Butter and Ube Bibingka/Mochi
Plate made by Heath Ceramics.
Growing up, bibingka was a staple dessert at Filipino parties. Mochi and bibingka are similar in that they both are made of rice flour, so they are gluten-free. Today, I decided to make a version with a butter & ube (purple yam) swirl. The chew of this dessert is awesome, and it is really easy to make.
Serves: a lot of people (or 1 if you’re feeling stingy)
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, melted
2 cups of sugar (baker’s/caster sugar preferable)
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of ube extract
1 - 16 ounce box of mochiko rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 - 12 ounce can evaporated milk
1 - 14 ounce can of coconut milk (or you could use whole milk)
Steps:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (non-convection), and grease a 9” x 13” baking pan with butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to mix until combined. Add the rice flour and baking powder and stir until combined. It might look a little lumpy, but that’s okay. Stir in the evaporated milk and the coconut (or whole) milk. Continue whisking until smooth
Remove 2 cups of the batter and place in a small bowl. Add the ube extract and mix together.
In the baking pan, pour in all of the regular batter. Using a 1/2 cup measure, dot 4 parts of the ube batter on top of the regular batter. Using a butter knife or toothpick marble the batter by making swirls. Don’t over do it, or you’ll end up with 1 color, which defeats the purpose!
Carefully place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour. You’ll notice the cake will inflate unevenly, but don’t worry — it’ll deflate once you let it rest.
Slice the bibingka into squares, and enjoy!
