Sweet Rice Cake (Bibingkang Malagkit)

Ingredients

• 3 cups sweet rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons water

Directions

1. 1

   Soak rice in 3 1/2 cups water overnight.

2. 2

   Combine rice with coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a rice cooker or heavy non-stick pot over medium low heat, stirring frequently until fully cooked. Add a little more water if needed. If you are using a rice cooker, keep cooker on warm setting until rice is cooked.

3. 3

   Line a 9x13x2 inch pan with foil greased with butter.

4. 4

   Transfer rice to pan and spread evenly; smoothing the top with the back of a spoon. Set aside.

5. 5

   Combine flour and 4 tablespoons water in a small cup and stir to make a slurry and set aside.

6. 6

   Combine brown sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and milk in a non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.

7. 7

   Stir in flour mixture and whisk until sauce has thickened and is smooth.

8. 8

   Spread over rice evenly.

9. 9

   Brown top under broiler for 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Do not burn.

10. 10

    Let cool at room temperature until firm and cut into pieces with a plastic knife.

11. 11

    I decrease the sugars by 1/2 cup and cut the salt to 1/2 tsp as I do not like very sweet desserts. Sweet rice is available in Asian markets. The short grain sweet rice is normally used. Long-grained glutinous rice is used by Thai's for sweet sticky rice. Coconut milk can be purchased canned or frozen.