Taking home the Filipino homemade taste

On our way back to Metro Manila from our company outing and team building activities, one of my colleagues asked the driver to spot Amira's along the highway and stop over there for a while. Another colleague asked what that is and the answer was "bilihan ng pasalubong." A shop for travelers to buy souvenir or gift for people back home.

I wondered what they sell at Amira's as our coaster eases on. When we reached the place was when I realized it is a tart house. Two of my colleagues immediately jumped out of the vehicle and led the way.

The shop has very good location along the highway and clever idea about what product to sell. Tagaytay and Batangas are just few of the tourist destinations where travelers will pass by along this area.

When we got inside, I was surprised with the many options they got to offer. I thought they only have tarts as the name of their store implies but no. They have these baked sweets, brownies and muffins, in glass display shelves.

And these cakes, pies and tarts. The tarts are so tempting!

In front of the glass shelves are what seemed to me as more of unlimited options of sweets.

Crinkle cookies, sweetened tamarind, sweetened cassava, espasol and more towards the end of this display shelf. If you are wondering what espasol is, it is an original Filipino delicacy. It is a cylinder-shaped rice cake that originated from the province of Laguna, which in turn is just beside Cavite where this store is.

I went around the display shelves and got amazed with more options of Filipino delicacies. Let's take a closer look through narratives.

Lengua de gato

Lenguas de gato are Filipino butter cookies. They are made from butter, flours, sugar, eggs, and milk. Their name means "cat's tongue" in Spanish, after their characteristic oval shape. They are very thin and crunchy.

Uraro

Uraró, also known as araró or arrowroot cookies, are Filipino cookies made from arrowroot flour. They have a dry and powdery texture and are usually flower-shaped. They originate from the Tagalog people of southern Luzon, particularly in the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, and Marinduque.

Piaya

A piaya is a muscovado-filled unleavened flatbread from the Philippines especially common in Negros Occidental where it is a popular delicacy. It is made by filling dough with a mixture of muscovado and glucose syrup.

Biscocho

Biscocho, also spelled biskotso, refers to various types of Filipino twice-baked breads, usually coated with butter and sugar, or garlic in some cases. Biscocho is most strongly associated with the versions from the province of Iloilo, although it actually exists nationwide in various forms.

Barquillos de Laguna
Barquillo originated from Spain but apparently, Laguna province made its own version.

Barquillo is a crispy rolled wafer pastry originating from Spain. It is made from basic cookie ingredients of flour, sugar, egg whites and butter rolled out thinly and then shaped into a hollow cylinder or a cone.

You can notice on top of the shelf that there are also kiwi chocolate and oatmeal cookies.

Another turn around the shelves and these came into view. More sweets and different delicacies!

Yema - another Filipino sweet delicacy.

Yema is a sweet custard confectionary from the Philippines. It is made with egg yolks, milk, and sugar. The name yema is from Spanish for "egg yolk".

Dried seeds of sunflower and squash, kabute or mushroom chicharon, munchies, peanut brittles (there are lots of these in Baguio City!), peanuts and cashew nuts, seafood bucheron, seaweed cracklings and guess what? More!

My colleagues were done picking their choices and were lining up to the cashier while I was yet to make up my mind. I made another turn back to the glass shelves.

The tarts looks so yummy...

As well as the ube halaya. This one is another original Filipino dessert made from purple yam.

Ube halaya or halayang ube (variant spellings halea, haleya; from the Spanish jalea, "jam") is a Philippine dessert made from boiled and mashed purple yam (Dioscorea alata, locally known as ube).

Ube jam is one of the popular products in Baguio City and I really love the one from Good Shepherd Convent. (Yes, from a convent that produces delicacies wherein they employ working students for the job). The thing is, it does not take long even if it is put in the fridge. It usually lasts up to four days only and that is because of the milk ingredient.

My colleagues started leaving so I need to make up my mind. Okay, since this is a tart house then that must be their specialty. Let's get tarts then and hurry! I bought these two boxes and chased my colleagues back to the coaster. The service was quick both for the preparation of my boxes and the payment so I guess it was not much of inconvenience that my colleagues waited for a while in the coaster.

So what are in my boxes? Since the store name carries buco (young coconut) then that must be their best so I got a box of buco tart but wait... I missed the strawberries from Baguio City. Strawberry tart can be a good substitute. I got another box with strawberry tart this time.

When I got home, I was so excited to open my boxes.

Six pieces of strawberry tarts. How does it taste? I can't help smiling because the strawberry syrup tasted just like my mother's strawberry jam back when she produces and sell strawberry jams and preserves.

"Well, what do you expect? Unless there are other ingredients then the taste will be the same." I told myself. Ah, that really tasted like home...

And nine pieces of buco tarts. How is it? I love the little bit rough texture on my tongue. It is like having rocky road ice cream that I enjoy the "rocky road" more than the cream.

Do you really think I'll finish of all these? That was one of the reasons why I was having a hard time deciding what to buy from the store. I can not finish what's on each box then I thought "pasalubong." Oh yes, I have housemates so it should not be a problem. I just took a piece of each tart type and gave the rest to my land lady. She has four housemates so it will not be a challenge to finish the rest. She was actually very happy about the "pasalubong". That satisfied my craving and also surpise my housemates. I hit two birds with one stone!

Thinking back about the store, I would say it is really worth a visit specially if you are having a vacation nearby the area. For the price of PhP 200.00 (US$ 3.84) per box of tarts, it was all worth the product.

For those who want to visit the store, here is the exact address and contact details on the boxes that I bought. I was actually surprised to see that they have a website and that is very good for the business. One can browse through their line of products and decide before going to the store to save time. On their website they have this email address [email protected] which tells me that customers can also order online.

Amira's Buco Tart Haus
Aguinaldo Highway corner SVD Road
Maitim II East
Tagaytay City
Cavite
Philippines

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Restaurant Information

Amira's Buco Tart Haus

596 Emilio Aguinaldo Hwy, Silang, Cavite, Philippines

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Taking home the Filipino homemade taste
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