Bibingka Royale (Coconut Rice Dessert)

Ok, you're right, this one didn't come from my grandma's recipe box, but she would approve of me including this as a continuation of her recipes.  I know I have said it before, but my Grandma LOVED Hawaii.  Even though she never actually visited the place, she knew a lot about it (except for maybe how to actually pronounce it, lol - she always had a "ya" on the end). You know..she would say it like "Hawaiiya".    I just loved it!   Now I am not exactly a huge coconut fan and this isn't exactly what I remember eating at get togethers when we lived in Hawaii, but it sounded close and so I included it as a part of a recent Hawaiian dinner.  The menu included Kalua Pork, Shoyu Chicken, Hawaiian-style macaroni salad, rice and Bibingka Royale.  This recipe came  from a great cookbook called "Best of the Best from Hawai'i Cookbook"  Every time I look at this picture and the coconut on top, I think of the recent snow we have had...now I am not sure how I go from a sweet Hawaiian coconut dessert to snow, but maybe there is someone out there who can see what I see!

Bibingka Royale (Coconut Rice Dessert)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mochiko
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs, beaten until light
1/4 cup melted butter
Wilted banana leaves (I skipped this part because I couldn't find them)
2 cups shredded coconut


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, coconut milk, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl.  Sift mochiko and baking powder together.  Add mochiko mixture to milk mixture.  Beat until dough is smooth.  Add eggs and melted butter to batter.  Beat mixture until smooth.  Pour batter into a greased, 9x13-inch pan that has been lined with wilted banana leaves. (I just greased the pan instead of using banana leaves)  Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded coconut while still hot.  Cool completely before cutting. Another note;  I could not find mochiko in the stores near by, so I used "Sweet Rice Flour" which may be found in the baking section with many of the gluten free flours. It seemed to work fine.


You'll note that  "sifting" is required in this recipe too and I did make sure I didn't skip this step...still trying to clean up my slobby/lazy kitchen habits.  I'm also still searching for that coconut rice dessert recipe I remember and I hope to find it, make it, (eat it) and post about it one day.