Sapin-Sapin

Just three more days before Christmas! Have you made up your mind on what to prepare for your Christmas feast??? I've shared an album of some Favorite Filipino Christmas Food on Facebook that you might want to add to your menu. :) And now, I have here another dessert that I'm sure you will like. This is popularly served in the Philippines on special occasions and during holiday feasts, and is called Sapin-Sapin. I've actually featured a variety of this dessert before which is almond and pandan flavored. This time, I decided to make a Christmas version of it. 

Sapin-Sapin which is the Filipino word for "layers” is a layered dessert made from rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and flavorings with coconut flakes or fried coconut milk curd sprinkled on top. The usual Sapin-Sapin has a deep purple colored bottom layer which is ube (purple yam) flavored, an egg- yolk yellow middle layer which is langka (jackfruit) flavored and a white top layer. To make this Sapin-Sapin Christmassy, I changed the purple color to red and green. I made the green layer pandan flavored, the white layer vanilla flavored, the yellow layer banana flavored and the red layer langka (jackfruit) flavored. I only added little flavorings on both the yellow and red layers so they won't overpower the flavor of vanilla and pandan. The result was amazing! I must say that the flavor combination gave a delicious twist to this Sapin-Sapin. The only problem I had was transferring it from the non-stick baking pan I used to the serving platter. I wanted my sapin-sapin to be round so I didn't use the square glass baking dish that I usually mold my sapin-sapin with. Now I know that if I want to use a metal one, I should really put banana leaves or parchment paper at the bottom so I could take it off the pan easily. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups glutinous/sweet rice flour
• ½ cup plain rice flour
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 2 *13.5oz cans coconut milk
• 1 can condensed milk
• Food coloring: green, red and yellow
• ¼ tsp pandan extract
• 1/8 tsp langka extract
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp banana extract
• 1 cup toasted coconut or latik, for topping (See Almond and Pandan Sapin-Sapin on how to make this)

Instructions:

1. Mix glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sugar, coconut milk and condensed milk in a bowl. Whisk out any lumps, ensuring the mixture is smooth.

2. Divide batter into 4 equal portions. To one portion, add vanilla extract. Mix well. To the 2nd portion, put ¼ tsp pandan extract and 4 drops green food color. Mix well. To the 3rd portion, put 1/8 tsp langka extract and 4 drops red food color. Mix well. To the last portion, put 1/8 tsp banana extract and 4 drops yellow food color. Mix well.

3. Grease a 9x9 square or 9 in diameter round baking dish or pan. (If you have banana leaves, it would be advisable to cover the bottom and sides of the pan so that tranferring to a serving platter will be easier.) Pour the green pandan mixture. Spread evenly. Put a cloth under the steamer cover to prevent water from dripping to the sapin-sapin. Steam for 30 minutes or until firm. Pour white batter on top of the cooked pandan mixture. Cover the steamer again and steam for 30 minutes. Lastly, pour in the red batter. Again, steam for 30 minutes or until firm. Carefully remove the Sapin-Sapin from the steamer and allow to cool completely. Transfer to a serving platter. Cut into wedges or squares and sprinkle toasted coconut on top.