Silvanas of Dumaguete

A silvana is two thin discs of cashew meringue with buttercream between them, coated in the crushed crumbs of the same meringue, and served frozen so that the cream is firm and the wafers stay crisp. It comes from Dumaguete, where the Sans Rival Cakes shop popularised it and where the related sans rival - a layered cake built on the same meringue-and-buttercream principle, brought into Philippine baking from the French dessert of that name - is the other half of the local repertoire. The city's cool sweet shops sell them by the piece and in boxes of a dozen, and Dumaguete residents treat a box as the correct thing to carry when travelling. They melt: the cold chain matters, and a box carried around a hot day arrives as something else entirely. Dumaguete is a university town with a well-known seafront boulevard, and the sweets are part of a small but real food culture there.

What you actually see

• The meringue wafers - thin cashew discs top and bottom.
• The buttercream - the frozen filling between them.
• The crumb coating - crushed meringue rolled around the edge.
• The boxes - dozens packed for travelling.

When to go

Year-round; the shops sell them all day. Buy late if you are travelling, since they need to stay cold.

Honest expectations

They must be kept frozen or at least very cold - a box in a hot bag turns to mush within an hour. They are rich; two is usually enough. Ask for a cooler bag if you are taking a box on a journey.

Nearby

Dumaguete's Rizal Boulevard and Silliman University are in the city; Apo Island and the Twin Lakes are day trips.