Bibingka

Bibingka is a soft Filipino rice cake, baked with coconut milk over banana leaves and traditionally eaten at Christmas dawn masses.

It is one of the rice cakes of the Philippines and is closely tied to the Christmas season. Vendors often sell it outside churches in the early morning, and each cook varies the batter and the toppings.

What it really is

Rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and egg are beaten into a smooth, loose batter and poured into a clay pot or tin lined with banana leaves. It is baked with heat from below and above, which gives a pale, moist crumb and a lightly browned top. The leaves add a faint fragrance and stop the base from sticking. Many versions are brushed with butter and finished with slices of salted egg and grated cheese, so the cake tastes both sweet and salty.

How it's served

• Warm from the oven, cut into wedges and served on the banana leaf or on a plate.
• Topped with salted egg and cheese, or with sugar alone, depending on the cook.
• Often eaten in the early morning, with hot chocolate or coffee.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredient, rice flour, and say that the cake is baked.
• Flag eggs in the batter and milk from the cheese. Name salted egg as a topping if you add it.
• Coconut milk is not dairy, but ask guests with a coconut or nut allergy to check with the kitchen.
• State the standard topping, whether cheese and salted egg or sugar only, so guests know what they are ordering.
• Say whether the banana leaf is served under the cake or removed before serving.