Bibingka — Filipino Christmas rice cake baked on banana leaf

i. Origin & history

Bibingka is one of the oldest and most loved Filipino kakanin (rice cakes). Its foundation, galapong, is glutinous or ordinary rice soaked overnight and stone-ground with water into a smooth batter. In some regions the batter was traditionally left to ferment slightly, sometimes with a little tuba (coconut palm toddy), which gave the cake a gentle sourness and lift. Coconut milk and sugar made it rich and sweet.

The traditional cooking method gives bibingka its character. The batter is poured onto a banana leaf in a terracotta dish (bibingkahan) set over glowing charcoal, and another pan of hot coals is placed on top. Cooked from above and below, the cake puffs and sets, the base takes on the smoky scent of the scorched leaf, and the top chars slightly in spots. This oven-less technique is still used by street vendors.

Bibingka is above all a Christmas food. During Simbang Gabi, the nine dawn masses from 16 to 24 December, vendors set up outside churches to sell bibingka and puto bumbong (purple steamed sticky rice) to churchgoers, and the smell of charcoal and toasted coconut is one of the defining sensory memories of a Filipino Christmas. It is also eaten at Noche Buena and through the holiday season.

The name is often compared with Goan bebinca, a layered coconut and egg cake from India's former Portuguese colony, and some writers suggest the names share a root through Portuguese or older maritime trade. The connection is plausible but unproven, and the two desserts are quite different. Within Southeast Asia, Indonesian bingka and Malaysian bingka are baked coconut cakes with a closer resemblance.

ii. Why bibingka is cooked from above and below

Bibingka batter is wet and starchy, closer to a thick pancake batter than a cake mix. Cooked only from below, it would set on the bottom long before the top, giving a dense, raw-centred cake. Heat from above as well as below — coals on the lid traditionally, or an oven with a final blast from the grill at home — sets the cake evenly, puffs it and lightly browns the top.

The banana leaf is not just a liner. It stops the cake sticking, protects it from the direct heat of the pan, and as it scorches, it releases a smoky, grassy, almost tea-like aroma into the base. Without it, bibingka loses much of its characteristic flavour.

Rice flour behaves differently from wheat flour. With no gluten, it relies on egg and starch gelatinisation for structure. A mix of rice flour and a little glutinous rice flour gives a soft, slightly springy and moist crumb; rice flour alone can be crumbly. Baking powder stands in for the gentle rise of traditional fermentation.

The toppings go on partway through baking. Salted duck egg slices and cheese are added once the top has set enough to hold them, then the cake returns to the oven so the cheese softens and the top colours. Butter, sugar and grated coconut are added at the end, while still hot.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 8 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 200 g rice flour
• 50 g glutinous rice flour
• 150 g caster sugar
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 60 g unsalted butter, melted (batter)
• 4 pieces banana leaf, to line the tins
• 2 salted duck eggs, sliced
• 80 g kesong puti or queso de bola (Edam), grated or sliced
• 30 g butter, softened (topping)
• 2 tbsp sugar (topping)
• 40 g grated fresh or desiccated coconut

Rice flour and a little glutinous rice flour approximate traditional galapong. Salted duck eggs (itlog na maalat, often dyed red) are sold in Filipino and Chinese shops; they add a rich, salty contrast. Kesong puti is a soft, fresh white cheese made from carabao or cow's milk; queso de bola (Edam) is the Christmas favourite. Feta or mild cheddar can be used. Banana leaves are sold frozen in Asian shops.

iv. Method

1. Heat the oven to 190 °C (170 °C fan, 375 °F). Soften the banana leaves by passing them over a flame or dipping in hot water. Line four 15 cm round tins or one 23 cm tin with the leaves and brush with a little melted butter.
2. Whisk the rice flour, glutinous rice flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, coconut milk and melted butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk to a smooth, pourable batter.
4. Pour the batter into the lined tins and bake for 15 minutes (20 minutes for a single tin), until the top is just set.
5. Arrange the salted egg slices and cheese on top and return to the oven for 10–15 minutes more, until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean.
6. Turn on the grill and grill for 1–2 minutes, watching closely, until the top is speckled brown.
7. Brush immediately with softened butter, sprinkle with sugar and scatter with grated coconut. Serve warm in the banana leaf.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Do not skip the banana leaf. It gives bibingka its smoky aroma and stops it sticking.
• Add the toppings once the top has set. Added to raw batter, the egg and cheese sink.
• Use the grill for colour. It mimics the coals on top of a traditional bibingkahan.
• Butter it hot. The butter melts into the surface and helps the sugar and coconut stick.
• Mix in a little glutinous rice flour. It gives a moist, slightly springy texture; rice flour alone is crumbly.
• Serve warm. Bibingka firms and dries as it cools; reheat leftovers to restore softness.

vi. Variations

Bibingka galapong uses traditional ground soaked rice. Bibingka malagkit is a different dessert: glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and topped with a sweet coconut caramel. Cassava bibingka uses grated cassava for a dense, chewy cake. Bibingka espesyal includes extra salted egg and cheese, and ube or pandan versions are popular modern variants.

For other Filipino rice cakes, see puto, kutsinta, sapin-sapin and suman. Across the region, compare Indonesian serabi and Goa's layered bebinca.

vii. Serving & storage

Bibingka is eaten hot, straight from the oven, often for breakfast or after the dawn masses of Simbang Gabi. Hot chocolate (tsokolate), coffee or salabat (ginger tea) are the classic drinks.

It is best on the day it is made. Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for a day or in the fridge for up to 3 days; reheat in a 160 °C oven for 10 minutes or in the microwave for 20–30 seconds. Bibingka freezes reasonably well, wrapped, for up to a month; reheat from frozen in the oven.

ix. More from Filipino

• Puto — fluffy steamed rice cakes
• Suman — rice in banana leaf
• Kutsinta — brown steamed rice cakes
• Sapin-Sapin — layered rice cake
• Bebinca — Goan layered cake
• Serabi — Indonesian coconut pancakes