Baked By Anita’s Bocaditos

It’s been a good year for me in terms of food discoveries but not weight gain. I’ve tried a lot of good ice cream, cheesecake,  ensaymada, apple pies, bagels and lots of donuts. But my favorite food find has to be bocaditos.

I’ve seen these bite sized morsels in Instagram and read raves about it. It didn’t look appetizing to me but when I chanced upon frozen packs of bocaditos in Connie’s Kitchen Deli I immediately bought two kinds just to see what the fuss was about. 

 

Bocaditos is a Spanish word that means morsel or snacks. Heating bocaditos are a test in patience. Frozen bocaditos should be baked in a 170C oven for 20 minutes. When I finally cut open the mushroom bocadito I was rewarded by a heady aroma of truffle oil and mushrooms. The smell lingered for quite a while making it extremely difficult for me to shoot before eating. My first bite was ecstasy as I tasted the ultra buttery and flaky pastry to be followed by the amazing shiitake mushroom, cheese & truffle oil mixture bursting with umami. You really have to try this to believe why I love it so much. 

The chorizo isn’t bad either but none of the other flavors can compare to the mushroom. Next to the mushroom I also like Chicken and Mushroom in Marsala Cream. I usually eat one each for lunch to provide a balanced meal of protein and veggies :-). These babies may be small but they’re quite filling. I could easily eat four of these but I force myself to just eat two at a time. 

 

A couple of weeks ago I went to Baked by Anita’s kitchen in San Juan near Wilson St. to buy more bocaditos. Lucky for me Anita was at home and I introduced myself saying I was her biggest fan so she took me on a tour of her kitchen. Her main products are really mini cupcakes in a wide variety of usual and exotic flavors.

 

I don’t normally get excited with cupcakes (strange huh) as I do with cookies or apple pie but my mouth watered when she showed me her most popular Chocolate & Salted Caramel and Ultimate Chocolate cupcakes.

 

You cannot imagine the smells coming from her kitchen. I wanted to live there! 

I saw how they made bocaditos. This was the Chicken & Mushroom in Marsala Cream filling. 

I also met her cute Yorkie. 

 

She sells the bocaditos in packs of 4, 6 or 12. I bought a pack of 6 mushroom and she let me try the Spinach. 

Anita also gave me a pack of blue cheese poppers. These are small and suited for snacking with wine. The poppers are a bit dry so I prefer the bigger bocaditos. 

This was my vegetarian meal when I got home. The spinach bocaditos were mild in flavor but you can taste the pine nuts. They go well with the stronger flavored mushroom bocaditos. I take a bite of mushroom then a bite of spinach and eat it alternately until it’s all gone. Writing this post made me so hungry for bocaditos that I had to eat some. Thankfully I always have stocks in my freezer. 

 

My friend Rochelle surprised me with a box of cupcakes the next day. I also got her hooked on bocaditos. 

These petite cupcakes are just are almost the same size as the bocaditos but are deeper. They also cost P65 each. 

Anita told me she roasted fresh strawberries and drizzled them with concentrated balsamic vinegar. I loved the texture of the cupcakes. It reminded me of Georgetown Cupcakes ultra moist creations. I just wish there was more oomph to the flavor. 

 

There’s a cube of real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese at the bottom of the cupcake. On top of the frosting is more grated cheese which was torched briefly. Good but again I wish there was more cheese flavor.

I smelled and tasted Yuzu (Japanese citrus) but I wasn’t too fond of the smell of lavender on my food. 

 

I’m really a chocoholic at heart. I simply adored the Chocolate and Salted Caramel Cupcake which had to be eaten with a spoon. The chocolate cake base was topped with Anita’s own salted caramel which was smooth and not too sweet nor too salty but incredibly sinfully delicious. It that wasn’t enough more dark chocolate ganache topped the whole thing. This was a winner! 

 

Anita has several more flavors of cupcakes on rotation so better ask before you order. My next goal is to try her Apple Cranberry Crumble with Salted Caramel fruit crumble and Almond Frangipani. 

 

Have you tried these bocaditos or cupcakes? What do you think? Go buy some now and let me know if you love them as much as I do. 

Baked by Anita
340A Smuth Drive, San Juan city 1500
telephone: +63917-5259740 or +63939-9209838 or (02)736-2877
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