Bibingka

Traditionally the batter for flat cakes was poured into a banana leaf–lined clay dish and baked over charcoal. The cheese was made from the milk of water buffalos. However, what an aluminum cake pan, electric oven, and prepackaged cheese lack in local color, they make up for in convenience. Coconut milk is available in Asian supermarkets.

1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup baking powder
1/2 cup grated Edam cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup grated coconut

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Combine 3/4 cup sugar with the coconut milk. Blend in the beaten eggs.

Combine the sifted flour, salt, and baking powder, and sift again. Fold in the egg mixture. Turn into a lightly greased 11 by 16-inch cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese, and bake for another 15 minutes, basting twice with the melted butter. Remove the cake from the oven, brush with the remaining butter. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the coconut. Slice into squares, and serve.
Yields 15 to 20 squares.

Tip: Because of its versatility and availability, coconut is widely used in Filipino foods. Buko or fresh young coconut produces a refreshing juice and sweet white flesh, while the mature coconut or niyog is grated and squeezed with water to make coconut milk or gata.

The nine-day pre-Christmas novena ends with midnight mass on Christmas Eve. After mass comes the Noche Buena, or Midnight Feast, where the traditional meal is Arroz Caldo Con Pollo, Caldereta, Paksiw na Lechón, hot Tsokolate, a native chocolate drink, Buko salad (a misnomer), and an endless supply of Christmas cookies!

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Crostata di Marmellata Tradizionale (Traditional Jam Tart)

This week Hippocrene Cooks features entries from Madeline Armillotta and Diane Nocentini the authors of Tastes from a Tuscan Kitchen, which brings the rich flavors of Tuscany to the everyday American kitchen. In our first entry, Diane imparts some tips for preparing a delicious dessert:

The recipe I have chosen to share with our readers is a timeless classic, the Crostata di Marmellata Tradizionale, or Traditional Jam Tart. I have always had a weakness for desserts and I chose this one mainly for selfish reasons. It is one of my favorite desserts, and I also enjoy the preparation. It gives me a real sense of home when I set about baking a tart. Combining the flour and butter, kneading the dough, rolling it out, spreading the jam, decorating the top, and finally the smell that emanates from the oven while it bakes. This may sound a bit strange, but I find the whole process very relaxing. Another reason is that I connect this dessert with the word festa (party), as all celebratory meals in Tuscany include two or three mouthwatering tarts on the dessert table. From baptisms to weddings, or even simple family gatherings, it is the dessert most commonly served. There are several reasons behind the popularity of crostata: it is a wholesome example of genuine Tuscan cuisine, it is delicious, attractive, and utilizes the seasonal fruits of the region. Homemade preserves are frequently used, but a high quality store-bought variety is a fine substitute. Blackberry, apricot and strawberry jam are the most popular varieties selected by Tuscans. My mother-in-law makes her own blackberry jam, and I can personally testify that the resulting tarts are divine. Before you start, ensure that you have soft butter. I take the butter out of the fridge the night before making this tart. I work with my hands and combine the butter and flour until it is crumbly, and then I add the remaining ingredients (except for the jam). As the recipe specifies, you must allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes, prior to rolling it out. To save time, I usually press the dough directly into the flan dish. If you are left with any excess dough, the following recipe includes a “variation” for making excellent cookies.

Makes one 10½-inch tart.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup butter, softened
grated zest of one lemon
2 cups jam


Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients except the jam to the bowl, and working with your hands, gently incorporate them. For best results, try not to knead the dough more than necessary. Cover and let the dough rest for a ½ hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Flour a pastry board and roll out two-thirds of the dough until until it is 1/3-inch thick and will fit a 10½-inch diameter flan dish. Line the flan dish with the pastry. Fill the pastry base with the jam topping. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into long strips. Crisscross these strips over the jam to create a lattice effect. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

Variation:
This pastry also makes excellent cookies. Roll out the dough, until it is 1/3-inch thick, and using cookie cutters, cut into your desired shapes. They can be decorated with pine nuts, almonds, raisins, chocolate morsels, or blobs of jam. Bake in a preheated oven (350°F) for 10 to 12 minutes. Kids love them, especially if they participate in the decorating!


Thanks to Diane for the wonderful pictures!

Jellied Cocoa Pudding

Many Taiwanese meals conclude with a thin custard or jelly, as it is called. The texture is very light, and the taste is pleasing, not heavy or overly sweet. Jellied Cocoa Pudding is especially cool and refreshing on a hot August night!

Makes 4 servings

4 candied cherries
1 can (15 ounces) sliced peaches
1 cup shelled raw peanuts
1 cup shelled raw almonds
6 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup raw or white sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Place a candied cherry in each of 4 teacups. Top each cherry with a cut-up peach slice. Process the peanuts, almonds, and 3 cups water in a blender until liquefied. Strain the juice, discarding the pulp. Combine the cornstarch with 6 tablespoons water. Heat the juice, sugar, and cornstarch mixture over high heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. When mixture comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the mixture starts to thicken, stirring constantly. Ladle ½ cup of the custard mixture into each cup, covering the fruit.

Whisk the cocoa powder into the remaining custard mixture. Blend thoroughly then distribute evenly among the 4 cups, carefully spooning the cocoa mixture over the other ingredients. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, or until the custard has set.

Invert the cups onto a shallow serving platter, so that the cherries are on the top. Garnish with the remaining peach slices. If desired, spoon several tablespoons of the peach juice over all.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This post is a member of the Chinese Father's Day menu series.

Arroz con Leche (Spanish-Style Rice Pudding)

Another great Spanish recipe, from A Spanish Family Cookbook:

Most households have their own special recipe for rice pudding, but in most cases in Spain the pudding is cooked in a saucepan on top of the stove rather than in the oven, and incorporates a beaten egg yolk to give a rich and creamy result. This is one of our favorite recipes for arroz con leche.

Serves 4.

generous ¼ cup short-grain rice
¼ cup sugar (or more, to taste)
rind of 1 lemon--cut into long strips
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons butter
1 egg yolk--beaten
3 cups water
ground cinnamon to decorate

Mix the beaten egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of cold milk and set aside.

Put the rice in a saucepan with the water. When it starts to boil, lower heat and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a sieve and drain off water. Put the remaining milk and lemon rind into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and add the drained rice to the milk. Mix well and allow to cook gently until the milk is almost absorbed and the rice is soft. Discard the lemon rind. Then stir in the sugar, butter and beaten egg yolk and mix well. Cook gently stirring occasionally, until the sugar, milk and egg yolk have been absorbed and the pudding is rich and creamy. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Ashtalieh (Cream Pudding)

Rounding off this week is another Lebanese recipe, this one designed to hit your sweet spot! Writes the author about his cream pudding:

I use a brand called Puck for the cream cheese. It comes in cans and can sometimes be found in Middle Eastern stores. Otherwise any cream cheese will do. Ashtalieh will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Serves 6

4 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ pound cream cheese
2 teaspoons mastic powder
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon rose water

to finish
½ cup pine nuts, soaked overnight in cold water
½ cup peeled almonds, soaked overnight in cold water
½ cup unsalted pistachios
kater (sugar syrup) (for Dekmak's recipes, check out page 149 of The Lebanese Cookbook)

Heat the milk, sugar, cornstarch, flour, and half the cream cheese in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring all the time with a whisk until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and continue to stir until it thickens.

Add the mastic powder, orange blossom water and rose water and stir another 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the mixture into a shallow serving dish and set aside to cool. Spread the remaining cream cheese on top and store in the refrigerator until needed.

When ready to serve, divide into pieces, decorate with the nuts and pour over the sugar syrup.

Red Berry Pudding with Vanilla Sauce (Rote Grütze mit Vanillesoße)

In the second part of our German berry feast, Nadia not only provides the recipe for one of the most scrumptious German summer desserts, but she also tells us why Red Berry Pudding is like German cuisine – a rediscovered culinary treasure.

When I was a child growing up in Germany, I could not get enough of this dessert, and I was never sure what I liked more: the fruity pudding, or the smooth vanilla sauce. It was not a popular dish. One of the reasons, I always thought, was the ugly name. “Grütze” means porridge in German, and the word sounds unappealing even to German ears. Because it was my grandmother who always made it, and because it was so hopelessly old-fashioned, I simply renamed it “Nostalgiepudding” (“nostalgia pudding”).

My first inkling how delicious Red Fruit Pudding was not only for my own taste buds but also for others' dates back to my 17th birthday party. I watched one of my classmates, a guy with the reputation for coolness and great intellect, standing next to the buffet and scratching the last little bit of Red Fruit Pudding right out of the large glass bowl! It was around that time that Red Fruit Pudding became a culinary blockbuster in Germany. It made a comeback, just like German cuisine did, and nowadays it’s everywhere. Despite its unappealing name, Rote Grütze has made it to Germany’s culinary hall of fame.

Redcurrants are much more popular in Germany than in North America, where they are nearly impossible to find. Actually, my craving for this dish was one of the main reasons I started my own garden. But I shall leave that topic for my next blog entry.

It is up to your personal taste what other fruits you use: raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries. However, but there is one rule of thumb: you should include at least one tart fruit. Cherries are a great addition too. If you use fruits that do not yield much juice, or if you prefer a softer consistency, you might want to reduce the amount of cornstarch. Likewise, the amount of sugar you use depends on the ripeness of the fruit. Taste the fruit before cooking and let your instinct be the judge.


There are also several possibilities for toppings: vanilla sauce made from scratch, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. My American husband likes Red Fruit Pudding plain. First I kept telling him that he is committing a culinary faux pas but then I realized that I prefer it that way – it leaves more vanilla sauce for me.

6 to 8 servings

For the pudding:
2 pounds mixed berries (fresh or frozen) and pitted cherries, washed and picked over
¼ cup bottled fruit syrup or a good fruit juice (raspberry, strawberry, or any other of the fruit you are using)
Sugar to taste
½ cup cornstarch

1. For the pudding, bring the blueberries and cherries to a boil in a large saucepan until they pop or release their juice. Hull the strawberries and cut very large ones into quarters. Add the more delicate fruit like strawberries and raspberries last. Stir in the syrup and sugar to taste.

2. Dissolve the cornstarch in at least ¼ cup cold water. Remove the pan from the heat, stir the cornstarch into the fruit mixture, and cook briefly over low to medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure not to undercook the pudding, otherwise it will taste chalky. When the pudding turns clear and thickens, remove the pan from the heat immediately. Continue stirring for another 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Pour the hot pudding into a glass serving bowl or individual dessert bowls. To prevent the glass from cracking when you pour the hot pudding into it, put a damp dishtowel underneath the bowl (that’s an old trick my grandmother taught me). Refrigerate for several hours until set. Serve the pudding cold, but take it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving, so it can develop its full flavor.

For the vanilla sauce:
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1½ cups milk
1 vanilla bean, or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla bean paste

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch. Add the milk and the vanilla. If using a vanilla bean, slit it lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a sharp knife, and add the bean and the seeds to the mixture. Cook over low heat until the sauce thickens, whisking constantly. Make sure that the sauce does not boil, or the egg will curd. Remove the vanilla bean, if using. Refrigerate. Stir the sauce well before serving.


Pictures courtesy of Nadia Hassani and Wikimedia Commons.

Honey and Beekeeping in Slovenia - Škofjeloški Medeni Kruhki (Honey Biscuits)

Our last entry from Heike Milhench, guest blogger for the week and Hippocrene's expert on Slovenian culture and cuisine:

Čebela je kot beseda; ima med in želo.
A bee is like a word; it has honey and a sting.
- Slovenian Proverb

Man has depended on honey as a food and a medicine for thousands of years. However, not until the nineteenth century did modern beekeeping develop as we know it today in Slovenia. The first mention of beehives made of boards is in The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola written by the Slovenian scientist Janez Vajkard Valvasor in 1689. In the mid-eighteenth century, honeycomb boxes were invented in Kranjić, allowing the combs to be moved like drawers. This was an important turning point in apiculture. Anton Janša, a well-known Slovenian teacher of apiculture, developed the method of smoking bees out of their hive to collect the honey.

Beekeeping in Slovenia has contributed to the country’s most popular form of folk art, with the creation of painted beehive doors, panjske končnice. Dating as far back as the mid-eighteenth century, these painted wooden panels were made at monasteries and originally depicted religious scenes. Between 1820 and 1880, panjske končnice became all the rage and the scenes became profane, depicting humorous or satirical scenes from Slovenian folklore. As an example, a traditional beehive door depicts the devil sharpening a woman’s tongue, and two farmers fighting over a cow, while the lawyer milks the cow. The panels were painted by professional artists and amateurs alike. They used paint prepared with linseed oil, ensuring their longevity. This form of art ended in the early nineteenth century, when larger hives were built. The traditional-style panels are still made today for sale as souvenirs and gifts.

Bees and honey are still important in today’s Slovenia. Honey is produced and sold all over the country for use in bread, cakes and cookies. Beeswax is used to make decorative candles. Mead (medeno žganje) is a honey brandy, which is considered to have medicinal purposes. Pollen, propolis, and royal jelly are all used in homeopathic medicine. Many popular cake and cookie recipes use honey, such as this recipe for Honey Biscuits:

The Bee List: mead, or honey wine, and wax candles

Makes 60 cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups honey
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Grated lemon peel and juice from 1 lemon
3 tablespoons baking powder
4 tablepoons oil or butter, melted
¼ cup rum or whiskey

Prepare the dough for the cookies. Sift together the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.
Heat the honey until liquid. Add the honey, spices, lemon rind and juice, oil and whiskey to the flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough is formed.Roll the dough out to a floured surface, and knead well.
Return the dough to the bowl. Cover and let rest at room temperature for two days.
On the third day, place the dough in a baking tin and let it sit in a warm oven (100°F or so) for 45 minutes or until the dough is softened.
On a floured surface, roll the dough out until it is ¼-inch thick.
Using a heart shaped (or other style) cookie cutter, cut the dough and place the cookies on a well-greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.
After 10 minutes of baking, remove the cookies from the oven and brush them with honey heated with a little water. Return to the oven for the rest of their baking time.
Decorate with frosting as you wish.
Store in a tightly closed container. They are hard, but will soften a little if they are stored in a humid place.

Pictures courtesy of Heike Milhench and Wikimedia Commons.

Rice Pudding (Arroz Doce)

Another recipe from Cherie Hamilton:

This dessert is almost obligatory at wedding receptions. In certain regions of Portugal and the Madeira Islands, rice pudding was used as a way of announcing an impending wedding and of introducing the groom to the bride’s relatives and friends. The local girls, with the bride’s mother and the groom, would visit families that they knew and offer a dish of rice pudding in a shallow basket covered with a hand embroidered cloth. Custom also calls for the party to return a week later to collect the basket and dish and for the bride to receive a wedding gift. This pudding is also enjoyed on holidays and special occasions throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

1¼ cups short grain rice
4 cups milk
1 lemon peel
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Place the rice in a large pot, add the milk, and bring to a simmer. Add the lemon peel and the sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice is cooked, about 25 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat and let cool for 30 minutes.

Add the egg yolks to the rice one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Return the rice mixture to the stove and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour into a serving dish, cool, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Sprinkle the pudding with cinnamon before serving, using a doily over the rice to create a pattern. Some cooks sprinkle the cinnamon in the shape of letters, hearts or other designs.

If your mate speaks Portuguese, you may want to give this recipe a look before heading here.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Golden Cupcakes (Quindims)

Guest blogging for Hippocrene Cooks this week is Cherie Hamilton, Hippocrene's globe-trotting specialist on the food cultures and cuisines of Portuguese-speaking countries around the world. Cherie's much-praised cookbook, Cuisines of Portuguese Encounters, was recently reprinted in an expanded edition (with over 70 new recipes) and truly crosses borders as it examines the distinct cuisines Portuguese explorers, colonists and missionaries left behind them as they crossed the world's oceans.

Cherie's first recipe this week comes from Brazil:

This recipe from Brazil is one that I usually recommend for an easy dessert because it has only five ingredients. Legend has it that Portuguese nuns, who were well-known for their tasty egg custards, brought this recipe with them to Brazil. Coconut, which is not native to Portugal, was added later by African slaves. Quindim is a very sweet dessert that was popular during slavery times in the masters’ houses of the sugar plantations in the north of Brazil. These dessert cakes were served at family dinners and elaborate parties. Baked in small individual pastry tins, or muffin tins, they are then inverted and served in little silver paper cups for a festive touch. As the quindim cooks, the coconut rises to the top and forms a light brown crust. When inverted, the coconut is on the bottom and the yolks form a golden dome on top. This recipe can be doubled and baked in an angel food cake mold or a Bundt pan. It is then called a quindão, which means “big cake.”

Quindims should be prepared the day before serving to allow them to chill overnight (or for at least 4 hours).

Makes one dozen.

1 cup extra-fine sugar
¼ cup (½ stick) butter or margarine, softened
9 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 cup freshly grated coconut (or fresh unsweetened coconut)
Melted butter or margarine for tins
Sugar for dusting tins

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Place the sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Beat the mixture until fluffy. Add the egg yolks and the whole egg, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the coconut and mix well without beating.

Brush 12 muffin tins, or 24 mini muffin tins, with the melted butter and dust with the sugar. Fill the tins almost to the top with the custard. Place the muffin tin in a baking pan. Pour hot water into the pan to a depth of 1 inch making a bain-marie. Bake the quindims for about 35 minutes, or until they are firm and slightly golden.

Cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Remove the cakes from the tins and place the coconut side down in silver paper cups or on a serving dish and chill overnight, or for at least 4 hours.

Photos courtesy of Tom Wallace.

Questions? Leave a comment!

Vitamin Jewels - Jugo de Maracuyá (Passion Fruit Juice)

Today Patricia continues guest blogging on Colombian cuisine, with an introduction to healthy, all-natural fruit juices, right in time for the summer!

Take a look at some of the wonderful fruit you can find nowadays in specialty and Latino markets. I recently found feijoas, which are a kind of guava, along with gooseberries and passion fruit.

feijoa, gooseberries, and passion fruit

Here's a tip on making passion fruit pulp: cut the fruit in two, scoop out the pulp with seeds, place it in a vase and mix for 10 seconds with an immersion blender. Pass it through a sieve and then freeze in ice cube trays. One ice cube will be enough for an 8-ounce glass of juice. When frozen, place the passion fruit pulp, water, crushed ice and sweetener back into the vase and mix with the immersion blender. Then, enjoy the most wonderful frapped passion fruit juice this summer. Add some mint and freeze into pops for the afternoon heat. Buy exotic fruit and freeze the pulp as ice cubes to keep at hand all summer long.

For more tips on preparing other wonderful tropical fruits as juices that are full of vitamins, check out the juice chapter in Secrets of Colombian Cooking. If you have doubts about any certain type of fruit, go to cookingcolombia.com and check out the page on Colombian fruit and vegetables, where many of them are photographed for you to see.