Summers still on, and the heat is scorching. There seems to be no let up on the humidity and crazy heat index that makes you work up a sweat just by sitting quietly in a corner without a fan blowing warm air directly onto your face. When it is this hot, people keep cool by staying under the shade and avoiding direct sunlight and taking refreshing treats such as ice cream and halo-halo.
Knowing this, ice cream genius Ian Carandang, who is behind the premium ice cream brand Sebastian’s that is only available at its flagship store at The Podium and online, had a lightbulb moment and decided to combine both. Ice cream and halo-halo, that is. In the form of halo-halo flavored ice cream. He came up with three variants to meet everyone’s definition of what halo-halo ice cream should be — Halo-Halo Classic, Halo-Halo Pampanga Style and Halo-Halo Sebastian’s Style.
Inspired by the iconic Filipino dessert, Halo-Halo Classic is Ube Halaya Ice Cream loaded with kaong (palm nut), buko (young coconut), red munggo beans and sweetened jackfruit, finished with a ribbon of leche flan. The custard completes the well-rounded taste that people have come to associate halo-halo with, and Halo-Halo Classic is the closest version of traditional halo-halo that anyone could ever wish for.
Halo-Halo Pampanga Style, meanwhile, conforms to the White Halo-Halo made famous by a local restaurant in Pampanga that has since opened several stores in Metro Manila. The ice cream is actually off-white and, yes, monochromatic, with its combination of rich Macapuno Ice Cream, loaded with chunk soft pastillas de leche, sweetened saba bananas, leche flan ripple and macapuno strings.
Then there is Halo-Halo Sebastian’s Style, which gives Ian the free hand to interpret halo-halo as he thinks appropriate. Here, he plays with his creativity, putting together a halo-halo that is not quite like the one everyone knew yet stayed true to the spirit of the dessert. What he has come up with is a cornucopia of flavors, colors and textures, as he created a base of Blackberry Ice Cream and added a trio of fruit sorbets — mango, raspberry and kamias — for what Ian calls “a mix of brightness, sweetness and acidity.” He added in cubes of crisp Fuji apple and nata de coco, and layered in a ribbon of Coconut Leche Flan made with coconut cream instead of evaporated milk.
These halo-halo ice cream variants are available only by the scoop at Sebastian’s The Podium store.
Over at Masa Madre Bakehouse, which specializes in exquisite breads and pastries, particularly croissants, chef Kris Edison Tan and his team has come up with a summer collection, which is available until the end of June. It is made up of three items, but, no, they are not cold concoctions, although they are accompanied by new summer drinks. This summer collection draws inspiration from fruits that are readily available in the Philippines, especially during summer.
Masa Madre’s summer offering consists of Mango Sticky Rice Croissant, Lemon Curd Croissant and Orange Chocolate Frangipane Croissant.
Mango Sticky Rice Croissant capitalizes on the classic pairing of fresh mango and sticky rice, which is a popular dessert in Thailand with mango and suman as its counterpart in the Philippines. It is a buttery croissant layered with ripe mango, coconut cream and soft sticky rice inside.
Lemon Curd Croissant is an interestingly flaky and round croissant filled with silky, vibrant lemon curd that’s perfectly tangy and not too sweet.
Orange Chocolate Frangipane Croissant has its perfectly “woven” or wrapped round croissant filled with rich almond frangipane, orange and chocolate.
Each of these summer offerings is not just delicious but a work of bread art by chef Kris and his team. They are available at Masa Madre Café (Cocolight Bldg., 11th Ave., BGC) as well as the bakehouse’s pick-up point at Blue Ridge B, Quezon City, when pre-ordered online.