Bibingka
The cake sold at dawn outside Philippine churches during the nine early masses before Christmas. It is traditionally baked in banana leaf, between two layers of embers — below and above. At home the effect comes from the oven, then the top grill, which scorches the surface into spots. Pairing a sweet cake with salted egg and cheese sounds strange, yet it is the classic way to finish it.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Batter 15 min
- Baking 30 min
- Grilling the top 5 min
- Cooling 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneLine the tin with buttered paper
Heat the oven to 190°C. Line a round 23 cm tin with baking paper brushed thickly with butter — it stands in for banana leaf, which lends a faint green aroma and stops sticking. If you have leaf, pass it briefly over a flame to soften.
Ingredients: 2 pcs salted eggs · 60 g cheese · 30 g butter · 2 tbsp sugar · 30 g grated coconut
Buttered paper in place of banana leaf.Mix the dry ingredients
Mix the rice flour with the baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Sieve it — rice flour clumps easily, and in a gluten-free batter the lumps never dissolve and stay as hard points.
Ingredients: 250 g rice flour · 400 ml coconut milk · 3 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 60 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp salt
Whisk eggs with sugar and coconut milk
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, add the coconut milk and melted butter and pour into the dry ingredients, whisking until smooth. The batter will be thin, like pancake batter — correct.
Ingredients: 250 g rice flour · 400 ml coconut milk · 3 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 60 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp salt
Pour the batter into the tin
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap it on the worktop to release air bubbles. Large bubbles stay as holes, since a rice batter has no structure to close them.
Ingredients: 250 g rice flour · 400 ml coconut milk · 3 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 60 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp salt
Tap it down — bubbles otherwise stay as holes.Bake halfway, then add the topping
Bake 15 minutes at 190°C, until the top has set, then lay on the egg slices and scatter the cheese. On raw batter they sink; on a set surface they stay on top.
Ingredients: 2 pcs salted eggs · 60 g cheese · 30 g butter · 2 tbsp sugar · 30 g grated coconut
Bake until springy
Bake a further 15 minutes, until springy to the touch and a skewer comes out dry. Bibingka should be faintly chewy inside — that is the rice flour, not underbaking.
Ingredients: 250 g rice flour · 400 ml coconut milk · 3 pcs eggs · 150 g sugar · 60 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp salt
Scorch the top under the grill
Brush the top with butter, sprinkle with sugar and set under a hot grill for 3–5 minutes, until dark scorched spots appear. They imitate the embers of the traditional oven and give a caramel flavour.
Ingredients: 2 pcs salted eggs · 60 g cheese · 30 g butter · 2 tbsp sugar · 30 g grated coconut
Spotted under the grill — as from embers above.Serve warm with coconut
Cool 15 minutes and serve still warm, cut in wedges and scattered with grated coconut (ideally freshly grated). Bibingka is best within an hour of baking — after that the rice flour firms up.
Ingredients: 2 pcs salted eggs · 60 g cheese · 30 g butter · 2 tbsp sugar · 30 g grated coconut
Before you start
Salted egg
Filipino itlog na maalat are duck eggs cured in brine for weeks, with vividly orange yolks. A hard-boiled hen's egg, well salted, is a gentler substitute but keeps the contrast.
Carabao white cheese
Traditionally kesong puti, a fresh buffalo-milk cheese, or a mild yellow cheese. The point is a salty melted accent on a sweet cake rather than any particular cheese — just avoid anything strongly flavoured.
Best the same day
Bibingka loses its softness within hours as the rice starch firms up. Next day, warm it 10 seconds in a microwave or 5 minutes in the oven under foil — it returns almost to itself.
