Holiday desserts: Sweet Philippine delicacies take center stage
The holiday season has officially begun, and things are starting to taste a lot like Christmas. Literally.
The Filipino culture is full of scrumptious desserts — many of which take center stage when the holiday season arrives.
During the Simbang Gabi, which starts Dec. 16 and lasts until Christmas Day, the puto bumbong and bibingka are served and eaten with the family.
“It’s traditional for the holiday season. It symbolizes the family sticking together no matter what when you eat it,” says Chito De Guzman, promotions manager for the Guam Reef Hotel.
“In the Philippines, you can usually smell the desserts in the air.”
The bibingka, rice cake desserts made from rice batter and baked in a special clay pot, is usually eaten with the puto bumbong right after the midnight mass.
The puto bumbong desserts are a sweet, purple delicacy — also made out of rice — that is steam-cooked in bamboo tubes and served with sugar and shredded coconut.
Another Christmas favorite is the fruitcake, which is made out of cake batter with chunks of fruit and roasted walnuts as toppings.
“The fruitcake, as the elders say, is the best cake you can ever have. The fruitcake desserts really hold high standards and it’s really about technique and method of baking it that turns it out right,” says Edward Villo, manager of Elite Bakery in Tamuning.
Villo says his bakery also has other desserts that makes appearances during certain seasons.
“There are some items that we only bring out when the holiday season hits, such as the silvanas, sans rival and rosquillos,” he says.
“One reason why they are available only during certain season is that the process of making them is so time consuming. They are very delicate,” Villo says.
Although not traditional holiday desserts, the silvanas, made with almond wafers covered in butter cream icing and yellow cake crumbs, are considered a favorite among many Filipinos.
The sans rival is similar to the silvanas but filled with chocolate fudge and caramel on the inside.
“The holiday season has to be when the best desserts come out because you only want to serve your best food on the table,” he says.
FRUITCAKE RECIPE
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1-1/2 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup regular flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
5 tablespoons prune juice
3 tablespoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (mix in molasses)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1-1/2 cups nuts (combination of walnuts, pecan, cashew, pili)
1-1/2 cups dates
1-1/2 cups fruit glaze
1/2 cup cherry brandy
Preparation:
•Fruit Mix
1. Soak fruits in 1/2 cup cherry brandy overnight.
2. Drain the fruits for 1 hour.
•Batter
1. Heat oven to low.
2. Cream shortening and add sugar slowly until fluffy.
3. Beat in egg one at a time, beating after each addition until light.
4. Blend flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg.
5. Stir in alternately with milk, molasses, juices and vanilla beginning and ending with flour.
6. Add 1/2 cup of regular flour to fruit mixture.
7. The batter is then mixed to the fruits. Add the nuts on top of the batter.
8. Put batter in cellophane lined or aluminum lined pans (4 pans).
9. Bake for one hour at 300 degrees Fahrenheit (check the temperature based on the pan you use. Sometimes baking can be as short as 45 minutes to 1 hour at 325 degrees F).
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