If you want to spice up your next dinner or surprise your coworkers with a delicious dessert, you can’t go wrong with Filipino cuisine. It offers several unique takes on desserts flavored with coconut. Here are three sweet treats to share at your next gathering.

3 Filipino Desserts Sweetened With Coconut

1. Kutsinta

Kutsinta is a brown rice cake with a sticky texture and chewy insides made with brown sugar, lye water, annatto seeds, and two flours—rice and all-purpose. For a finishing touch, dust with shredded coconut. They’re best served with sweet tea or hot cocoa as an after-lunch snack.

• Mix together 1-1/2 cups of rice flour, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, and 1 cup brown sugar.
• Stir 3 cups of water into the dry ingredients, a little at a time, until combined.
• Add 1-1/2 teaspoons of food-grade lye water and 2 teaspoons of annatto seeds to the mixture, stirring until evenly distributed.
• Before placing the dough into individual cup molds, grease them lightly. Fill cups until they’re three-quarters full.
• Steam the cakes for 40 minutes until slightly brown.
• Remove them from molds, and dust with grated or shredded coconut while still warm.

2. Bibingka

Bibingka is a broad term for a staple in Filipino cuisine—coconut cakes made with coconut milk, rice flour, and shredded coconut. It’s often served as an afternoon snack or as a Christmas dessert with a cup of black coffee or tea.

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Whisk and combine 2 cups of rice flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in a large bowl.
• Create a hole in the center of your dry ingredients, and pour in 1/3 cup of melted butter, 1/2 cup of coconut milk, and 3 beaten eggs. Whisk until smooth.
• Line a nine-inch oven-proof skillet with parchment paper and grease with butter.
• Pour the mixture into the skillet, and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the skillet from the oven. Top the batter with 1 cup grated cheese (cheddar is fine). Return the skillet to the oven and continue baking.
• Bake until golden brown. When a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, your bibingka is ready.
• Sprinkle shredded coconut and serve warm.

3. Palitaw

For a midday at-work treat or a surprising party snack, consider making palitaw—small boiled dough balls rolled in sugar and grated coconut. They’re a light snack everyone  enjoys. Serve with coconut milk for maximum pleasure.

• Mix 4-1/2 cups of rice flour with 2 cups of water to form a sticky and thick mixture.
• Roll the dough into one-inch balls.
• Fill a large pot with water, and bring to a boil. Slide rice balls into the pan, and boil them for 10 minutes or until they float.
• Drain on paper towels, and let cool for a few minutes.
• Roll them in sugar and coconut shreds. Serve while still warm.

For traditional Filipino cuisine and authentic flavors for your coconut desserts, shop for Amor Nino Foods. Since 1978, they’ve been providing with tasty Filipino delicacies to groceries in Honolulu and across the islands. Call (808) 845-3288 today to place an order, or visit them online to view their product selections.