I first tried my mom's own "Better Than Sex" Cake in Manila 1989. My mom has baked treats for us for as long as I can remember, in our grade school days in Antipolo in the 70's. Our classmates usually had their stash of "PX goods" and Beef Curry Curls or Shrimp Curls. We only had homemade baked goodies. Among her specialties were fruit cocktail cake with a crusty sugar topping or brownies with sticky syrup on top, six-layer chocolate cake and homemade pizza to name a few. These were the memories of lunch box food almost all our lives.
She went into commercial baking in the 70's. She worked for her family's bakeshop and did well in researching so many recipes for their now famous bakeshop. When she finally opened her own bakeshop in the late 80's using an entirely new set of recipes, her "Better Than Sex" and Torta di Cioccolato Superbo cake were instant hits, more so the "BTS". People would flock all the way to her bakeshop - La Dolce Vita - in San Juan to have a taste of her delightful desserts (The name of the my mom's bakeshop was a tribute to our short 4-year stay in Italy). During that time, we had quite a following, even some members of religious groups who would order the (giggle first) "Better than...you know... that cake. B...T...S..." The name is catchy and it really is good. I am personally not a lover of any kind of chocolate cake but I can attest that it is one of the best cakes in town, if not the best! (Maybe I also have a bias towards chocolate cakes. Some are so spongy, it's not really chocolate cake!) She had quite an assortment of chocolate cakes. When we were living in Rome, my mom devoted most of her time to putting up her bakeshop and we hardly saw her, she visted us usually from Spring to Summer time. Before her scheduled visits, she always called us and asked us what we wanted from home. At that time, the airlines were not too strict in importation/exportation of food products. My dad, my sisters and I each had our own choice of "pasalubong" from our mom. My dad usually asked for Monggo beans and Mangoes. Mine was mamon or cream puff (that never made the trip because it spoils easily) from her bakeshop. My sisters opted for ensaimadas, chocolate cake and of course BTS.
Many years have passed, I never really learned how to bake when I was young because I preferred cooking...until my mom said we seriously had to think of taking over her recipes and techniques. Over the last two years I have tried and failed so many times because I simply read her recipes (which have to deciphered because it's all in secret code) and started to bake without asking questions. Unlike cooking, baking is very precise. Sometimes our discussions would be my sister commenting that my pound cake has a strong smell of egg. Of course, I use eggs! Shouldn't the cake have the eggy smell? And out of nowhere, thinking that my mom was not paying attention, she would say: "I hope you are not using the wire whip. You have to use the paddle for creaming the sugar and butter before adding the eggs. Take time in beating the eggs, eventually the smell will disappear". And so on and so forth. She has all sorts of advise, with the use of baking soda and what not.
And now, after careful years of practice and "lectures" on procedures "you know, that's so simple. It's one step." or "Ah, this recipe is two step." or "syrup the sugar first." They are terms that are foreign sounding and unless you have actually tried the procedures, you will really think it's all Greek. I have finally learned how to make the cake myself. It lives up to its name...then again I am married with kids.
