In the Philippines, bibingka is the cake of December mornings. It is sold outside churches as people come out of Simbang Gabi, baked in a terracotta dish lined with banana leaf, between two layers of embers, then brushed with butter and covered with sugar and grated coconut. It is a rice cake: dense, slightly chewy, halfway between a custard and a pound cake, and far less sweet than its appearance suggests.
Ube bibingka is the purple version. Purple yam powder replaces part of the rice flour and brings, on top of the colour, a vanilla-hazelnut note that goes perfectly with coconut milk. This page gives the recipe adapted to a French home oven — no ember oven, no fermented galapong and no compulsory banana leaf — with gram-by-gram proportions, the step-by-step method, the variations and the mistakes behind most failures.
The ingredient in this recipe: Ube Powder Nature 200 g — 16.90 €. 100 % Kinampay ube from the Visayas, with no additives, no colourings and no added sugar, packed in Aix-en-Provence and shipped within 72 h. One 200 g pouch covers about six bibingkas. If the ingredient is new to you, our ube powder buying guide compares the sizes and the price per gram.
What exactly is bibingka?
Bibingka belongs to the family of kakanin, the Filipino rice cakes, alongside puto and kutsinta. Its traditional base is galapong: glutinous rice soaked overnight then wet-milled, sometimes left to ferment slightly. In France, the glutinous rice flour sold in Asian grocery stores gives a very similar result, with no soaking and no milling.
Three things define a true bibingka. First the texture: soft and slightly chewy, never crumbly — that is the work of the glutinous rice starch. Then the coconut milk, which entirely replaces the milk and butter in the batter and gives that characteristic roundness on the palate. And finally the sweet-savoury contrast of the topping: melted butter, sugar, grated coconut, and traditionally slices of salted egg (itlog na maalat) and Filipino white cheese (kesong puti) laid on top.
The ube version keeps all of that and adds the colour. The purple comes from no colouring at all: it is the anthocyanins naturally present in purple yam. Our page on the natural purple colour of ube explains the mechanism and why the baking has to stay gentle.
Ingredients (one 22 cm bibingka, 8 servings)
- 30 g of Ubedia Nature ube powder (about 4 level tablespoons)
- 100 ml of very hot coconut milk (80 °C, never boiling) — for the rehydration
- 200 g of glutinous rice flour (glutinous rice flour, also sold as sweet rice flour or mochiko)
- 50 g of ordinary rice flour (to lighten the crumb)
- 120 g of caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder (8 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt
- 300 ml of full-fat coconut milk (17 to 20 % fat)
- 3 whole eggs at room temperature
- 60 g of melted butter (40 g in the batter, 20 g for brushing)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
For the topping: 20 g of melted butter, 30 g of caster sugar, 40 g of grated coconut, and — for the traditional version — 1 salted egg cut into slices and 60 g of fresh cheese such as drained ricotta, or grated mild cheddar.
Two notes on the quantities. The 4-to-1 glutinous-to-ordinary rice ratio is the best compromise for a home oven: all glutinous rice and the cake turns out too compact; all ordinary rice and it crumbles. The 30 g of ube powder give a clear purple and a distinct aroma; you can go up to 40 g for a more intense version, adding 30 ml of extra coconut milk to make up for the starch absorption.
Preparation time and servings
- Preparation: 25 minutes
- Baking: 35 to 40 minutes at 175 °C
- Finishing under the grill: 3 minutes
- Resting: 15 minutes
- Total time: 1 hr 20 min
- Yield: one 22 cm bibingka, that is 8 servings
- Difficulty: easy
The recipe step by step
- Rehydrate the ube powder (5 min + 10 min resting). Pour the 30 g of powder into a bowl and add the 100 ml of hot coconut milk in three goes, whisking vigorously between each addition. You end up with a smooth, glossy paste with no lumps. Let it swell for 10 minutes: the colour shifts from a greyish mauve to a clear purple.
- Prepare the tin (5 min). Line a 22 cm round tin with banana leaf (passed over a flame for 10 seconds to soften it) or, failing that, with baking paper. Butter it generously. The banana leaf is not essential, but it brings a very characteristic grassy aroma and stops the cake from sticking.
- Mix the dry ingredients (2 min). In a large bowl, whisk together the two rice flours, the sugar, the baking powder and the salt. Mixing them dry avoids lumps of baking powder — invisible, but responsible for bitter patches.
- Combine the liquids (3 min). In a second bowl, beat the eggs, then stir in the 300 ml of coconut milk, the 40 g of warm melted butter, the vanilla and the rehydrated ube paste. Mix until you have an evenly purple liquid.
- Bring it all together. Pour the liquids over the dry mix in three goes, whisking gently. The batter should be fluid — closer to a thick pancake batter than to a cake batter. Do not use an electric mixer: glutinous rice has no gluten to develop, but too much air produces bubbles that hollow out the surface.
- Bake at 175 °C for 30 minutes. Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake in the middle of a preheated fan oven. After 30 minutes the surface is set and the centre still slightly soft.
- Add the topping and finish the baking (5 to 10 min). Take the tin out, brush the surface with the remaining 20 g of melted butter, then spread out the slices of salted egg and the cheese. Return it to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, then give it 2 to 3 minutes under the grill to brown, watching it without a break.
- Sugar, coconut, rest. Straight out of the oven, immediately sprinkle over the 30 g of sugar and the 40 g of grated coconut: the heat makes them stick lightly. Let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting — bibingka firms up as it cools and slices far better warm than piping hot.
To adjust the intensity of the purple to your taste, our guide to ube powder dosage gives the benchmarks recipe by recipe.
The 6 mistakes that ruin ube bibingka
1. Adding the ube powder dry to the batter. This is mistake number one, across every dessert. Thrown in dry to a liquid mix, the powder stays as micro-grains that never fully dissolve: the cake feels gritty and the colour stays dull and marbled. Always rehydrate separately, in a hot liquid, in three goes.
2. Using ordinary rice flour on its own. Without glutinous rice there is no bibingka: the cake crumbles, the chewy texture disappears and the result is like a failed pound cake. Glutinous rice flour is available in every Asian grocery store and in most world-food aisles in supermarkets.
3. Choosing light coconut milk. Below 15 % fat, the rice starch and the ube starch are no longer coated: the crumb turns dry and floury. Full-fat canned coconut milk, no exceptions — not coconut drink in a carton.
4. Baking too hot. Above 190 °C the surface caramelises before the centre has set, and the anthocyanins turn brown-grey. At 175 °C the temperature rises steadily and the purple holds. It is the same reason why the powder is rehydrated at 80 °C and never with boiling water.
5. Cutting it straight out of the oven. Piping-hot bibingka is sticky and tears. Fifteen minutes of resting is enough for the starch to set and for the slices to come away cleanly.
6. Forgetting the salt. A bibingka without its savoury element falls flat. If you skip the salted egg and the cheese, raise the salt in the batter to one level teaspoon: the contrast is what makes the recipe.
Variations
Version without salted egg or cheese
The simplest one, and the closest to French tastes. Double the butter for the topping, raise the salt to 1 level teaspoon and serve with a spoonful of ube halaya on the side. This is the version we recommend for a first attempt.
Extra-coconut version
Swap the plain powder for our Ube Coconut Powder 100 g — 15.90 €: ube and coconut is the Filipino pairing par excellence, and it is perfectly at home here since the whole recipe already rests on coconut milk.
Individual bibingkas
Divide the batter between 10 muffin moulds lined with baking paper and cut the baking time to 20 minutes, plus 3 minutes under the grill. Handy for a buffet — and close in spirit to our ube muffins.
Vanilla version
The Ube Vanilla Powder 100 g — 15.90 € replaces the plain powder and the extract: the aroma is rounder, more of a childhood dessert.
Gluten-free version
The recipe contains nothing but rice flours: it is naturally gluten-free, provided you check the packets for cross-contamination. See our page on gluten-free ube powder.
Storage
Bibingka is ideally eaten on the day, warm. It keeps for 2 days at room temperature under a cover, or 4 days in the fridge, tightly wrapped. Cold hardens the glutinous rice starch: give each slice 20 seconds in the microwave before serving and the soft texture comes back completely. Freezing works well, slice by slice, for up to 2 months — defrost in the microwave, without going through the fridge.
As for the raw ingredient, our advice on storing ube powder explains how to preserve the colour and aroma of a pouch once it is open — away from light and moisture, the number one enemy of anthocyanins.
Which ube powder should you choose for a bibingka?
Bibingka is a lightly sweetened, lightly flavoured cake: the aroma of the powder comes through clearly. Three criteria really matter. The variety first — Kinampay from the Visayas has the reputation of being the most fragrant in the archipelago, and it is the one we work with. Then purity: a 100 % ube powder, with no filler starch and no added flavouring, the only guarantee of a natural purple and a clean taste. And finally the fineness of the grind, which governs the rehydration and therefore the absence of grains in the crumb.
- Ube Powder Nature 200 g — 16.90 € — the reference size for baking: about six bibingkas.
- Ube Powder Nature 100 g — 12.90 € — the trial size, to test before committing.
- Duo Rituel — 29.90 € — the 200 g plain powder together with a 100 g flavour of your choice.
To compare the whole range, see which size of ube powder to choose, our page on ube powder for baking and the profile of the Ube Kinampay variety.
Frequently asked questions about ube bibingka
Can you make bibingka without banana leaf?
Yes. Buttered baking paper works perfectly for the baking and for turning the cake out. The banana leaf brings a subtle grassy aroma you cannot get any other way, but it is neither essential nor easy to find outside Asian grocery stores.
How much ube powder for a 22 cm bibingka?
30 g give a clear purple and a distinct aroma. Go up to 40 g for Filipino-bakery intensity, adding 30 ml of extra coconut milk to make up for the starch absorption.
Why is my bibingka grey rather than purple?
Either the powder was rehydrated with a liquid that was too hot (above 85 °C), or the oven was too fierce. Anthocyanins are heat-sensitive: stay at 175 °C and do not leave it under the grill for more than three minutes.
What can replace glutinous rice flour?
Nothing, unfortunately — it is what gives the chewy texture. Without it you will get a perfectly good coconut milk cake, but it will no longer be a bibingka. Turn instead to our ube cake, which is designed for wheat flour.
Is the salted egg compulsory?
No. It is the signature of street bibingka, but the version without salted egg is perfectly authentic in Filipino homes. Simply make up for it by raising the salt in the batter slightly.
Does ube bibingka contain colourings?
None. The purple comes entirely from the anthocyanins in the tuber. That is exactly the point of ube powder as a natural colouring in baking.
What does ube bibingka taste like?
A lightly sweetened rice cake, very coconutty, with a soft vanilla note in the background and a hazelnut-chestnut finish brought by the ube. Nothing aggressive or vegetal. Our page on what ube powder tastes like describes the aromatic profile in detail.
Can the batter be made the day before?
Better not: baking powder activates on contact with liquids and loses part of its power within a few hours. The rehydrated ube paste, on the other hand, keeps for 48 h in the fridge, wrapped in contact with the surface.
Going further
Bibingka is part of a family: if you want to explore purple Filipino baking, carry on with ube pandesal, the purple breakfast roll, ube ensaymada, the rolled brioche with cheese, and ube flan for special occasions. Halo-halo and ube halaya complete the traditional repertoire. The full catalogue is gathered on our ube recipes page.
To understand the tuber itself — its origin, its taste and its uses — start with our guide Ube: the ultimate guide to the purple superfood of the Philippines, together with the page on ube powder: origin, dosage and where to buy it and the history of ube.
