My favorite Filipino dessert - Puto!

Ever since I was a little girl, one treat that I always enjoyed was Puto.  It's a filipino dessert (in case you didn't know by now, since I only mentioned it - oh - 5 bazillion times!) that is best described as a spongy rice cake.  When I discovered that there was a Chinese Market very close to my house, I knew that I would have the means to gather the ingredients to make it.  Little did I know that my friendly neighborhood Kroger also carried the ingredients.  Most of which you find in the "Healthy and Organic" Food section at Kroger.

Filipino Puto


 Recipe from Reynaldo Alejandro's excellent The Philippine Cookbook

Ingredients

 

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup white sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw for my first attempt!)
• 2 cups coconut milk

Directions:

Step #1
Sift first four ingredients (Rice flour, salt, baking powder, sugar) together.

S

Step #2
In a mixing bowl, add coconut milk to sifted ingredients and blend well to make a smooth mixture.

Step #3
Mix and blend thoroughly and fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full, roughly 2 tablespoons of the mixture into the cups. (Note:  It does make it easier to remove the Puto muffins from the cups if it is greased.  However, if you have the silicon like I have and you forget to grease the cups, then you can still take the muffins out if you roll the cups between your hands.  The cake will pull fully away from the silicon cups.)

Step #4
Cook in a steamer for 30 minutes.  If you are using a rice cooker as your steamer, be sure you have ALOT of water inside the boiler for the different batches.  Test for doneness. Muffins are done when toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. 

Optional Step #5 
Serve hot topped with grated coconut, or butter. 

To Store:
Place muffins onto a plate and cover with cling wrap.  Keep refridgerated.  When you want to reheat the muffins again, you can use a microwave (30 sec - 1 minute).  However, the best way to reheat Puto is to use the steamer again for 5-10 minutes.

ENJOY!  I know that I am!  

:)