Torta Ingredients

15 egg yolks
3 ½ cups sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
2 ½ cups newly-gathered tuba (fermented coconut sap)
9 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups lard
1 teaspoon anise seeds
½ cup raisin
slivers of cheese

Before mixing with other ingredients, heat lard until lukewarm.

Beat egg yolk. Combine anise seeds and sugar, then add this mixture to beaten egg yolk until well-blended. Add milk and tuba. Add flour a little at a time, hand-mixing all ingredients thoroughly in a rotary, clockwise motion. Pour lukewarm lard, then add raisins into mixture. Continue hand-mixing until lard is completely blended into batter. (Check that consistency is somewhere between that of cake batter and bread dough).

Pour into tin moulds (fluted, approximately 6 inches in diameter) lined with wax paper. Sprinkle top with a few raisins and slivers of cheese. Set aside for 8 hours or until dough rises.

In 350° oven, bake for 50 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool. Drizzle with sugar. Unrefrigerated, torta keeps for 4 days. If refrigerated, microwave before serving. (Above ingredients make 8 pieces torta).

To get there, Pal and Cebu Pacific have daily flights from Manila to Dumaguete. Access to Siquijor is via ferry from Dumaguete’s main pier. Although expensive, hiring a private boat is a more convenient option.

Geographic Description :

Siquijor, called Isla Del Fuegos by the Spanish explorers because of the myriad fireflies that they found there is an island made up of sedimentary rock and fringed coral reefs. It is located in Bohol Sea, 30 km southeast of Negros possessing an area of 292 sq/km with flatlands of narrow floodplains and deltas. Larena and Lazi are the main ports for shipping ; and the main industry is fishing.