Easter is usually a time to cook up traditional dishes and desserts. I kept seeing recipes to alter and tweak Peeps which I really don’t like so I opted to enhance a traditional Filipino dish — bibingka malagkit (sweet rice with coconut milk and caramelized coconut).

You take 1 cup of sweet rice.  Put rice into a deep pot, rinse thoroughly and soak in warm water for about 15 minutes. This is the process I follow for my rice pudding recipe as well.  Pour out the water. Add in 1 can of sweet coconut milk and equivalent amount of water. Allow to boil and reduce heat. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Once rice is cooked,  remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 150 degrees.  Take out a 9×9 or 9×13 greased pan. Pour sweet rice into the pan and spread over evenly.  In a bowl, mix together 1/2 can of Nestle’s Dulce de Leche condensed milk with 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix together so it’s easy to pour.  Pour over top of sweet rice. Bake for 45 mins.  Do not allow top to burn.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Once cool, serve and enjoy! I actually put the rice in the fridge and used a large biscuit cutter to make them round. I just thought they were prettier served this way.

Don’t these look yummers?  I opted to top them off with toasted grated coconut for a more authentic Filipino flavor.  We do love our tropical fruits.   I have to tell you, the incredible flavors of coconut and caramel are undeniably delicious.  Enjoy!