Special Bibingka Recipe

Bibingka Recipes are very much common during the holiday season. Street vendors selling bibingka during dawn and evening masses are usually a common scenario here in the Philippines especially during Christmas. These street vendors prepare as early as 2 a.m. and eventually spend the whole day selling their bibingka espesyal. Some of them even come from far-away provinces.

Cooking your own home-made bibingka is quite an easy thing to do if you have the right tools and equipment. Although the traditional way of cooking this native Filipino rice cake is not as easy as today’s modern methods, both methods still use the same ingredients. For this Bibingka Recipe, we are going to need some coconut milk, galapong (milled rice) or rice flour, some margarine and sugar. For the cooking procedure, we are going to use an alternative method since the traditional way would require us to use a specially made clay oven called the bibingka oven and uling (charcoal). And since not all of us have clay pots and bibingka ovens at home, the traditional method also consumes more preparation time than the modern method. So we are going to use the modern method instead using baking pans and our kitchen oven.

Here is my Special Bibingka Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 can (400 mL) coconut milk
• 1 banana leaf (optional)
• 1 tbsp butter, sliced
• 2 tbsp. fresh (or frozen) grated coconut
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh milk

Cooking Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 375 deg. Fahrenheit. 
• Combine rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well and set aside. 
• Cream butter then gradually put-in sugar while mixing. 
• Add eggs then mix thoroughly. 
• Gradually add rice flour, salt, and baking powder mixture then continue mixing. 
• Pour-in the coconut milk and fresh milk. Mix or stir for 1 to 2 minutes. 
• Arrange the cut banana leaf on a cake pan. 
• Pour the mixture on the pan. 
• Bake for 15 minutes. 
• Remove from the oven then top with grated cheese (do not turn the oven off). 
• Put back in oven and bake for 15 to 20 min. or until the color of the top turns light to medium brown. 
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. 
• Brush with butter and sprinkle some sugar and grated coconut on top.

Hot Tip:

• Try using fresh, natural coconut milk instead of the canned coconut milk found in grocery stores.