has reese's gelato, whipped cream, bananas, pancakes with butter, maple syrup and bacon. "Double Dark" pancake(upper right) has dark chocolate gelato, dark chocolate pancakes, whipped cream, nuts and chocolate drizzle. (Sorry, I don't know what the pancake in the lower right photo is called.)
I wonder which one of these is the best? I would like to try them all!
▪ Gelato on a skillet
(image source: Facebook.com; collage by Katsanslimites)
Gelato in skillet!
Not impressed with gelato in pancakes? How about gelato in a skillet? (It seems like the gelato fears no heat! Hehe!) On the photo are the Skilletor, Ooey Gooey and The Velvety Rabbit. The Skilletor(upper photo) is a soft chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla gelato. The name Skilletor was a tribute to Skeletor, the antagonist from the show Masters of the Universe. You also get a meme of Skeletor printed on a small paper when you order a Skilletor! Cool! (I had tried the Skilletor and it tastes really good. The sweetness is just right and the vanilla gelato blends perfectly with the chocolate chip cookie. I love vanilla flavor ice cream so the gelato was biasedly very good. Haha! The Skilletor is actually good for two persons, but you can have it all only for yourself if you want to!)
Next on the list is one of The Bunny Baker's popular dessert in skillet, the Ooey Gooey! Ooey Gooey(lower left) is a half-baked brownie topped with caramel gelato. And last is The Velvety Rabbit (lower right) which is a red velvet topped with cream cheese gelato topped with marshmallow bunny ears! Deliciously cute! Yum!
WHERE TO FIND?
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The Bunny Baker headquarters!
If you wish to visit and give a try to their gelato and other desserts/meals, you can visit them at Unit 301, Hemady Square, Doña Hemady St., New Manila, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Thanks again for reading!
✧ Katsanslimites
