Kiss the Tiramisu brings the glamour back to ice cream

MANILA, Philippines — There are several variations on how ice cream came to be, but one account is consistent: this creamy frozen treat was once enjoyed exclusively by the upper class.  From Roman emperors to European nobility and American presidents, ice cream was served only to important guests or simply consumed as the perfect ending to an elite meal.

When the 19th century rolled by, technological advances made ice cream available to the masses, making this once rare and exotic dessert a common commodity. Lately, however, there is a surge of interest in gourmet and artisanal ice cream globally. According to a study, Asia Pacific is one of the regions that has been driving up demand.

Kiss the Tiramisu, the dessert café that originated from Hongdae in Seoul, is currently riding on this rising popularity. Buoyed by the success of its maiden store on Valero St., Makati City, master franchisee Shirley Wong, president and CEO of Foodeology, Inc., decided to open a second branch to bring this decadent dessert closer to its fans from northern Metro Manila.

Shirley Wong, president and CEO of Foodeology Inc., master franchisee of Kiss the Tiramisu in the Philippines

Located at TriNoma Mall in Quezon City, it has the same menu that enthralled its patrons from Makati. Part of its popularity can be credited to a unique concoction that makes an ordinary dessert extraordinary.

First, it uses only 100-percent milk imported from South Korea as its base ingredient for its soft-serve ice creams, as opposed to its watered-down contemporaries. The result is a consistency that’s truly creamy and luxe.

“You will notice the difference at first bite,” says Wong, the young entrepreneur who brought Kiss the Tiramisu to the Philippines. “It’s not your usual soft-serve ice cream. It’s more premium.”

Café latte: Fresh roasted coffees are best paired with the desserts at Kiss the Tiramisu.

As the name suggests, it’s an ice cream version of the popular Italian dessert, which caught the eye (and taste buds) of Kiss the Tiramisu founder Jiro Kim. He brought the soft, spongy coffee cake back home to Korea and reinvented it into an irresistible ice cream flavor with layers of texture and taste.

Almost all the flavors of ice cream are layered with luscious mascarpone cheese, mocha and chocolate cookie crumble. Only the toppings, sauce and additional ingredients differ with every variant. The Classic Tiramisu (Kim’s personal favorite) is topped with coffee sauce and dark-chocolate shavings. Matcha Tiramisu replaces coffee sauce and chocolate shavings with earthy green tea sauce and powder. Korea’s signature flavor, Injeolmi Tiramisu, is a tribute to the popular glutinous delicacy in the brand’s country of origin. The Injeolmi balls add a chewy texture while the roasted soybean powder and sauce provide a savory contrast to the sweet tiramisu.

What’s interesting is that Kim allows his foreign franchisees to craft their own signature flavors. In the Philippines, the trademark variant is Midas’ Touch, which is an upscale take on our halo-halo. Created by chef Kat Diploma, it features tiramisu ice cream blended with Pinoy favorites ube and leche flan, then topped with crushed barquillos and caramel sauce with edible gold leaf as its pièce de résistance. The result is a highly Instagrammable masterpiece that looks almost too beautiful to eat.

The cheerful interiors of Kiss the Tiramisu luxury dessert café: A second branch recently opened in TriNoma Mall.

Each order is big enough for two to share, and comes in a gold-rimmed acrylic cup that customers can take home. Kim explained that these elegant, stemmed cups not only add aesthetic value but are also less messier than cones. “It keeps the hands clean,” he said.

The dessert cafe’s other sweet offerings include specialty cakes, breakfast favorites, and roasted and flavored coffees.

Wong revealed that another branch is set to open in Parañaque soon.