Chocolate Lover and SweetCraft haul

For the past several days I have been merrily checking out the various baking supply stores that are not too far away. Here are some of the items that I got:

From Chocolate Lover:

I got some baking cups, which I can use either to bake cupcakes or as a bento separator. The baking cups, which came in packs of 200's, cost from P20+ to P40+, depending on the size. I also got some cellophane sheets and small plastic bags which I plan to use to wrap future home-made goodies! I also got some lollipop sticks, some small M&M type candies, sugar flowers and hearts (that I plan to stick on cupcakes for decoration). The sugar flowers were around P10-20 a pack.

I was browsing around the lobby area when I spotted a stack of baking class brochures. Hmm... Maybe one of these days I will attend a cake decorating class. I do really need to learn to decorate a cake properly! My version of cake decorating only runs to dumping the frosting on the cake, smoothing it out, and occasionally drawing patterns on the icing or stenciling some powdered sugar on top... Hmm.. I should really check out those classes! I looked at the prices and they seem fairly reasonable at P800-2,000+. My one regret was that I didn't see the edible ink pens. I had been looking for them so I can make those cake pops from Bakerella. Since we arrived late, near closing time, I was in a hurry. Later that evening, as I was narrating to the boyfriend my baking plans, he told me he saw those edible ink pens at Chocolate Lover, but didn't call my attention to them since he didn't know I was looking for them! Waaaaaa!

Overall, I think I would go back to Chocolate Lover once in a while to check out if they have some new products. But in my opinion, some of their items, like the nuts, chocolate, etc.. can be had for less in Quiapo. There's a store almost across Killion that sells nuts cheaper.


From SweetCraft:


It bothers me that I have been driving through Boni Avenue on average about once or twice a month and have never noticed SweetCraft. Thanks to MarketMan's post about baking supplies, I learned about this little baker's haven. It is just a short detour from my way home so I went to visit after work today.

Since I already had most of my stock sourced from Quiapo, I didn't buy much from here. What differentiates them from the usual chocolate/baking supply store, at least for me, is that they had these big 2kg blocks of cream cheese for P855. That is around 8 regular-sized bars of cream cheese, which would average only at P106/bar. And, what made me really happy, was that they had phyllo pastry!!! Yey! Phyllo pastry desserts are in my future!

I only bought some white chocolate. Yes, the inexpensive unbranded ones. I am thinking of using them as the coating for those smiley cake pops like Bakerella's. Or maybe make some white chocolate almond clusters? I am trying to use up some slivered almonds. Hmm.. yum! Since I am still practicing I don't think buying expensive chocolate is practical. I do plan to buy some in the future for special occasions, though.

SweetCraft has A LOT of packaging options available. Boxes of different sizes, individual plastic packaging for cake slices, cupcakes, etc.. Unfortunately, I live near RM (the actual printer who makes the boxes), so I buy directly from RM. But I compared prices and I think SweetCraft's price for the boxes are the same as RM's retail price, so that shouldn't stop you from buying your boxes from SweetCraft.

Chocolate Lover is at 45 P. Tuazon Blvd. cor. C. Benitez St., QC. Telephone numbers are 724-4964 / 724-5752 / 411-7474. It should be very noticeable as the house/building really looks like a fairy-tale castle!

SweetCraft is at 373 Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong. Open Mondays-Sundays, 9am-6pm. Telephone numbers are 532-1595 /532-6289.