Mini Bibingka

Updated Dec. 20, 2023

Mini Bibingka
Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(79)
Comments
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Bibingka is a Filipino cake traditionally made with rice flour and coconut milk and baked to supreme fluffiness over banana leaves in a terra-cotta oven. These versions are built to fit in the palm of the hand. Ray Luna, who ran the much loved coffee shop Mountain Province in Brooklyn, adapted the recipe from his lola (grandmother), using self-rising flour instead of rice flour and coconut cream for extra richness. The cakes are delicious when made with just the requisite five ingredients, but for a touch of refinement, follow Luna’s lead and bake in banana leaves, to infuse a green-tea scent. The final touch: macapuno, opalescent strands from rare, prized coconuts with jellylike flesh. —Ligaya Mishan

Featured in: The Crew Can Have a Little Coconut Cake

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Ingredients

Yield:2 dozen mini cakes
  • 1large sheet banana leaf (from a 1-pound package), optional
  • 9tablespoons/128 grams unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing pans
  • cups/355 milliliters unsweetened coconut cream
  • 2large eggs
  • 1cup/200 grams superfine (caster) sugar
  • 2cups/250 grams self-rising flour
  • 1cup macapuno (coconut sport), optional (see Tip)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and dry the banana leaf, if using. Cut into 24 5-inch squares and use the squares to line 2 (12-cup) standard muffin tins. If not using banana leaf, drizzle a little melted butter in each muffin cup and coat the cups with it.

  2. Step 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the 9 tablespoons of melted butter and half the coconut cream. In a separate, larger mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the superfine sugar until lighter in color.

  3. Step 3

    Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Add about a third of the flour to the eggs and fold in by gently running a flexible spatula through and around the mixture until everything is combined. Then, fold in a third of the butter mixture. Alternate folding in the flour and the butter mixture, making sure not to overmix. Fold in the remaining coconut cream.

  4. Step 4

    Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until set along the circumference but still loose at the center. Take the tins out of the oven and raise the temperature to 375 degrees. Top each cake with a couple strands of macapuno, if using (see Tip).

  5. Step 5

    Return the tins to the oven and bake for another 4 to 7 minutes, until golden at the edges and springy at the center when lightly pressed. Cool and serve.

Tip
  • Macapuno, also labeled as coconut sport or coconut strings, is the jellylike flesh of prized mutant coconuts, and can be found in Asian grocery stores and online. If you are not using it, you can instead sprinkle each cake with an even coating of toasted unsweetened shredded coconut and granulated sugar before baking, if you wish.

Ratings

4 out of 5
79 user ratings
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Comments

If I had rice flour, would the recipe be the same?

For those looking for the rice flour based recipe- search here in the NY Times app for “bibingka” - there is a recipe adapted by Tejal Rao.

Step 1: In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed. Step 2: Get baking! Be aware that this flour has a shorter shelf life than regular flour, as the baking powder tends to lose potency over time. So make a small batch and save it in an airtight container in a dark, dry place.

The last step before putting into the pans is to fold in the rest of the cream.

Hello! I'm one of the editors at NYT Cooking. The other half of the coconut cream should be folded into the batter at the end of the step 3. Thanks to all who noted that the recipe was unclear; we've reworded it to address the issue. Happy baking!

Lots of questions about what to do with the other half of the coconut cream in the comments. I whisked the first half into the melted butter as instructed... and then whisked in the other half and kept going with the rest of the recipe as written. It worked perfectly. The bibingka came out beautifully - light, tender, delicious. If you can get your hands on the macapuno, it really makes a difference. I also sprinkled a little turbinado sugar on the top for the final bake.

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Credits

Adapted from Ray Luna

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