My top 3 favorite Philippine desserts

[meryll_thirteen]

Hi guys! I got excited to post something as this is my first one.

So, the top 3 desserts I like to eat when I was still in Philippines were Halu-halo (literally means mix-mix in english), brazo de mercedes and chocolate crinkles.

1. HALU-HALO is one of the popular food during summer. This is basically:

shaved ice with evaporated milk,

sugar,

and the following:

- nata de coco (coconut cream based on a google search, these are cube-like jellies),

- sweetened red beans,

- sweetened bananas,

- cooked sago or tapioca,

- ube or purple yam,

- leche flan (this is also one of the best desserts to eat),

- macapuno (made of coconut),

- sweetend jackfruit,

- sweetened kamote (this is similar to sweet potato but caramelized),

- sweetened kaong (sugar palm fruit)

- and topped with a scoop of ice cream.

These fruits are usually bought in jars (found mostly in Asian grocery stores). You basically put the fruits at the bottom, add sugar (if you want because almost all the fruits are sweetened so it's already sweet), then you fill the cup/bowl with shaved ice and add milk. And most importantly, mix it well before you eat because you don't want to eat shaved ice with milk only and then eat the really sweet fruits last.

2. BRAZO DE MERCEDES

Yah, I think the name is Spanish? I tried making this but I just failed. It's kinda hard to do and takes a lot of patience but it's really worth it. This is my favourite cake! In Philippines, most bakeries sell this but my favourite is from Goldiluck's which is located in shopping malls.

Brazo de Mercedes recipe

3. CHOCOLATE CRINKLES

These are my favourite chocolate cookies! I think this one isn't really from Philippines but they are really popular. I was kinda shocked when I came here in Canada, because they don't sell these cookies in the bakeries I've been to so I tried baking these on my own. Since my post is getting long, I'll put the recipe as a link at the bottom.

http://sweb2.dmit.na...rinkles-recipe/

I hope you enjoyed my post! Happy eating and baking everyone!

[janeer]

Welcome! Those look good. We actually have similar items, with variations, in the US. The first is like a fruit parfait (but we have nothing so PURPLE!); the second we have many variations of, a sponge cake rolled with various fillings (and yours is similar to the brazo de gitano of Spain); the third is similar to a famous cookie here that contains ground almonds and spices, but like yours is chewy and, when baked, is similarly crinkled.

[meryll_thirteen]

Thank you janeer!

Oh I see, that's my first time knowing that. I guess there are dishes in different continents that are somehow similar. Maybe I should try fruit parfait because I've never tried that one before.

[prasantrin]

I know most people love halo halo, but it's something I've never taken to. I actually just eat the ice and evaporated milk when I have it!

My favourites are sans rival, silvanas (the old-school kind), and macapuno pandan. I think silvanas might be more like a snack, but for my purposes, they're dessert!

Is cassava cake a dessert or a snack? I love cassava cake, too.

Those are my favourite Filipino desserts/dessert-like snacks. I do have to say that Filipinos do Western-style cakes very very well. I'd much rather eat a piece of chocolate cake from a good-quality bakery in the Philippines than a similar dessert from a Canadian/American bakery. It will usually be much better quality.

Can we talk about the perfect ensaimada and pan de sal next?

[SylviaLovegren]

I never thought of rolling a meringue like the Brazo recipe calls for. Sounds yummy! You could also flavor the egg custard center in different ways -- citrus obviously comes to mind. Then top the whole thing with whipped cream.... a rolled Pavlova.

[rod rock]

Those chocolate crinkles look very interesting!!!

[loki]

Biko is really good! It's just glutinous rice topped with caramel (well a little more complicated, but not much). I like the various flans too.

Ginataang Halo Halo is another I really like! It's a sort of sweet soup with taro, purple yams, coconut milk, and tapioca (that was my version anyway) that nobody but me liked when I brought it to a get-together (snobs! and they were pretty full as we made 12 dishes of other Philippine food!). I think this is on the same track as the Halu-halo above but is a bit simpler and I did not serve it parfait-style.

I've just been having tapioca with pineapple and purple yam jam (yum!). These 'parfait'-like Asian desserts (well they are sort of snacks too), have so many ingredients I prefer to buy them. I like the Vietnamese 'parfaits' very much too. Philippine restaurants are rare here, while Vietnamese (Cambodian and Lao) are common; so maybe that's it. The Vietnamese ones use nearly the same ingredients (though no purple yam or ice cream), and they often have agar-agar or tapioca/sago threads or ribbons in them as well. Salted plums are common too (though I don't really like them in these sweet dishes).

[LT Wong]

I love sans rival and ensaymada (although I'm not sure this counts as dessert) ever since my friend introduced them to me. I also love the ube and mango ice cream.

[meryll_thirteen]

Wow! The food you're mentioning are all delicious. I also love buko pandan. Is that similar to macapuno pandan? And I never tried silvanas. I googled it and it looks so delicious. Do you have a recipe for that?

Talk about ensaymada, they are also one of my favourites as well as Spanish bread! I'm getting hungry...

[pquinene]

I'm from Guam....so we get to enjoy lots of Filipino food. Half of my bestest girlfriends are Filipina. Here are my 3 favorite Filipino desserts:

SUMAN - glutinous rice with brown sugar and coconut milk

FLAN - egg yolks, evaporated milk, condensed milk and lime

TURON - plantains with sugar, wrapped in Filipino lumpia wrapper then deep fried

Edited October 5, 2012 by pquinene (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

I'm from Guam....so we get to enjoy lots of Filipino food. Half of my bestest girlfriends are Filipina. Here are my 3 favorite Filipino desserts:

SUMAN - glutinous rice with brown sugar and coconut milk

FLAN - egg yolks, evaporated milk, condensed milk and lime

TURON - plantains with sugar, wrapped in Filipino lumpia wrapper then deep fried

Wow, that turon looks good...and easy. What an inspiration!

[Kouign Aman]

Turon! Thank you - I love those and had no idea what the name was.

I can eat 6 or more of those in a sitting, after eating lunch.

Great topic!