Saving Grace: Little Oven Cakes

Little Oven Cakes
Photo Credit:
http://littleovencakes.com

Work is stressful--very matter of fact. No matter the job description, you're bound to get a day or two within a week feeling drained and on the brink of exhaustion, especially with a job constantly requiring mental exercise and pressure of a deadline. Sometimes, you're looking for… something easy and achievable for de-stressing. And from there, Little Oven Cakes started being my saving grace.

Photos from other sources are duly credited. :) If you're going to use mine, do the same as well. ;)

I first tasted this piece of heaven a year ago when my office mate Sasa (Little Oven Cakes' owner and chief baker) started giving out free cupcakes for people in the office. I remember my first little oven cupcake love was Red Velvet. Now, I have a variety of favorites (more of that later).

During peak seasons (Christmas, Valentines, etc.), Sasa accepts orders from everyone at the office. Most of the time I wonder how in the world she manages to bake hundreds of cupcakes overnight and for delivery the next day. Even so, I've never seen her jaded from all the work. Evidently, this is where her passion lies. :) And you can't help but admire people like her: passion-pursuers.

Since it was such a hit, she decided to turn that into a business. She gave it a brand and now it's a full-fledged online bakery. And just a month ago, she opened her first store in the De La Salle campus.

Little Oven Cakes at DLSU Bloemen Hall
Photo Credit: http://facebook.com/littleovencakes/

She still sells them in the office. Usually, she'll send a group e-mail to everyone when she's about to bring in cupcakes. Those times I need to constantly be on my Hunger Games mode and immediately rush to that area of unoccupied workstations where I know the cupcakes will be and get the flavors I want before other employees from the tower(s) swoop down and grabs my favorite delectable. Seriously, the morning hasn't passed yet and already more than half of the cupcakes are gone. That's how popular those heavenly treats are around the office.

All of their cupcakes are visually appealing and perfectly mouth-watering. All flavors are unique and distinguishable from one another. Even the smell of each are different. A few of my favorites from the menu:

Red Velvet. As I've mentioned before this is my first love. This cupcake was what sparked my curiosity with other red-velvet desserts. The cream cheese frosting is the best. A bit too sweet for others but for my sweet tooth, it's perfect.

Red Velvet Cupcake

Yin Yang. Bourbon Vanilla Frosting on Chocolate. Nothing beats the classic.

Yin Yang cupcake

McCreamy G. Since very recently, I've taken a liking to green tea desserts and Little Oven Cakes' McCreamyG is no exception.

Salted Caramel. First tried this one when I stole a bite out of the cupcake Borgy bought. It was heavenly. I believe, this is currently their best-seller.

Salted Caramel and McCreamy G (Matcha)

Rosa Clara. I haven't tasted this yet due to it being constantly unavailable but considering the flavor, this is definitely a cupcake of interest for me.

Other cupcakes from their menu:

Little Oven Cakes Menu
Photo from their site: http://littleovencakes.com

Monkey Chip

S'mores

DC Caramel and McCreamy G

French Macaron. The macarons are probably the best macaron (locally) I've tasted. I actually prefer theirs over Tous Le Jours' or French Bakers'. From that perfect smooth, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth biscuit to that sweet ganache/buttercream filling.

Little Oven Cakes - Red Velvet French Macaron
Photo Credit: http://littleovencakes.com

Mendiants. These are chocolate discs adorned with dried fruits and nuts. I've only tasted Mango with Chili and yes it is spicy. Perfect for my fiery taste buds. :p

Little Oven Cakes - Mendiants
Photo Credit: http://littleovencakes.com

Little Oven Cupcakes' treats have always been a way of de-stressing for me. My job as a software developer is filled with meetings, deadlines and code reviews all driving me to tears (No joke, though. My first year, this happened a lot.) Constantly surfing the web and diligently digging stackoverflow to find solutions to improbable bugs; trying to learn a completely new framework and being expected to deliver by the end of the day/week; mentally praying to the gods of software programming to please let the error log show up so I can copy and paste it on Google.

Box of 6. From top left: McCreamy G, S'mores, Salted Caramel,
Peppermint, Monkey Chip, Yin Yang

It's always a blessing when these treats are available and within hands reach whenever stress rears up its ugly head at work.

A word of caution though, these treats are highly addictive and may ruin your diet plans. :p

For those of you interested, you can always check out their website at http://littleovencakes.com. Aside from their store at DLSU, you can order by texting their number and have your orders picked from either of the two pick-up points: