Press (9)
Estrel’s-once a palayok oven cake-stands the test of time
November 2019
By Margaux Salcedo
Christmas is just around the corner and that means parties, reunions, celebrations and gatherings. Now comes the annual challenge of what to bring to the annual potluck; or what to give to the gracious host.
Aside from the ubiquitous bottle of wine, another go-to is cake.
Sometimes you can tell where a person is from with the cake they bring. Guys from the south bring Conti’s, or at least that was the go-to before they branched out; those from Manila bring either the Swiss Chocolate or Prune Walnut cake from Becky’s Kitchen; Makati residents patronize Costa Brava, picked up from Bel-Air; and you know someone’s from Quezon City if he or she comes with a cake from Estrel’s.
Estrel’s
Estrel’s made-to-order chiffon cake is especially iconic. The minute that you see a glistening caramel-colored cake with an icing design of dainty pastel roses on top and intricate ivory lace around, you know it’s Estrel’s.
Estrella Ylagan created this caramel cake, with her signature broken line icing design – a stroke that no less than the Wilton School of Cake Decorating and Confectionery Art confirmed originated in the Philippines – in 1946, first as a hobbyist making cakes out of her own home in Lepanto Street in Manila, then later selling these in her first shop in Azcarraga, Manila.
Their website shares the story of their humble beginnings: “For over 50 years, Estrella’s operated on the second floor of Laperal Building (still surviving) on Recto. For 50 years, too, customers didn’t mind climbing four flights of stairs into the open decorating area of the kitchen to pick up their cakes—or to place their repeat orders.”
Gina Gracia Navarro, Ylagan’s niece who now runs Estrel’s with her sisters Gilda Joy and Mia Fatima, shares that her Tita Estrel was the cousin of Maria Orosa, the humanitarian and war hero who, aside from secretly being a captain in the guerrilla movement against the invading Japanese forces in World War II, also invented the palayok oven to enable families without access to electricity to bake. Being a home economist in the Bureau of Plant Ministry which Maria Orosa headed, Tita Estrel started making her caramel cakes using the palayok oven that Orosa invented.
Original recipe
To this day, Navarro confirms, Estrel’s uses the same recipe that was used by Estrella Ylagan herself in the 1940s. That explains why customers remain loyal and even become nostalgic. Navarro shares how some lolos and lolas come to the shop and say that this was the cake they had at their debut or wedding or other special occasions way back in the 1940s or 50s.
In her office, she also keeps the original bowl that her aunt used to make the butter cream for the cakes, using only a wooden spoon.
All the baking for Estrel’s cakes are done by hand although mixers are now used just for the butter icing. Everything is made from scratch and only six hours before the time of the customer’s pickup to ensure freshness. They do not use any preservatives so customers are warned to consume the cakes immediately (although, the warning should be to not consume the cakes immediately because everyone’s always excited to devour this cake).
In the 1980s, the shop moved from Azcarraga to its present location in Quezon City. It has always been a place for pickups and they did not accept walk-ins, differentiating Estrel’s from the ordinary bakeshop.
However, after seeing how heartbroken some customers would become once told that cakes were only by order, some of whom would even come all the way from Alabang just to get a cake, they finally caved and now set aside at least a hundred 8-inch caramel cakes for walk-ins. These are sold out daily in spite of the fact that they do not advertise.
Today, they have expanded their product list to include food for the gods, baked leche flan and chocolate chip walnut cookies. They also make a heavenly sans rival.
Philippine Airlines Inflight Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Written by Joy NavarroDeli-cious
 |
 |
 |
December, 2009 - By: Cherie Mijares
Packed in pretty little packages, these fancy foods make good gifts this season.
Estrel’s caramel cakes never fail to make any occasion special.
Old-fashioned caramel frosting on velvety layers of sponge cake in vanilla, mocha, chocolate marble, or lemon, with real buttercream flowers. Philippine Airlines Inflight Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Mondays to Saturdays - 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Sundays - 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
Estrel’s old-fashioned caramel cake
July, 2008 - By: Edgar O. Cruz
This column was supposed to sum up the best cake in the metro: my usual survey of tinseltown’s demanding palates, but stars and other showbiz types kept picking Estrel’s Caramel Cake as their favorite, that I had to drop the rest and declare this showbiz favorite the hands-down winner. And I can back this up with informal testimonies! It is Megastar Sharon Cuneta’s favorite cake. Kris Aquino mentioned it in her K magazine sometime back. “I’m a suki!” exclaim a ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs personality who begged not to be identified as she is prohibited to do endorsements. Foodie Doreen Fernandez’s wedding cake was made by Estrel’s, giving it the reputation of being THE foodie’s cake. Food blogger Wyatt Belmonte recalls giving it to a friend some four years ago, which the recipient had yet to forget. For photographer Condrad Delfino, it’s the cake he sees at every posh party he shoots. The staff of Princesa ng Banyera gifted Ara Mina with Estrel’s for her last birthday, with the actress raving, “It’s an extraordinary cake!.”
According to Optical Media Board Chair Edu Manzano, his office serves it to guests, and he notices that they all go out smiling. Best friends, comedienne Eugene Domingo and director Andoy Ranoy, had a squasable as to who would bring Estrel’s to his party. She cannot recall how it was settled, but she explains Estrel’s has become a MUST in parties. She adds, “In a potluck, no one will disagree.” Comedian Roden Araneta swears it’s the guaranteed pleaser among his friends. Cinema One and Velvet channel head Ronald Arguelles says tongue-in-cheek,” Mataray sila. You just can’t go to the store and get your cake. You need to order first.” But he owns up that he keeps coming back anyway.
Its easy to understand why these entertainment are gooey for the confection. The cake is eye-candy, tasty, and the sweetness is just right, all the good qualities many people desire in cakes. Made of oil-rich chiffon cake, it has a light texture. It’s a caramel cake due to the smooth and spreadable light-brown caramel/custard icing with its distinct burnt sugar aroma. Thickness is just right, neither too thin nor gloopy. The pastel-colored butter rose blossoms just melt in the mouth, and not all cloying. The dainty lattice that boarders the edges, sides and top are a nice finish touch. The cake is symphony of tastes and texture.
To many, Estrel’s has turned out to be more than a cake to behold but rather a delicious sin. ABS-CBN Star Magic Publicity Manager Rikka Dylim recalls, “We’ve always had Estrel’s Caramel Cake at home in every occasion ever since I can recall. That’s because Tita Estrella, where the name came from, was a best friend of my tita. Honestly, I took her cake for granted as child, even to the point I preferred the commercial ones. Now its back and famed. It’s like comfort food for me. It brings back all happy childhood memories.”
To entertainment journalist/publicist Emy Buan, Estrel’s reminds her of a toss to womanhood. She got her three-tier coming out party cake from Estrel’s.
HOOKED
I tasted Estrel’s Caramel Cake once at a Star Magic birthday bash and I was hooked. I can’t really partake of it muchas I’m sugar—troubled, but I can write about it. But the emotional effect is so strong I could still vividly recall the image. Everything is to die for: decoration, aroma, mouth feel and the taste. I love it because it is far from being commercial; it recalls old fashioned cakes bakers used to display in their escaparate during the ‘60s.Once I used to ogle at when I was a kid, but these days Estrel’s cakes look more professionally done.
Estrel’s was a nameless cake source operating on Lepanto St. in Quiapo when it started operations after the Japanese occupation. The name came from Estrella, the single woman who started the cake shop. She wanted it to be small private operation, so she did not bother to put up a proper cake shop. This allowed her to produce a product of consistent quality that the cake gained the reputation of being the best cake of the post-war period. It thrived on this reputation until she passed away and the operation closed down.
Gina, Joy and Mia Navarro, Estrel’s nieces, decided to scale-up operations a few years ago. The recipe is tightly guarded family secret and naturally, only family can replicate it. According to Gina, they have been involved with Estrel’s operation since they were kids. They feel they have been part of the operations ever since. Under their direction, the caramel cake gained super status, all the while maintaining a small and specialized operation to maintain high product quality. So high that they only recommend a shelf life with a maximum of two days, not like commercial cakes that can stay in their shelves for what seems like weeks.
Being old fashioned is Estrel’s cakes main selling point. People seem to be attracted to the retro design, it looks like the sort of cake your mother or favorite cake shop of yore used to make. This quaintness is definitely a charm. Estrel’s may not have marketing savvy of corporate cake makers, but its limited clientele, mainly through word of mouth, are satisfied. They’re ready to drive great distance for a taste of this delicious sin. An all-or no-occasion cake, Estrel’s caramel Cake is perhaps best given out on special occasion as it is in every way a special cake.
HANDLING
Only the eight-inch cake for P500 at Estrel’s all the time. Even this one is not a sure thing, unless, of course the customer reserves one in advance. Walk-in regular and new customers have the habit of finding the product shelves a cake in advance. For the 10-inch cake (P800), you must order it a day before. For bigger cakes for birthdays, wedding and debut parties, give it a week. The decoration on Estrel’s Caramel Cakes are fragile. They don’t travel very well. I finally realized my ambition to buy it recently. Ordering the 10-inch type a day before, it was ready for pick-up in the light green collapsible box. Placed on a shelf in the airconditioned store together with the day’s stock and other special orders, I rushed it to a cab and held on to it as if my life was at stake. After a half hour of uneventful travel, it reached the special person it was meant for. What happened? It was intact but partially melted. It’s good the receiver appreciated the partially melted cake, saved perhaps by her awareness of Estrel’s reputation.
According to Gina , balikbayan customers manage to take back the caramel cake back home by placing them in deep Tupperware containers. Instead of the rose blossoms, they decorate it with the sampaguita flowers. The décors tend to be less high than the roses, so they tend to hold better. She adds, ”Some of my fiends have frozen and microwaved them by the slice without change in quality.”
Estrel’s Caramel Cake is available at Estrel’s cake store at 54 Scout Tobias St., cor. Scout Limbaga, Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City.
Contact Estrel’s by landline (372-2965 or 371-7938) from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p. m, Mondays to Saturdays and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Simply Irresistible
November 2004
By Dedette Sison-Santiago
Alice Ylagan-Navarro remembers having an abiding interest for baking when she was a teenager. Baking wasn’t just a hobby, it’s an art developed from long hours of training in the kitchen and laboring to produce a melt-in-your-mouth caramel cakes whose popularity has spanned more than five decades.
Now in her eighties, Navarro still lives and breathes the aroma of freshly baked cakes in her kitchen. She recalls days spent with her eldest sister, the late Estrella Ylagan, baking cakes.
Estrel’s Caramel Cakes isn’t just about cake—it’s all about traditional, fond memories, baking the “good old-fashioned-way.” It’s a business with humble beginnings.
In the late 40’s, Estrel’s started baking cakes for family and friends. Alice was a mainstay in her kitchen. “Manang Estrel would always coax me to help her so I would learn the proper way of baking cakes,” Alice recalls. By word of mouth, the popularity of Estrel’s Caramel Cakes spread and her reputation for using only quality ingredients grew. This paved the way for a small bakeshop along Lepanto Sreet in Manila. It came to be known as Estrel’s Caramel Cakes. 
“It was very labor-intensive,” says Alice who witnessed how Estrel manually beat the batter, cook the caramel icing and decorate the cake—a six hour activity to produce just one 8 x 12 inches cake.
Estrel’s caramel cake is always irresistible. For many, it has become a traditional choice for special occasions. The look is remarkably ‘50s: a fluffy chiffon cake draped with glossy sheen of caramel icing, decorated with perfectly-shaped roses in the palest shades of pink, blue, yellow and green and then embellished with white lace butter icing. The taste is never too creamy, never too sweet—a winning formula Estrel developed from a cake recipe she found from a box of cake flour.
Excellent Mentor
Estrel’s didn’t start out as a kitchen wiz. She learned the rudiments of cooking and baking from her aunt, the late Maria Ylagan Orosa who took her an assistant at the Plant Utilization Division of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Orosa, most remembered for her patriotism during the Japanese occupation, was also a culinary icon known for her love of good food and innovative recipes using native ingredients. She developed the Orosa Palayok Oven, a charcoal-fired oven that Estrel initially used to bake sponge cakes and jelly rolls.
Home-grown Business
As Estrel’s business got off the ground, Alice co-manage it and under her sister’s guiding hands, she, too, developed her baking skills. Alice found herself enjoying every baking hour. In time her children, Joy, Mia and Gina became involved in the kitchen too.
When Estrel died, Navarro kept the business going. Over the years, the original Estrel’s cake recipe remained unchanged, including the sizes, shapes and hues of the butter roses that adorn each cake. “ It has been our signature design and our clients from way back always feel nostalgic every time they order the same cake with the same taste, quality and look,” says Joy.” Tita Estrella’s clients like formers debutantes in the ‘50s still come to us for their birthday cakes and they’re always excited, reminiscing about their early days just by looking at the cakes.
The family produces the cakes from two kitchens now: one located on the second floor of Laperal Building along Recto Avenue in Manila (the base of Estrel’s Caramel Cakes since the ‘50s) and the other located in the family residence in Scout Tobias in Quezon City.
Joy , who resign from her job to concentrate administrative matters, boast the loyalty of kitchen staff of no more than 15, including their eldest baker Floring Carillo, 73, who refuses to retire. “ Manang Floring mixes colors for the butter roses in such a unique way that none of us can duplicate,“ she states. “We train our staff well in order to produce the same quality of cake that Tita Estrel produced. Sometimes it takes a months of effort before one could perfect the butter roses,” attests Joy. Butter roses, she adds, are made only when the cake is ready, otherwise they will melt.
Although the family business has grown, the Navarros prefer to stay small and refuse to compromise quality over quantity. “Tita Estrel wanted a small business with a home-baked appeal and this is how the cake was known.” Joy states. And so today, even if everyone’s learning how to do things instantly with the aid of modern kitchen gadgets, Estrel’s keeps their cakes baked the “good old-fashioned-way.”
Lifestyle - August 27, 2008
By Karla Rey
Photographs by William Ong
Charmed by Caramel
How good is this made-to-order caramel cake for it to be touted as one of the best cakes? It has been in business since 1946 and has thrived without any paid advertising. Despite moving from Recto to Scout Tobias in Quezon City, clients would still drive all the way from Alabang just to pick up a cake or two. It is so good that those who had it for their 18th birthday chose it for their wedding and for their daughter’s debut. This caramel cake is sooo good that it has converted this non-caramel lover into a fan and has made a photographer who avoids desserts that are not sugar-free, finish a whole slice without any feeling of guilt.
Estrel's bakeshop, owned and managed by the Navarro sisters—Joy , Gina and Mia—makes one of those desserts that you just can't resist. This lovely cake of soft chiffon under a delicate blanket of glossy caramel is light, not too sweet. Every cake from the shop is beautifully decorated and makes for a pretty centerpiece. Elaborate butter cream flowers carefully hand-piped, set on the caramel icing, somehow has a look that is distinctly its own. “If you are an Estrel’s customer, chances are you will recognize our cake if you see one at a party. Sometimes, it is our customers who inform us that they saw our cake in TV or in a photo in some publication,” says Joy, the eldest of the three.
The recipe is of their Tita Estrella Ylagan who started it after the liberation as a home-based business originally on Lepanto St., then moved to Azcarraga, now known as Recto. "My mom Alice, then single, along with her sisters and other relatives, used to do all the baking steps by hand.” Mixers were not available yet. Even so, to this day, batter mixing and folding are done the traditional way, by hands. A year or so after Estrel’s opened in Quezon City they started baking extra cakes for walk-ins. These extra cakes are sold out before the store closes. Now with the home functioning as a kitchen and a separate small shop was built nearer the gate, the bakeshop now also offers a few other goodies. “We also have Food for the Gods, Baked Leche Flan, oatmeal- based Apple Squares and Chocolate Chips Walnut Cookies. In the past, we just baked these items as personal gifts to relatives and friends.”
The Navarro sisters grew up with the business, and as young girls, they were asked by their Tita Estrella to do chores in the kitchen. While all three sisters can bake and decorate cakes, each one has a unique contribution to the business. But all three sisters recognize their mother, Alice, as an important factor in the success of Estrel’s. "Our mother, who recently passed away, paved the way by showing us the value of hard work and love for the family. Even in her eighties, she worked tirelessly everyday until a few days before she passed away." So what is the secret? “We are sticking to the same recipe that was handed down to us. We are not changing anything. For example, I cannot recall now how long we have been using Alaska. We use fresh eggs and fresh butter. No preservatives. No shortcuts,” says Joy. It is by the design that they focus only on a few products but make sure that they do them right. They would rather keep just one kitchen instead of having problems with product consistency. Never mind if it’s not sugar-free and if one has to order it at least a day before. Or that it cannot kept longer than 24 hours at room temperature. Because with the cake this luscious and this light, a single slice will get you hooked for life.
The new home that Estrel’s caramel cake has built
Life Style Food
Philippine Daily Inquirer - Thursday, April 9, 2015
By Vangie Baga-Reyes
Walk-ins can now get hold any time of that pretty, light-as-air chiffon cake covered in silky caramel
ESTRELS’S has a new home. It’s bigger, brighter and classier, designed to accommodate more orders and walk-ins.
Think of it as the new house that caramel cake has built! The famous bakeshop, which opened in 1946 in Azcarraga (now Clao M. Recto), Manila, moved to Scout Tobias corner Scout Limbaga, Quezon City, in 2001.
It was actually the house of founder Estrella Ylagan or Tita Estrel, as she was dearly called by family and friends.
On one side of the sprawling garden, a small shop was built where people could pick up their cakes; it was inconvenient for most customers to get their cakes at the gate especially when it was raining. The shop was so small it could fit only 10 people, with another small table for taking calls and orders. Estrel’s could only accept orders. There was no extra cakes for walk-ins.
Three-story structure
Now, with the new structure and spacious area on the same lot, more and more orders can be accommodated. And walk-ins can have the pretty and light-as-air chiffon cake covered in silky caramel, adorned with clusters of impeccably shaped butter roses, in pink, yellow, green and blue, any time.
The 880-sq meter bungalow of Tita Estrel and the bakeshop were torn to give way to a three-story structure dedicated to the production of caramel cake. Construction took about 15 month under the supervision of architect Gelo Manosa.
“We felt it was time to construct, because the layout of the house wasn’t ideal for big kitchen operations anymore” says Gina Navarro, who runs Estrel’s Bakeshop with her siblings Joy and Mia. Tita Estrel was the eldest sister of the Navarro siblings’ mom, Alice Ylagan Navarro.
Tita Estrel passed away in 1989, Alice in 2007. Some parts of the house, like the original adobe walls that used to divide the living and dining rooms, were retained. The adobe walls now stand beautifully by the bakeshop’s main door.
Smooth operation
Gina, a chef and food stylist, closely collaborated with the architect during construction.
“I made sure the production area is according to what I wanted it t be---simple, clean, and with a smooth work flow. No divisions, but one big, well-organized box” she says.
The first floor has the bakeshop, the pick-u counter and the area for talking orders. Huge clear-glass windows add a sunny ambience to the room, with wood flooring that gives a homey feel. The second floor is the production area, where the old and treasured Hobart electric mixer (used by Tita Estrel) is still in use. There’s an ample zone for baking, frosting and decorating. The employees’ lounge and dining area is on the third floor. There’s also a small kitchen for cooking meals for the employees.
“We have a full-time cook to prepare meals for our staff,” says Joy. “The lounge is where they can relax and rest as well.” There’s also a large function room for meetings and gatherings.
Comfortable working area
“Another reason for the construction is for our staff", adds Gina. “We want them to have a comfortable working area. It’s all for them because their work is very labor-intensive. The efficiency and performance of each person always depends on their work space.”
“We are one company that doesn’t rely on high-tech facilities,” says Joy. “We treasure our people. Our production is still the old method, all by hand from folding to decorating. That’s why we take care of our people.”
All around the house, various painting in pastel hues were done by Mia, the artist in the Navarro family.
From the initial; handful of staff that Tita Estrel got to work with her, the manpower has now doubled and tripled.
“We’ve always been faithful to Tita Estrel’s idea and kitchen methodologies---made-to-order, freshly baked from scratch every day, no preservatives and avoid producing in mass quantities. All our cake designs have Certificates of Copyright Registration. That said, treating employees well is a main ingredient in keeping loyalty.”
Gina handles the maintenance, repairs and other technical aspect of the business, Joy, the daily operations; and Mia, the systems technology.
The Navarro siblings have been very grateful for the huge success of the business anchored and only one product.
“We are just lucky,” says Gina. “It’s a tried-and-tested product. We don’t really have to have a long list of offerings other than the caramel cake. It’s always better to do a few but do it very well.”
 |
 |
“Best Desserts” book launch – a sweet treat in more ways than one
LifeStyle Food
Philippine Daily Inquirer - Thursday, February 6, 2014
By Vangie Baga-Reyes
Convention hall filled with desserts, and dessert-lovers
Wow, a whole convention center filled with sweet treats,” exclaimed Yvette Fernandez, Town & Country editor in chief, as she entered the SMX Convention Center at SM Aura for the launch of Inquirer Lifestyle’s first ever book, “Best Desserts.” Indeed, the convention center was packed not only with people, but also with dizzying array of desserts, from Belgian chocolate truffles, cakes and tortes to macarons and ice cream, spread out in tables dressed in rich, lovely colors with lampshades, flowers, balls and dainty cake pedestals as primary accents. More than 50 top dessert makes brought generous samplings of their best desserts, plus more samplings of other sweet treats for guests to partake and enjoy.
Best of the best: Inquirer list of top desserts is ‘worth the calories’
Philippine Sunday Inquirer - Sunday, February 2, 2014
By Cathy Yamsuan
CARAMEL cake of roses by Estrel’s stands out during the launching of the INQUIRER’s Best Desserts list at SM Aura.
NOT TOO long ago, baker Judah Liu spent two to three hours making marshmallow cakes at home. The cakes were a hit with friends and baking was a hobby that served her well. But when Liu started selling her products at the weekend bazaar of a posh mall in Makati City, people noticed instead her not-too-sweet caramel cake with its trademark miniature pink icing flowers.
The cake was good enough for this newspaper’s editors to take notice and for Liu to earn a page in the INQUIRER Lifestyle “Best Desserts” (The Most-Read Ultimate List),” the section’s first-ever book launched on Thursday night in a well-attended fair at SM Aura Premier in Taguig City.
Written by INQUIRER food writer Vangie Baga-Reyes, the tome features more than 90 cakes, pastries, pies and ice cream culled from Ilocos Sur to Davao provinces.
Liu, the force behind Pasteleria Costa Brava, was initially unaware of making it to the list featured every year, he first of which was released by the lifestyle section in 2008.
This was because the list, anticipated every year by foodie circles, was neither an intentional effort nor part of any aggressive marketing strategy.
INQUIRER Lifestyle editor Thelma Sioson San Juan said she asked Reyes to write the first list six years ago after nothing “how readers and friends would always inquire about what sweet goodies to buy and where.”
Not only was the first “Best Desserts” list (or the List) “ wellread, “ San Juan noted.
“It also became a most visible merchandise signage … for independent bakers [like Liu],” she said.
“the List has been posted in many places, from malls…
60 years of baking
Lifestyle - October 12, 2006
By Reggie Aspiras
Who will ever forget the caramel cakes? I won’t, I grew up with them. My most vivid memories are of the cakes laden with large, rich butter cream roses. It’s a luxury that I have managed to sustain for 38 years. And Estrel’s had already been in the business for over two decades before I was born.
They are now celebrating their 60 year and even today their caramel cakes still taste like those my lola served many years ago. To Estrel’s, congratulations and may we be fortunate enough to enjoy your cakes for another 60 years!
Estrel’s is at Scout Tobias St., QC, tel. 3722965.
The City's 20 yummiest (privately baked) Cakes
Lifestyle - July 3, 2008
By Vangie Baga-Reyes
Caramel Cake
Come-on: To lust for, this melting, light chiffon cake under a blanket of glossy caramel is charmingly adorned with butter cream flowers in lovely colors. Makes for a pretty centerpiece. Cost: P550 for eight-inch round cake with caramel filing and P500 without filing.
Order two days in advance.
Creator: Estrel’s
Call: 3722965 0r 3717938
Address: 54 Scout Tobias St. corner Scout Limbaga, Barangay Laging Handa, QC.
It’s piece of (caramel) cake!
Lifestyle - April 28, 2004
By Cheryl Tiu
2bU! Correspondent
One of my best friends’ birthday was coming up, and a mutual friend texted me and suggested that we give her a cake from Estrel’s.
At the time, I was still unfamiliar with the name, but my friend adamantly insisted that it was “really good.” Sure enough, come my friend’s birthday, she thanked me profusely and gushed about how the cake was “soooo good.”
So what is the place that made two of my friends drool in delight?
Masterpiece
Estrel’s Caramel Cakes was established in 1946 by the late Estrella Ylagan. Her hobby and love for baking led her to concoct a culinary masterpiece. She sourced a chiffon cake recipe from a box of cake flour, improvised from there, and basked it in silky caramel icing. The result has been a perennial bestseller.
Or let’s put it this way: as soon as I sank my teeth into the fluffy chiffon cake delectably adorned by the golden caramel icing, I savored the bliss for as long as I could, before I reflexively (almost impatiently) dug my fork right back into the box of cake. Never mind that I broke all rules of decorum, the cake was too divine to ignore!
Estrel’s is currently run full-time by Joy (niece) and Alice (sister) to Tita Estella. A part from their best-selling caramel icing, they also have chocolate (traditionally created as a milk-based icing) and butter (made from pure, though undersweet butter).
In contrast to most commercial cake shops, Estrel’s creations are made-to-order. It is necessary to pre-order the cakes at least one day in advance to ensure their freshness.
Cakes are baked on the day before they are set to be picked up and the expiration date is indicated on a sticker, especially since the shop does not make use of any preservatives. Sometimes, some batches are made available for walk-in customers, but we warned that these are always sold out.
“[I would liken our cakes] to eating a homemade cake, baked by someone in the family who can do it really well, like aunt or lola—to satisfy something you’re craving for,” says Joy. To achieve this homemade flavor, all of Estrel’s cakes are baked by hand and the production size is kept really small.
Trademark decor
Estrel’s is also known for its trademark cake décor of colorful roses, each one dexterously crafted from butter and very soft and fragile to the touch (as opposed to the hard, sugar roses produced by commercial cake shops).
Some non-cake best-sellers include chocolate-chip cookies, which, with their oatmeal-and walnut base, come off crisp and crunchy. The leche flan, meanwhile, is baked (as opposed to most other leche flans which are steamed), resulting in a richer, fuller flavor. The shop also offers apple square and food for the gods.
Beside the shop, Joy’s sister, Gina, runs a creative culinary school. Classes for adults are run all the year, with professional chefs like Seiji Kamura (Seiji), Don Alba (Alba) and Nick Anderson (Cafe Provencal) holding classes.
During the summer, classes are offered for children, and Gina herself conducts classes, supplemented by her cookbook creation, “Cooking and Baking for Kiddie Chefs,” published by ABS-CBN Publishing.
Another sister, Mia, based in California, also bake and sells made-to-order cakes on weekends. But Joy says there are so good that some customers have purchased them in Manila only to hand-carry them to USA!
“My Tita's philosophy has always been that she doesn’t want anything to be commercial; she doesn’t want mass- produced bake products,” she adds. “We’ve been faithful to that philosophy by continuing the tradition.” Estrel’s caramel Cakes-Creative Culinary School is located at 54 Scout Tobias, Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City (a couple of blocks from Timog). Call 3722965 and 3717938.
The old world charm of baking by hand
EACH OF ESTREL’S CAKES IS MADE FROM REAL, FRESH EGGS, MILK AND BUTTER AND SIX HOURS OF GRACE
Lifestyle - February 13, 2003 -
By Elsie Kalaw-Santos
IN THE LAST seven years, my friend and former colleague Gina Navarro has become the author of a special birthday treat for me.
Its is a box of Estrel’s caramel Cake, a chiffon cake under a blanket of glossy caramel, bedecked with the cluster of perfectly shaped butter roses in the shades of pink, blue and yellow. The cake is sooo-o pretty, I always hesitate to cut through the flawless set light brown icing. When I do, I set aside the roses that may be in the way of the knife—to be devoured when no one is looking.
Estrel’s cake has never disappointed over these years that I’ve savored it on my birthday or some other special occasion. It is consistently soft and fine in texture, flavorful with just a tinge of sweetness and never too creamy. Often I got my cake with the icing still warm and just beginning to settle. All Estrel’s cake are baked just before they are claimed.
Home-baked appeal
Estrel was Gina’s aunt, Estrella Ylagan, the eldest sister of her mother, Alice Ylagan Navarro.
Tita Estrel had a keen interest in cooking even as a child, a trait not uncommon among the Ylagans. Her cooking skills were honed under the tutelage of master cooks, including the late Maria Ylagan Orosa, an aunt. Most people now remember her for her patriotism during the Japanese occupation (for which she was executed by enemy forces), but Maria Y. Orosa was better known while she was alive for her culinary skills and love for good. She was credited for having developed the Orosa oven, a charcoal-based clay oven (palayok is how Alice refers to it) that Estrel initially used to bake her cake.
By hand
That Estrel’s caramel cakes consistently please the eyes and the palate is no accident. Rather , it is a product of craftsmanship, which is at the core of every folk art.
After the last war, bakers did not have much to work with except their hands, and that was how Estrel made her caramel cakes. She patiently beat the cake batter manually and then continuously stirred the caramel icing as it was cooking over just the right amount of heat.
Most taxing was the manual creaming of the butter and sugar to make the butter roses. The mixture had to be beaten till the sugar was completely dissolved and a stiff consistency was achieved. The persistence resulted in the formula for caramel icing and butter roses that had the perfect blend and flavor, much improved from the original chiffon cake recipe that she copied from a box of cake flour. In 1949, very confident in the goodness of her cake, she set up a bakeshop on Lepanto Street in Manila.
Even when electric mixers became regular appliances in kitchens, Estrel did not use them because electronic beating of the mixtures would not produce the soft and fine texture of her cake.
"Tita Estrel never dreamt to be big. She didn't want a commercial bakeshop that would go into mass production. She knew that if she went into mass production, she would be forced to use preservatives and emulsifiers on the cake," recalls Gina.
Nothing but the best
And this is one feature of Estrel cakes: Real eggs, milk and butter are used in favor of emulsifiers or artificial eggs and flour that facilitate baking in big volumes. The cakes also have no preservatives. That’s why Estrel’s cakes are best eaten on the day they are baked. If refrigerated, Gina says, the cakes would last another two days. The cakes also have no additives or artificial flavorings; their flavors are the natural result of the mix of real, high-quality ingredients.
No one better understands the uncompromising stance of Tita Estrel in the kitchen than Alice Navarro and her daughters, Joy, Gina and Mia, all of whom underwent rigorous training in the kitchen under Tita Estrel in her own time.
Estrel’s Caramel Cake (tel. 372-2965) is now managed by Alice with the help of Joy and Gina.
It is primarily in deference to Tita Estrel’s passion for perfection and high standards that Estrel's cakes are not mass-produced. There has been no change in the recipe and, inspite of the high cost of ingredients, no attempt to skimp on quality. Gina attests that into each cake goes seven super jumbo eggs, two bars of Anchor butter, and a significant does of full cream milk.
Two kitchens
The cakes are now baked in two kitchens. The first is located on the second floor of the Laperal Apartments along Recto Avenue fronting San Sebastian College. This has been base of Estrel’s Caramel Cake since 1950s. Many suki still pick up their cakes from this outlet.
The second kitchen, located in the family residence at 54 Scout Tobias (corner Scout Limbaga) in Quezon City, has been in operation only in the last two years. In the same address now stands a smart-looking, homey shop where clients pick up their orders.
Six hours’ labor
The shop’s staff of 14—10 in the Scout Tobias kitchen and four in the Recto kitchen—have been trained in the arduous process of making caramel cake. The process is Gina admits, painful to the hands and arms, especially for beginners.
Inspite of the tiring process, the family boasts of having the loyalty of several of their staff. Their eldest baker, Floring Carillo, now 72 has been with the bakeshop for the past 51 years and refuses to retire. Floring’s batchmates were in the employ of the bakeshop until they passed away.
Producing one cake is labor-intensive, explains Gina. “Everyone in our staff has to be skilled, otherwise we cannot produce the cake of Tita Estrel. There are times we reject the output of our staff because it is not at par with Tita Estrel’s standards,” says Gina.
It takes a total of six hours to produce one 8 x 12 inches cake. This includes the beating of the batter. Then there’s the cooking of the caramel icing and pouring it while still hot on the cake. The angle of pouring has to be accurate so that the icing naturally flows on the entire surface and on all the sides of the cake. This natural flow of the icing accounts for the glossy finish of the caramel topping.
When the caramel topping is done, the decorators start to pipe out pastel shades of butter roses. These roses cannot be stocked or they’d melt. They are made only when the cake is ready.
Several times, the Navarro women have had to assess the wisdom of ignoring the use of electric appliances to facilitate and therefore increase production. However, they always come up with the same answer: Tita Estrel never wanted a big business and her cake should always have the home-baked appeal.
Best of the best: Inquirer list of top desserts is ‘worth the calories’
Cake with a history
June 7, 2004
By Glenda M. Gloria
HAVE YOU DISCOVERED ESTREL’S CARAMEL CAKS? IF NOT, YOU MIGHT want to check it out because Estrel’s has been around since 1946—unbeaten in the made-to-order cake business.
Its best seller is the caramel chiffon cake, which you can order at P485 for an 8”x12” cake without filling and P585 for one of the same size with filling. The caramel cake isn’t too sweet, makes you crave for more, and leaves a light feeling in the stomach. It’s a perfect gift for people who have everything. Other choices for icing aside from caramel are marshmallow, chocolate, and butter. Estrel’s also has a new products that are just as irresistible: freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (P700 for 35 pieces of large cookies or 70 pieces of medium-size cookies); apple squares (P150 for 12 pieces); and leche flan (P180).
Estrel’s is run by Alice Ylagan Navarro and her daughters Joy and Gina. The shop is named after its founder, Alice's sister Estrel Ylagan , who died in 1989. The cake shop stands on the same spot where it was put up in 1946: at the corner of Scout Limbaga and Scout Tobias Streets, Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City.
Orders should be placed one day in advance on ordinary days, and much earlier during holidays.
Mondays to Saturdays - 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Sundays - 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
 |
 |
 |
 |
SWEET SIXTEEN CAKES
(Also for Those on their Third debut!)
February, 1997
By Nancy T. Reyes
We may not have developed the wine culture under the Spaniards, but we inherited the “sweet tooth” from them and their helpless indulgence with caramel, butter, egg yolks, sugar and cream. In Asia, we make the best "Western style" desserts; in our country, bakeshops do a lot of good business everywhere, whether the goods come from the private kitchens and are handmade by family members or are from commissaries as huge as warehouses and are manufactured by machines. (Small wonder in all of Asia, we also have the best dental practitioners.)
The formula of any “sweet” venture here follows this pattern: you bake your best bet desserts, give them away to friends as gifts to sample and then wait for comments and orders. Eventually and if the desserts are really good, the investment of goodwill and sampling returns tenfold from friends and friends of friends, neighbors, relatives. Pretty soon your circle of customers reaches the nth degree word-of-mouth. By this stage, you would know if your products can give you good business such that when you’ve boxed and ribbon the 250th cake within five months, you start and thinking convection ovens, 50-gallon mixers, 50-kilo flour sacks.
But here’s one success story that stuck to the good, old ways: staying and small specialized; keeping to handmade and made-to-order; not compromising on quality and volume, and keeping faithful to a good, old-fashioned recipe.
You must taste the best, traditional caramel-butter cake I have ever taste. The satiny, caramel-iced chiffon cake, bedecked with handmade butter flowers in peach, pink and pastel green got me feeling the sweet sixteen stuff all over again, like my blowing 16 pink candles on such a lady-like cake, and watching how the butter icing roses slowly melted from around the little flames. Even now as “caramel, butter icing, and chiffon cake” translate to me as fat, cholesterol and guilt-rich calories, the tiny voices inside my mind need not convince me to go for a second slice (better yet the corners), and even invade the un-sliced parts for more butter roses to put onto my slice. Without blinking, I can even clean up the sides of the cakes where some more icing has been left. One just cannot have enough of an Estrel’s cake. Perhaps it’s because sweet sixteen memories “taste” so good.
And here’s unbelievable news: Estrel’s cake are still being made by humans! The butter roses are piped by hand and the caramel icing is mixed by hand, the oldest cake decorator is 60 years old, Floring Carillo, who can pipe out perfect roses with her eye close closed, or while watching TV, or probably even if she’s asleep! She was taught by the founder Estrella (Estrel) Ylagan, her sister Alice Ylagan Navarro, and by a cousin Hermenegilda Macasaet. On top of the decorating skills acquired from Miss Estrel, the habit of being productivity occupied (for example, you can watch TV but don’t twiddle your thumbs) became the legacy of all whose lives were touched by her. The success story of Estrel’s Cakes is the best told by youngest surviving sister of the late “Manang Estrel,” Alive Y. Navarro, the faithful who inherited the business—the recipes, the baking secrets, the long list of the three generations of loyal customer.
In this age of bromide-laced flour and dough improvers, where every other croissants taste like artificial butter flavoring brushed on twisted Manila hemp, one cannot toss aside the cynical yet helpless regard for modern bakery products. Nobody has the time nor the energy anymore to produce anything by hand what machines do, and do faster. Somehow the Estrel’s way does not fit into the fastfood/”fastbake” mode because much of the old method of preparing the cake (based on the original recipe) is retained. Nothing has been modified except for the shift from Maria Y. Orosa clay oven (which cooked with live coals) to the now 40-year old Universal Chef oven; and from the hand beating the batter, the meringue and the folding in of cake batter to the use of the smallest size N50 Hobart mixer..
Now hear this. They have a helper who can beat as much as three pounds or six bars of butter to fineness, by hand with wooden spatula, yet still keep the butter firm. (We must check out her chest exercises.)
The old oven can only hold four regular pans, which means the recipes are not (over)stretched by the hundreds of yields. They will not pre-prep more than three multiples of recipe. Technically speaking, this also indicates that the oven is at work 24 hours a day, which is actually good because that’s how to maintain a constant temperature. The secret is simple: good old ovens should never be cooled down nor moved from their place. “Antique lahat ng gamit namin, pati na yang gumagawa ng cakes,” laughed Alice as she and daughter Gina shared some anecdotes. Antique, you bet. The wooden spoon used in stirring the caramel to its doneness gets its “well" all eaten up before its gets changed, mused Gina. Their Arrow brand aluminum ware are not retired till they’re obviously dented or out of shape. And there is good reason for this: Pans and utensils are best when they are “aged.” In time they get into the groove, the right gauge of thickness (or thinness) to be part of the perfected baking process.
Quality ingredients more than make up half the success story. “We never changed the recipe, nor the way we did the butter roses and their shapes, sizes and colors of tinted peach, pink and green; nor the thickness and taste of the caramel icing. Before we used GI butter during Liberation. And at that time the best milk was imported Carnation full cream milk (has to be full cream, no dilutions). Now we use Alpine or Omela (from Thailand) full cream milk for the butter icing. And we have never substituted anything for Anchor butter ever since we started using it,” professed Mrs. Navarro.
She added, “During the Liberation, we baked and decorated cakes without the use of whatever appliances we see now. Beating was all done by hand, including the butter icing which remained firm. It was in the GI butter and we never had it so good! To make cake flour, I learned to mix cornstarch to all-purpose flour.”
I attest to the cake‘s quality by its taste and texture. The caramel icing is neither too sweet nor to creamy, it is just right with a slightly burnt-sugar note that makes you want to “capture” more it. The chiffon cake itself is smooth and fine, no fish-eggy aftertaste and definitely not characterized by an artificial flavor or aroma. Its mouthfeel is likened to light-as-cloud batter: meringue with just enough flour to hold it all together. A delicate, almost hazelnut sweetness is what is what one recalls of the butter roses. Take time to let it melt in your mouth and give you that old good-fashioned pure butter-syrup sincerity. The pleasure of the butter icing is that it is not sickeningly sweet or too buttery. In fact, it is under sweetened which suits the gourmet palate and diabetics as well.
"My sister got the recipe of chiffon cake from a box of cake flour. She tried and improved on it with the now popular caramel icing which is the signature of all Estrel’s cakes with butter flowers as decoration,” said Mrs. Navarro. “The recipe has been perfected,” She was proud to say. Sin duda!
Of the mementoes left behind by Estrella Ylagan, the most prominent is the letter from U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, who thanked her for the “fine cake sent to me at Malacanan Palace.” This was addressed to the lady behind the “fine cake” in 1962, when Estrel’s business was at its peak.
But the whole thing started from something small and way before this time. It was when Estrel worked as assistant to Maria Y(lagan) Orosa at the Plant Utilization Division of the Bureau of Plant industry that she got a good exposure to the culinary prowess of her boss. MYO was able to concoct recipes for darak cookies, coconut brittle using the sapa of the niyog, pork and beans, and more. Miss Orosa was an extraordinary “foodie” in her time that she even devised a clay “oven” now named after her. (Considered an outstanding Filipino, she was killed by the Japanese and is said to be buried at the back of Malate Church, right now a foodie street.)
Estrel absorbed all her cooking techniques and mastered the Maria Y. Orosa oven on which she baked sponge cakes and jelly rolls in small rectangular pans lined with butter and flour. Later, she was to teach her youngest sister Alice the methods of baking. Alice started out as the “coal watcher."
“Using the Orosa palayok was what I got used to. I became the baker of the house. Problem was I was always on the lookout if the charcoal was just right for the cakes. Estrel would become an expert in making the butter flowers. I could never make nice-looking ones except with sugar icing.” The sisters started by giving the cakes as gifts. Later they received orders from friends and officemates.
"The shop was founded around early 1949 in Lepanto St. right in front of Selecta, in an apartment owned by the Navarros (who would become my future in-laws),” recalled Alice. “My sister was not interested in making it a big business. She didn’t even want a sign outside. We just made cakes to order. Ayaw na niyang mag-intindi pa sa City Hall. In 1949 I got married. She didn’t want me to.” Alice then lived her first months of married life in the province but when Estrel went to the U.S. she had to manage the business, so they returned to Manila and in the apartment.
Later on we moved to Recto Ave., to the Laperal Apartments and we are there till now. It is right in front of San Sebastian College. We occupy the second, third, and fourth floors. The rent used to be P80 per unit with one room. Now the rates are P22,000 for the five doors we occupy. Our patrons followed us when we moved to Recto. Most of them are conservative, old-fashioned like us. Some of them have been around since we were still young, and now it is their apos…” (Alice is now 72 but does not look it!)
The names on the list of loyal customers are very familiar and “de buena.” The late Leonila Garcia, Andres Castillo (Central bank governor then); Anselmo Trinidad, Justice Carmilino Alvendia and his family; Justice Cecilia Palma, Senator Joey Lina; the Buenasedas; Castros, Isabel Ferrer-Franco; the Lontoks of Elar’s Lechon, and the Jade Vine (which orders cakes like that one for the centennial of Josefa Jara Martinez, Mrs. Ming Ramos’ mother). Some cakes are brought to the US, and lately are more being ordered for overseas.
From the photos I could sense a strong character behind the frail figure of Miss Estrel in her last years. She looked like a tough cookie, a foodie who refused to stop pursuing the excellencies of food. When she was still strong and fully in the business, she did not let summer go without making her nieces and nephews do kitchen duties. There were cooking and baking classes she enrolled them in and afterwards, they would have to report to her for their lessons and practice for her to taste.
Gina remembers when she was in high school, her Manang Estrel phoned and started dictating to her the recipe for bakhlava with instructions to try immediately. Gina and older sister Joy were usually tasked to do a dish whenever she’d have parties and she loved to give them.
The children cannot forget the culinary training they received from their aunt. Today, it is an integral part of their being heirs to the business she left to the sister Alice and her kids. Looking forward, Alice opines. “It’s up to them (my children) to expand it now. All my children help out especially pag December. Two of my sons can bake.” The Navarro children are Teddy (46), Butch (43), Bobby (42), Hector (40), Joy (38) Gina (age withheld as a favor from me), and Mia (29). And it was Gina who spoke for her generation of the Estrel traditions: “We cannot, will not compromise quality for volume of business. One person can only handbeat for so many recipe. So we are sticking to made-to-order. This is the tradition that Estrel’s Cake got built on and is still enjoying.
An Honor Roll of Sweets
September, 2005
By Norma Chikiamco and Cherie Mijares
Caramel Cake by Estrel’s
This cake has the light, airy texture of a patiently crafted chiffon cake topped by a rich caramel frosting done the old-fashioned way. The frosting is enhanced by multi- colored flowers made of rich butter cream that one of seldom finds in bakeshops these days. Everything about Estrel’s Caramel Cake says homemade, rich and traditional, qualities that have become quite rare in today’s increasingly modernized world.
 |
 |
It takes courage in this day and age to stick to product that was first developed by a dynamic lady some five decades ago. And yet the family who makes the caramel cake today has perhaps no choice but to continue baking this cake because customers love it so much. And their customers span several generations of cake lovers. Couples who had it as their wedding cake later ordered it for their children’s birthdays, and later, for their children’s birthdays. Sources even say the Estrel’s caramel cake was the wedding cake of no less than the late, much loved food critic Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, when she married her husband Willi Fernandez.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
By Raoul J. Chee Kee, Senior Reporter
A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
In this fickle food industry where whatever is new greeted with much fanfare but is often set aside when something never comes along, it’s thrilling to hear of businesses that have gone on to mark their 20th, 30th or 50th anniversaries.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Estrel’s Caramel Cakes, a name that should be familiar to those who grew up in the years following World War II. Estrel’s was the nickname of Estrella Ylagan who started out by accepting orders for cakes and pastries from friends.
When she decided to leave her job at was what then the Bureau of Agriculture, she put up her own bakeshop at Lepanto then later, the Laperal Bldg. on Azcarraga Ave. (now Recto), Manila. This was a couple of years after World War II when the country was slowly picking up the pieces.
Although the money may have been scarce at the time, business was good at the shop.
Birthdays weren’t complete without a caramel cake from Estrella’s. At the time, one could have a regular-sized birthday cake for P9. A single woman until she passed away in the late 1980s, Ms. Ylagan was fond of traveling abroad. During the time she jetted off to the US or Europe, she would leave the business in the capable hands of her sister Alice Y. Navarro.
Now her sister’s two daughters, Joy and Gina Navarro, run the business from their home in Quezon City.
Not much has changed since 1946. The chiffon cake is still light and airy, and the caramel frosting that is used as both filling and frosting is the stuff dreams are made of—never too sweet, always just right.
The cakes, which come in circular and rectangular forms, may be more expensive than the ones sold at commercial bakeshops but so far the only ‘complaints’ they’ve received are from customers who live all the way in Alabang or Antipolo and who keep pleading with them to open a more accessible branch. While the cakes may be ordered via phone, they still have to be picked up by customers.
Technology may have made it easier and faster and easier to beat the eggs and prepare the frosting for the cakes but the two sisters insist that everything else be made by by hand.
"Our aunt really never wanted to go commercial. She wanted to keep things small enough so she could manage things easily," Joy said. "By not expanding the business for the sake of expanding, she was able to take time off for herself and travel around the world.”
SIGNATURE FLOWERS
A cake from Estrel’s is easy to identify because of the lightly tinted roses made of butter cream and the smooth caramel finish. To be sure, they have experimented with other flowers, notably sampaguita (jasmine) and daisies, but it is their roses that they are known for.
“When a cake is not at par with the others, we have no qualms of starting all over,” Gina said. Although the sisters declined to say how many cakes they bake in a day, they said that it was in the dozens, almost all of which are pre-ordered. "If they come early enough though, walk-in customers can also choose from the 30 extra cakes we bake on daily basis," Joy said.
Since the day starts every early at Estrel’s, the sisters thought it wise to rent a nearby apartment for the staff. On weekends, when they usually receive the most orders, work can start as early as 2 a.m.
The Navarro sisters are very different from other business folk. Any other cake maker might be thrilled when a customer orders a really large cake but sometimes Gina or Joy go out of her way to suggest to the customer that they order the next smaller size. Our largest cake which measures 20”x28” is almost as wide as a desk.
"When the customer tells us that there might be other desserts served at a party or event they’re attending, we tell them it might be a better idea to get a smaller cake because they might have a problem with storage space at the end of the party,” Gina said.
Fortunately, the Filipino tradition of sending off guests at a party with pabaon (package food) ensures there is very little food—and caramel cake—wasted. Aunt Estrel would have been pleased.