Delicious Bibingka you can easily make at home! Topped with salted eggs, cheese, and grated coconut, this classic Filipino rice cake is the ultimate Christmas treat!
Since BER months are here and the holiday season has officially started, I thought I’ll update my bibingka post with brand new photos and cooking tips. Because nothing says Filipino Christmas better than this Filipino native cake, right?
I spent a good part of this week testing various recipes, trying to come up with a traditional version made from galapong. But after going through enough rice grains to feed a nation in my experimentations, I realized the easiest way to make bibingka at home is using rice flour.
Forget soaking and grinding! Buy a bag of rice flour at the grocery store, and your favorite Filipino treat will be a matter of stirring the ingredients into a batter and quickly popping the mixture in the oven to bake!
What is Bibingka
Bibingka is a classic Filipino delicacy that’s especially popular during Christmas season. Sold outside of churches during the nine-day Misa de Gallo, it’s commonly enjoyed after the mass as breakfast or as a midday snack with a cup of hot chocolate or salabat.
Similar to putong bigas, traditional bibingka is made with galapong. Rice grains are first soaked in water overnight to ferment and soften and then ground using stone mills into a thick paste.
The resulting rice dough is combined with water or coconut milk to form a batter and baked in banana-lined terra cotta pot until set and nicely charred. These specialized clay pots function like an oven, using hot coals positioned both on top and the bottom as the heat source.
The rice cakes in their basic form are a simple mixture of galapong and water, but can be made extra special with added beaten eggs, sliced salted duck eggs, and cheese. They’re usually eaten hot or warm with margarine spread on top along with a generous sprinkling of grated coconut.
Tips on How to Make Homemade Bibingka
- Do not skip the banana leaves! Not only do they keep the rice cake from sticking, but they also add incredible aroma. Inspect the leaves to make sure they’re intact and free of rips and pass them quickly over a gas flame until soft and pliable.
- I use mamon tin molds which I bought in the Philippines, but large muffin tins or fluted pie pans will also work.
- To deepen the color, you can add a drop or two of yellow food coloring to the batter.
- I like to add sliced cream cheese as a topping. You can substitute kesong puto, queso de bola or sharp cheddar cheese.
- To ensure a good rise, make sure the oven is pre-heated at 400 F. To achieve the characteristic charring obtained from cooking in clay pots, broil the bibingka for about 1 to 2 minutes after it has set.
Make this bibingka a part of your Christmas celebrations! Looking for more holiday-worthy treats? Try my festive cathedral window gelatin or this crema de fruta cake.
Bibingka
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups coconut milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 salted eggs, peeled and sliced lengthwise
- 2 ounces cream cheese, sliced thinly (you can substitute kesong puti or queso de bola)
For Toppings
- margarine or butter, softened
- Grated mature coconut
- Sugar to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and 1/8 teaspoon sugar. Stir well and let stand for about 5 minutes or until foamy.
- Rinse banana leaves under warm water and wipe off any dirt or grit. Using scissors, trim any thick edges and cut into circles large enough to cover bottom and sides of the pan.
- Quickly pass and heat banana leaves over stove flames for a few seconds or until just softened. Line the pans, making sure the leaves are intact with no rips.
- In a large bowl, combine rice flour, the remaining sugar, and salt. Whisk together until well dispersed.
- Add yeast mixture and coconut milk, Stir into a smooth, thin batter.
- Let the batter stand for about 2 to 3 hours (depending on outside temperature) or until it looks slightly bubbly.
- Add the beaten eggs and stir until blended.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans up to 3/4 full.
- Arrange sliced salted eggs and cream cheese slices on top.
- Bake in a 400 F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If desired, place under the broiler for about 1 minute or until nicely charred.
- Remove from heat and spread margarine or butter on top. Garnish with grated coconut and sprinkle with sugar to taste. Serve hot.
Nutrition
I should have read this comment section before I baked the Bibingka. I used glutinous rice flour. The result dense sticky texture. I will try again with regular rice flour.
Can i skip the dry yeast? Also where can i get those molds? Thanks in advance
Please don’t skip the yeast, it’s needed for the bibingka to rise. I bought the molds in the Philippines but you can order them on Amazon as well. They’re called mamon molds.
Can I use Mochiko rice flour or Glutinous rice flour from Thailand?
Glutinous rice won’t work in this recipe, unfortunately. You’ll have a dense, sticky texture instead of soft and spongy 🙁
I think it’s funny that you said you used evaporated milk but I don’t find it in your recipe. Thanks.
I am glad I was able to amuse you 🙂 This particular recipe doesn’t use evaporated milk, it uses coconut milk. I am sorry it was a bit confusing but if you read the post, I was actually referring to the mini bibingka I made which I liked but thought were not authentic as they use evaporated milk.
hello! this recipe looks good and will try to make it this month! do you use regular rice flour or glutinous rice flour? thank you!
It’s regular rice flour, not glutinous 🙂
I want to try this one. I want to be productive this Christmas vacation with money! hehehe. I want to add this recipe in my BBQ stand. Bibingka at night!
Good luck!
Can I use cheddar cheese instead of the cheeses you mentioned above? Shall i grate it or slice? =) Salamat po.
Cheddar is fine. Sliced will be better 🙂
Hi Lalaine,
I followed the recipe, and the result was not soft and spongy. The result was thin and chewy.
I originally printed the recipe on Nov. 5. Instruction- step six, indicates “let the batter stand for 3 to 4 hours”. However when I look at the recipe online today, it shows 2-3 hours.
Is it necessary for the batter to sit for 2-4 hours? I would think after that many hours, the yeast would no longer be active.
I would appreciate your feedback, thank you.
Mary Ann
I am sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work well for you. I am surprised that it turned out thin and chewy. May I ask if you used regular rice flour and not glutinous rice flour which has a sticky texture.
The recipe had 3 to 4 hours because I tested the recipe in the U.S. and it took about that long to get it a little bubbly. However, we did the video here in the Philippines and it took less time because of the warmer weather. I updated the recipe to 2 to 3 hours as I realized it was a cold day when I tested it. Letting the mixture stand doesn’t kill the yeast. It’s like baking bread; we wait a few hours to make the dough rise. 🙂
I made the bibingka tonight, but baked it in separate ramekins instead of a pie pan. I am not Filipina. My only taste of bibingka is the one we buy at the Filipino store. But my Filipino husband gave it two thumbs up. He said this recipe is a keeper.
Thank you, Lalaine
Thank you, Raffaela! I am glad you and the hubby enjoyed the bibingka. This is one of my favorite things to make during the holidays, reminds of Christmas at home 🙂
Hello! ask ko lang po kung may recipe ba ng puto yema?naisip ko lang po kung paano sya lutuin.
Maraming Salamat!
Wala pa but will look into it 🙂
I love to cook
🙂
Hi,I’m dying to make pilipino tamales. Can I steam the tamales in Crock-Pot. Please advice thanks
I’ve never tried steaming in a crockpot but I think it would work. Let me know how it turns out!
I’ve been trying to bake this bibingka but I have a hard time this would not rise for me…why?
Hello Georgina
The bibingka didn’t rise at all? It doesn’t really plump up like a muffin, if that’s what you’re expecting?
Wow, it’s almost that time of year again. Nothing beats Pinoy Christmas. I lived with a very old fashioned and really Catholic aunt when I was going to uni and to this day, she doesn’t know this but bibingka and puto bumbong were the only reasons why I allowed her to drag me out of bed to go to simbang gabi.
By the way, I’d been a long time lurker. Thank you for promoting the delicious food from the Old Country. I’ve lived in Canada for over ten years now and I still get the occasional bouts of homesickness. Your delicious-looking food pics and often funny anecdotes help ease that a bit. The recipes and the pics continue to give me some serious kitchen goals.
Hi. I am just starting to cook Filipino dishes. And, will have to try your bibinka recipe. Looks simple and delicious!
Please let me know how it turns out 🙂
This looks great and interesting! I would like to try this recipe and compare the difference in taste from the bibingka I grew up eating in the southern part of Cebu. We have 2 different types of bibingkas: plain ones that are either white or pink with no toppings halfway wrapped in young banana leaves. The other one is more delicious, baked until the tops are browned and then slathered with rich latik (coconut syrup).
I like your resipe, i like to try to make bibingka on thanksgiving day. .thanks
Thanks, Rosita, I hope you’ll find many delicious recipes here at Kawaling Pinoy for your Thanksgiving celebration 🙂