As many of you know, I'm half-Filipino. I come from a Filipino family that's passionate about food, with many chefs among us. Over the pandemic, I've missed my Filipino family, all back in my hometown Ottawa. After my last visit home, I vowed to make a keto version of a Filipino dessert, bibingka, a cake usually made with either glutinous rice or cassava flour as a base. I had hoped to get the more chewy texture I love in the version made with glutinous rice, but has more of the texture that you would expect in a Mexican Tres Leche (AKA - "Three Milk") cake. My adaptation uses coconut flour as the base, and I decided to lean more heavily into the coconut theme by using three different kinds of coconut milk, full-fat canned coconut milk, coconut cream, and coconut milk beverage, which is why it made sense to call it a "Tres Leche Coconut Bibingka." While it's now replacement for the glutinous rice version, I hope my cake can be seen as an equally delicious alternative low-carb, sugar-free, gluten-free version of a Filipino classic.
Keto Tres Leche Filipino Coconut Bibingka Recipe
Ingredients:
- Two 14 oz can full-fat coconut milk
- ¼ cup golden flaxmeal, blended finely
- ¼ cup gelatin powder (*Or use agar agar for vegan.)
- 3 cups coconut flour
- ½ cup vanilla vanilla-flavoured whey isolate (*Or vegan vanilla protein powder for vegan.)
- 1½ teaspoons glucomannan (*May sub xanthum gum, but glucomannan is healthier.)
- ¾ teaspoons fine sea salt
- One 14 oz can coconut cream
- ½ cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted (*May swap with ghee , butter or vegan butter.)
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage(*Or any non-dairy milk.)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon butter extract (if using coconut oil)
- 5 eggs (*Sub with flax/chia eggs for vegan. for vegan.)
- 1 lb young coconut flesh, drained and chopped unsweetened dried coconut
- ½ cup gold erithrytol monk fruit sweetener or Swerve Brown
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted (*May swap with ghee , butter or vegan butter.)
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, finely grated (*May swap with finely grated white cheddar for another traditional topping if you don't mind leaning away from the coconut theme of this version.)
Directions:
Grease a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with either coconut oil, ghee, butter or vegan butter. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together ground flax and ½ cup of the coconut milk. Set aside for 5 minutes to soak. (*Note: If using flax/chia eggs in this recipes instead of regular eggs, add in the water and flax/chia to make them at this step too.) Add ⅔ cup more coconut milk and sprinkle gelatin on top. Allow 5-7 minutes to bloom.
Preheat the oven to 350F. In a small mixing bowl, sift together coconut flour, protein powder, glucomannan and salt. Set aside.
Going back to the large bowl with the flax and gelatin, using an electric mixer, beat in remaining coconut milk, coconut cream and melted coconut oil (or butter) together until fully combined. Add vanilla and butter extract (if using) then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add young coconut flex, half the amount at a time, and beat until combined. Gradually beat in flour mixture a little at a time. Beat in erithrytol gold. Pour batter onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven until top is golden brown and sides are slightly dark brown, 50-60 minutes. Brush with melted butter and top with grated coconut.
Allow to cool, about 20 minutes, before loosening the sides and cutting into squares.
Did you make this keto tres leche Filipino coconut bibingka recipe? If so, please let me know how it turned out in the comments. Or if you share pics of your creations on Instagram, please tag me so I can see them. Enjoy!
