Two Baguio institutions, with 90 years between them, come together to make the holidays more merry and bright for children with cancer and at least 105 Baguio City scholars
Everything Nice has just made everything nicer this Christmas.
The Baguio City cake shop and café, which has gained quite a reputation over the past two decades for its cakes, coffee, and comfort food like longganisa, with branches at Ayala Technohub and SM Baguio, has collaborated with the Good Shepherd. Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the Good Shepherd, a Baguio institution, is well-loved for its ube halaya among other things like strawberry jam and peanut brittle.
It started when young entrepreneur Robbie Pantaleon, in whose hands his mother Techie Pantaleon early this year entrusted the task of growing Everything Nice, met Sr. Guada Bautista of Good Shepherd on the campaign trail helping presidential candidate Leni Robredo in the last elections. They hit it off, finding common ground in their desire to help people and make things better. It took one lunch to hatch up the plan to work together. Thanks to the 70th year milestone of Good Shepherd, the platform on which they could join forces proved to be such a no-brainer!
Voilà—Everything x The Good Shepherd. Essentially, the partnership has produced ube halaya that’s really a cake, replete with icing, or a cake that’s really ube halaya that since 1952 generations of us have loved bringing home from the mountain getaway in jars still warm enough to hold in our hands to give us comfort in the cold, nippy Baguio air. Plus, there’s crinkles.
These ube-licious collaboration products are on limited offer, available only until January. ‘But we are hoping to do more collaborations in the future,’ says young food entrepreneur Robbie Pantaleon.
“The Ube Chiffon and the crinkles are Everything Nice’s recipes,” explains Robbie. “We simply incorporated the ube halaya into the products as filling. Each cake is piped with ube halaya while each crinkle is filled with The Good Shepherd’s ube jam.”
These ube-licious collaboration products are on limited offer, available only until January. “But we are hoping to do more collaborations in the future,” says Robbie, adding that they will find more occasions to get together, such as during Baguio’s Panagbenga, or on Valentine’s Day, or during Holy Week. “With hope, we can make this a yearly Christmas tradition between our two brands.”
And why not? The idea sprang from their mutual desire to make this world a nicer place. “Initially it was just for the children with cancer in Baguio City. Sr. Guada has been helping children with cancer in Baguio for a long time,” says Robbie. “But we have also included the 105 scholars of The Good Shepherd among our beneficiaries.”
The Everything Nice x The Good Shepherd ube cake and the ube crinkles are perfect for Christmas as gifts, as treats, and as good deeds. As Robbie puts it, they are gifts that give back. “I just hope more and more people support this project this Christmas,” he says.
These new ways to enjoy ube are available at all Everything Nice stores and the Good Shepherd Convent in Baguio. From Manila, you can order via everythingnicecafe.cococart.co. Call 0916-6954294 (Baguio) or 0967-2318280 (Manila) or follow @everythingnicecafe on Instagram.