Cake Run 19: Tsoknut Batirol: "Tablea Chocolate Cake"

Welcome to episode 19 of Cake Run. Our cake of the day is still from Tsoknut Batirol and it is unforgivable to leave the shop without at least purchasing their specialty.

The Tablea Chocolate Cake is made from local chocolate tablets hence the name “tablea” and can be used in almost all recipes involving chocolate. It has many applications and can be used as a main ingredient in almost all chocolate recipes or even drinks if you are getting tired of the usual imported ones in the market. Before talking about the cake itself, allow me first to have a brief introduction of this tablea chocolate.

Taste-wise, it is already sweet but the levels vary per brand so it is up to you to canvass which one suits your recipe. I suggest that you go for the less sweet ones if you are going to use it across a wide variety for your chocolate recipes, so you have the freedom to adjust the sweetness. If you buy the really sweet ones, it is going to be a disaster when you are not really in the mood for fondue and would just like to fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate. I especially love tablea hot chocolate drink for its particles does not dissolve fast when melted in high heat, so you still get to experience its unique taste and flavor. I find it frustrating that some highly marketed chocolate powder drinks end up “watered down” when the water is too hot, leaving you to drink chocolate water instead of a chocolate drink.

Based on personal experience, usually the different tableas in the market are not really powerfully sweet. The main difference usually is in the texture. Some are chunkier and some are powder-ish when broken down or melted. Taste does not really vary whether it is of the chunk or the powder type. I guess it has more to do with the process of how it was made. Anyway, I do not claim to be the expert. I am just a certified lover of cakes with a particular tongue and eye for the chocolate ones.

When applied to chocolate cake, it has not lose its “tablea” touch given that it still possesses an air of strength that shouts “freshly made chocolates” just for you.If you watch Ratatouille, this cake gives the same feel as what Anton Ego felt when he tasted the dish called Ratatouille reminding him of his childhood. Most of the time, the taste of a recipe is also psychological. It is subjective more than it is objective especially if it is something that you have already tried in the past. We put attachments to experiences and these are called feelings with memories associated with that recipe. While I have not really tasted much table chocolate cake in my life, I sure did drink a lot of hot chocolate tablea when I was a kid. Usually, my mother prepares it for me when I am sad, tired or stressed out. Oh dear, this cake is making my eyes wet.

The inside is just pure chocolate bread or chiffon so you would not feel full after eating despite its size being a little larger than a regular slice. Even the tablea itself is not heavy, so I would not be surprised if its caloric count is almost similar to that of a regular bread pastry.

Have a Tablea and Be Merry!  Feel free to share your comments and insights.

Cake Run 18: Tsoknut Batirol: "Mangoes and Cream"

Welcome to the 18th episode of Cake Run. This trip was totally spontaneous. My friend and I were driving through one of the secondary roads in the district to avoid traffic and we happen to pass by this place. What made us look at it twice was the name. It reminded us of a local confectionery. I was not really planning to enter the shop when my friend decided to park in front of it. Well, how can I protest when she is the one driving?

Judging from its name, I was not really expecting much but despite my short stay, it left quite a pleasant mark on me and one that I would definitely earmark as one of the places that I would visit again in the future. For now, we just stopped by for a couple of minutes and me being me, did not pass on the chance to buy a cake or two. 

I bought their house specialty which is the Tsokonut Tablea Chocolate which I will do a review on the next episode. For this entry, I will review the other cake which is the Mangoes and Cream.

Visual: Gold and White. Quite an Angelic Presence, won't you say? It reminds me of Mango Bravo from Conti's, one of the classic bakeshops in my locality, so I did not bother second guessing in choosing this cake as my other purchase. Plus, it has the quality that I am looking for in a cake. I am into creams so when I see a cake or a pastry with the soft snowy white coating, my gaze would really linger as opposed to a cake that is cream less. 

Now onto the layering, it looks complicated, soft and boy, the slice is big. There looks to be around five levels but maybe six if you would consider the top light brown surface as two instead of one due to the really thin white cream in between. The pattern then becomes more comprehensible once you reach the brown cream wherein it alters between golden brown and light brown and ended with a white crust. To cap off its angelic imagery, it is drizzled with chocolate syrup giving it a wet look with rain spots where the syrup passed through before reaching the bottom. It looks like a city at night after a rainy day. 





Taste: Complicated. There is no dominant taste despite that many layers. It is very light and airy that the big chunk of slice does not seem daunting at all. The only thing that stands out are the mangoes. 






Layering the cake, the golden brown portion is sansrival and the light brown is chocolate cream. The chocolate cream is just average and is really just chocolate flavored cream. The crust is meringue wafer which is a plus but for a crust, it does not have a solid impact in terms of taste. Usually for cakes, if it is not the top that leaves an impression, it is up to the crust to fulfill that role but for this cake, only the mangoes that are hidden across the many layers, were sweet enough to leave a mark on your taste buds. 

Coating the entire cake is the white cream drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with nuts. The white cream tasted normal and does not seem to be of original creation. You can say the same for the chocolate syrup as it tasted like a certain really popular supermarket brand.

Have a Golden Evening. Feel free to share your comments and insights.