The Daring Bakers: Sans Rival and Bibingka

cashew sans rival

fluffy soft bibingka baked with slices of salted duck eggs 
and Filipino white cheese

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers's host and she challenged us to make traditional Filipino dessert - the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Thank you Catherine for sharing with the Daring Bakers two of our Filipino cakes. They are my personal favorites and I have been baking them for many years now because these are not commercially available in my neck of the woods.

The recipes provided by Catherine are here. For this challenge I didn't follow the recipes for both Sans Rival and Bibingka. I used the Sans Rival recipe from my Filipino cookbook and the bibingka from a combination of various recipes that only have regular rice flour.

Sans Rival
recipe adapted from Favorite Filipino Recipes by Pat Limjuco-Dayrit

the perfect combination of crunchy nutty and smooth creamy

meringue 
5 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1½ cups chopped cashew or almonds
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350°F.Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the sugar gradually, continue beating. Fold in nuts and vanilla. Divide mixture into five and spread on five parchment-lined 9-inch round pans or 9-inch rounds drawn on parchment paper (flip paper so the pencil marks are facing sheet pan). Bake in a 350°F oven until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. Turn off oven, leave in the oven for 2 hours or longer until layers are dry to the touch and very crispy.

buttercream filling
5 tablespoons water
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1½ cups butter, room temperature

• Boil water and sugar until it spins a thread, 225°F on candy thermometer. In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat egg yolks until very thick and pale yellow in color, about 6 minutes. Pour the hot syrup gradually over egg yolks and continue beating until mixture has thickened. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge for an hour. In the same bowl, cream butter then add the well chilled egg mixture. Beat on medium high speed until buttercream is light and creamy.

assemble the sans rival

½ cup coarsely chopped cashew or almonds

• Spread a very thin layer of buttercream on smooth side of one meringue round, place on a parchment-lined plate, place another meringue on top; repeat until you have spread the filling and stacked all the meringue rounds. Fill the gaps, sides, and top with buttercream. Sprinkle sides (and top, if desired) with chopped nuts. Refrigerate overnight before cutting into slices. Or leave in the freezer for 2 hours before slicing.

BIBINGKA

Baked Bibingka is just one of the many forms of bibingka we have in the Philippines. Bibingka are flat cakes that can be made with regular whole rice or rice flour, whole glutinous or glutinous rice flour, pounded young immature greenish glutinous rice called pinipig, and grated fresh cassava. Bibingka are either baked or steamed; some are pre-cooked then topped with coconut jam before baking.  

baked rice flour bibingka

baked black and white glutinous rice bibingka topped with coconut jam


baked cassava bibingka

The bibingka chosen for this challenge are traditionally baked in round clay dishes lined with wilted banana leaves set over individual clay bakers filled with hot coals. A piece of galvanized iron fitted with a wire handle is filled with more hot coals and placed on top of the dish with the batter. The bibingka is baked quickly with equal heat coming from below and above. These gluten-free cakes should be very soft, airy, and fluffy just like a cake made with wheat flour and they shouldn't have a hint of stickiness at all.

native Filipino clay ovens and round dishes 

made specifically for baking bibingka

To mimic the heat from below and above method, I bake bibingka in a toaster oven at a very high setting. If you have one I recommend using it rather than the regular size oven.

Bibingka

cake

banana leaves, optional
1½ cups rice flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
¾ cup superfine sugar
3 eggs, beaten until thick and lemon-colored
1¼ cups coconut milk, whole milk, or water
4 tablespoons melted butter
kesong puti (farmer's white cheese), sliced into 1 inch x ¼-inch thick pieces

topping

butter
sugar
grated fresh coconut

• Preheat toaster oven to 425°F. Line three 8-inch round pans with banana leaves.
• In a medium bowl, mix all the rice cake ingredients except cheese and salted duck egg, until well incorporated. Batter should be slightly loose; add more milk or water to adjust consistency. Pour 1/3 of the batter in the first prepared pan, arrange white cheese and salted egg on top; bake for 12 to 14 minutes until top is golden brown. 
• Remove from oven; spread some butter and sprinkle sugar on top. 
• Fill the next pan and bake, repeating for the third and last time.
• Slice into wedges and top with desired amount of grated coconut.

SALTED DUCK EGGS
Traditional Filipino salted duck eggs have no other ingredients but sea salt mixed with clay or mud and the eggs are cured from 15 to 30 days. The eggs when fully salted and boiled have very oily and bright orange yolks and the whites are firm but not rock hard. In the Philippines the salted egg shells are colored with red vegetable dye to distinguish them from unsalted ones. I salt duck egg using the brine method with boiled filtered water cooled to lukewarm before mixing in the sea salt. We love them served with diced or sliced tomatoes as a side dish or salad. Chicken eggs are not suitable for salting because their whites are more watery and don't have the viscosity of duck egg whites.

salted duck egg

salted duck eggs and tomato salad

1 dozen duck eggs

2 cups sea salt

6 cups filtered boiled water cooled to warm

a plastic container to accommodate the eggs and water 

a gallon freezer bag filled with water

• In a large bowl, dissolve 1¾ cups salt in water. Add enough salt until they don't dissolve anymore. Scrub and clean duck eggs with soap and water, rinse very well, and place in the container. Gently place the bag of water on top of eggs. Lift one corner a bit and slowly pour the salted water over the eggs making sure they are submerged completely. Cover and leave undisturbed for 30 days. Rinse eggs with water and boil for 15 to 18 minutes. Drain and immediately rinse under cold water. Keep salted eggs in refrigerator until ready to use.

I hope you don't mind the long post. I'm just very happy and excited for the opportunity to write about our Filipino native cakes and desserts and to share with you, my fellow Daring Bakers and all my readers.