Despite having tasted a lot of good food in my career as a food writer, a lot of food stuff that chefs come up with continue to amaze me. Whether it be simple or complex, as long as the flavors meld together and please my palate, I give it a thumbs-up. No snooty critic here, but no sucker for food, either. It is particularly true when it comes to the sweet stuff. I like to bake, that's why, and I know that baking is such precise science that I sometimes wonder how chefs are able to create new recipes, reinvent classics, and recreate recipes by merging two very different recipes.

Just recently, I made two new food "discoveries" — the unique EnsayBabka by chef Dennis Hipolito of Joconde, and an amazing sugar-free Swiss chocolate cake by chef Aileen Keng Tan of Honeybon.

EnsayBabka is an awesome treat. It is a fluffy ensaymada filled with rich chocolate swirls characteristic of a babka and laden with a fruity and buttery caramel sauce with a hint of a special blend of liquors and spirits accentuating a distinctive flavor blend.

Growing up, chef Dennis has always loved ensaymada. His lola made "the fluffiest, softest and most delicious Ensaymadas" that he and the entire family enjoyed during special occasions. He would later tweak it to suit his own idea of a perfect ensaymada.

Meanwhile, his love affair with the babka, a sweet bread characterized by swirls of chocolate filling, started when he was studying in upstate New York. But it was while working in Singapore that he first toyed with the idea of creating a hybrid of ensaymada and babka, his two favorites. So, he experimented, and both his family and his friends loved the Original EnsayBabka that he came up with. It is now available via online ordering at ensaybabka.cococart.com.

Now, even those who have to watch their sugar can enjoy a good slice of cake with Honeybon's new sugar-free Swiss chocolate cake. Launched in time for Christmas, it is made up of layers of moist yet fluffy chocolate chiffon cake, filled and covered with rich Swiss chocolate ganache made with sugar-free couverture chocolate. Sweetened with a zero-calorie sugar substitute, it really is a grand yet guilt-free treat.

The new sugar-free Swiss chocolate cake is available in Honeybon stores located at SM Megamall and Festival Mall Alabang, and select Tokyo Bubble Tea branches (The Fort Residences, BGC; Banawe Avenue, Quezon City; and Wilson Street, San Juan City) for P1,480 (whole) or P195 per slice. It is also available via www.honeybon.ph.