More Food Adventures: Nostalgic Over Torta

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It's the time of year when all students look forward to the end of the remaining days of school. Back in my childhood days, this is also the time to get ready for right after school finishes, my siblings and I would travel to my mom's hometown, my birthplace, and spend summer there.

I grew up spending summers at my grandparents house with the colorful and sinful delights of baking and cooking. At least every morning we have a warm torta, or a piece of cake fresh from the oven as it was my grandmother's hobby as well as bread and butter. A lot of people would be coming in by six in the morning to pick up their orders, some would drop by to buy some for their pre-breakfast or what we so fondly refer to in our dialect as "pamainit". Of course, that is the meal before the real breakfast. Hahaha.. How we eat back then.

Anyway, everytime I see a piece of torta, I would always feel nostalgic as torta always brings back good memories of my childhood. And although we live far from Butuan City, we always have our share of my grandma's baked goodies as we were always sent some through friends or family who would drop by or visit us..

There were bittersweet moments that I can always connect with the torta mainly because it was always present.. Oh how I miss my grandma's torta. And most of all, how I miss my grandma. Her smile when I come down from the stairs, and she'd always greet me with a question on how I would like my torta for that day.. Hahahaha.. Believe me, my grandma spoiled me a lot that one time I asked her to bake the torta in a baking pan, like that of a cake, and it was done. Of course, she told me the whole pan was mine, hahahaha.. Everyone else can get from the rest of the batch..

Above photo is not the exact Torta that my grandma used to make. It was a different kind of recipe which my mom actually gave my grandma to use. Family members and her friends liked it so much, they ordered lots from her. When business was booming, Lola Berta had to wake up early to bake them. There were orders in hundreds that we had lots of boxes around the house. Most times we'd help out and my favorite part was the wiping of margarine over each piece then shaking sugar over them.. That was fun actually. I guess that is the reason why I love baking too. I dream that one day I could revive my grandma's hobby and business. I sure miss her Torta a lot..