Estrel’s Caramel Cakes specializes in made-to-order chiffon cake covered with caramel icing, and desserts such as Food for the Gods, Baked Leche Flan, Apple Squares, Sans Rival and Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. Like many home enterprises in the baking arts, what started as a hobby eventually became a business. Miss Ylagan, as she was addressed by her staff, though, conscientiously retained craft in her new project and made it a point to bake on a non-commercial scale. She always believed that homemade cakes made for the best cakes because of their unmatched refined quality. Estrel’s started operations as Estrella’s in 1946 on Lepanto Street in Manila, but after a few years moved to a better location on historic Azcarraga (now Recto Avenue). In the late ‘40s, kitchen operations mostly involved Miss Ylagan’s sisters and relatives, who happily took turns doing all the baking steps manually. For over 50 years, Estrella’s operated on the second floor of the Laperal Building (still surviving) on Recto. For 50 years, too, customers didn’t mind climbing four flights of stairs into the open decorating area of the kitchen to pick up their cakes—or to place their repeat orders. During those years, Miss Ylagan already had some hired staff and, just to round off it seems the cake shop’s tradition for homemade goodness, still some relatives working for her. Starting in the ‘70s, cakes were transported from Recto to Miss Ylagan’s residence on Scout Tobias, Quezon City to service nearby residents. By 2001, the late Alice Ylagan Navarro (Miss Ylagan’s youngest sister) and her daughters formally opened a shop on Scout Tobias to make it more convenient for customers. To ensure quality consistency, Estrel’s operates only one kitchen. It’s presently run by the Navarro sisters, Joy, Gina, and Mia. Estrel’s has always been and still is a made-to-order cake shop. In recent years, however, it has welcomed baking limited orders of small round cakes for walk-ins. Estrel’s uses only fresh ingredients and absolutely no preservatives. To ensure freshness, all its cakes are baked on the day they are due for pickup. Although they're best eaten on the same day they're picked up, the cakes may be refrigerated for another day or two. Through 66 years of inspired baking, Estrel’s Caramel Cakes has remained faithful to its recipes—and to the traditional, time-tested methods of home baking.
