Growing Chefs! Ontario Bibingka

Bibingka

Bibingka is a delicious Filipino dessert dish traditionally eaten around the Christmas holidays. It is cooked in a banana leaf, and there are many delicious toppings, but sweet young coconut macapuno is a favourite!”
Difficulty
Intermediate
Yield
6
Ingredients
1 banana leaf, cut into rounds slightly larger than the cast iron pan, or enough pieces to line the cast iron pan1/4 cup unsalted butter1/2 cup white rice flour1/4 cup sweet rice flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder pinch of salt1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling3/4 cup coconut milk1 large egg3 ozs macapuno (coconut), drained and chopped
Equipment
Cast iron panBowls, various sizesWhiskSmall potMeasuring cupsMeasuring spoonsCutting boardSpatulaKnifeScissorsToothpick

Directions

Gather your mise en place; get together all of the equipment needed for the recipe and gather your ingredients.

Get Prepped!

Cut the two sides of the banana leaf into pieces large enough to line the cast iron pan, hanging slightly over the edges. If you have a gas stove, waving them gently over the flame helps to make them more pliable. These are basically the lining of the pan, if you need to use a couple of pieces of banana leaves to make this work, that is fine.

Measure the butter. Measure the dry ingredients together, the rice flour, sweet rice flour, baking powder, and salt.

Measure the sugar, egg, and coconut milk.

Strain the macapuno and roughly chop it.

Get Cooking!

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Whisk the dry ingredients together until well combined, about 1 minute.

Melt the butter over medium heat, and pour it into a bowl. Add the sugar, coconut milk, and egg and whisk together until the mixture is well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together well until all of the flour is incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the edges are just starting to set. Carefully sprinkle the macapuno overtop of the bibingka and cook another 1012 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean, with only a few small crumbs attached.

Sprinkle additional sugar overtop and place the oven on broil. Cook for about 2 minutes until caramelized and golden. Carefully remove the banana leaves from the pan, and serve the bibingka warm.