Nanay |
In thinking of Nanay and remembering those times with her, I had a hankering to re-visit some of the desserts from my childhood. Perhaps more to recapture memories of simpler times and carefree days than for the actual desserts themselves. Or maybe just to honor the heritage I came from and remember my familial roots that helped shape who I am today.
Earlier this year, I had first posted a recipe for the sticky kind of bibingka, a Filipino cake, and alluded to a more cakey version that's spread with melted butter and sprinkled with granulated sugar once it's baked. My mom always made it when I was a kid, in a round foil pan lined with banana leaves. The cake itself wasn't very sweet but that butter & sugar combo on top of warm cake was hard to beat for a kid with my sweet tooth. Unfortunately I couldn't find that original recipe. I vaguely remember it had Bisquick, milk, sugar and eggs but beyond that, nothing struck a chord. It's been years since I've made it myself and I drew a complete blank on the recipe. My mom didn't know where it was as she hadn't made it in years either and I searched fruitlessly for it amongst her recipe clippings in an old recipe box she had at home. But nada. So I turned to this cookbook of Philippine recipes that a friend had given me for my birthday a few years ago to see if I could resurrect something similar.
Place foil cake pans on a baking sheet in the oven |
Brush the warm cake with butter and sprinkle with sugar |
After the first 10 minutes, I also decreased the oven temp to 400 degrees. The tops were browning but the middles weren't done on the inside and I didn't want the tops to burn. I took them out after 20 minutes but I think they were just slightly underdone. They were moist but a bit dense. I think next time around, I would add a little more milk and bake an extra 5 minutes. Overall, it was still pretty good though, despite my taking some liberties with the original recipe. For those who don't have much of a sweet tooth, this cake isn't particularly sweet but has good flavor. But I do have a sweet tooth so even after all these years, my favorite part is still the melted butter and crunchy sugar on top of the warm cake.
Galapong (rice batter)
1 ¾ cups short-grain rice
Bibingka
Softened unsalted butter for the pie shells
Four 6-inch banana leaf rounds to line the pans
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups galapong (I substituted 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour)
4 eggs, separated
¾ cup coconut milk
¼ cup whole milk (if substituting the sweet rice flour for the galapong, increase milk by another 2 tablespoons)
1 salted duck egg, quartered (optional)
½ cup grated Gouda cheese
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
½ cup freshly grated coconut
1. For the galapong, rinse the rice under cold running water, drain, and place in a medium bowl with cold water to cover. Refrigerate overnight. Drain and rinse again, then drain in a colander for 30 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and process until the mixture is finely ground, about 1 minute, scraping up the sides of the processor as needed. Work through a coarse sieve. Return the solids that did not go through the sieve to the food processor and process again, then work again through the sieve. You should have about 1 ½ cups galapong.
2. For the bibingka, preheat the oven to 450⁰F. Brush the four 6-inch pie or tart shells with softened butter and line with banana leaf rounds.
3. Sift together the flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Whisk in the galapong and make a well in the center. With a whisk, beat the egg yolks, coconut milk and milk in a separate bowl. Pour into the well and with a rubber spatula, mix slowly until smooth.
4. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the whites into the galapong mixture.
5. Divide the mixture among the lined pans. If you’re using the duck eggs, nestle a quarter into the middle of each cake. Sprinkle each cake with 2 tablespoons of the Gouda followed by 2 tablespoons of the feta, and finally 1 teaspoon of the sugar.
6. Set the cakes on the top rack of the oven and bake until firm and set and lightly browned on top, about 20 minutes (after the first 10 minutes, I decreased the oven temp to 400 degrees). If the bibingka are set but not browned, preheat the broiler and broil them about 6 inches from the heat source, watching carefully, until bubbly and lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
7. Brush the bibingka with the melted butter while still warm. Unmold each bibingka onto a serving plate. Serve with the grated coconut.
What a strong, vibrant woman. Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThanks - it's been 7 years and I still miss my grandmother every day.
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