What is Christmas to you? In a grander, bigger scale… what is a Filipino Christmas to me (and all the Filipinos out there)?

Lights are a-twinkling, Christmas carols in the background, family getting together, a parol, the Christmas nativity centrepiece, and loads of food: this is a typical Filipino Christmas picture.

I remember back in the Philippines, the weeks (nay, months as we start celebrating in September) leading up to December 25 would be filled with that exciting buzz that is Christmas. Everyone seems to be in a frantic frenzy to get presents, organise family lunches, and set up Christmas parties. It would be a big production because when it comes to Christmas and family gatherings, Filipinos tend to go all out in the spirit of the holidays.

My family would be of no exception to this craziness. Mum used to own a shop with close to 20-30 staff during Christmas. To make things more cheerful to everyone, Mum would host Christmas parties at our place, give our presents, and encourage everyone to relax a little bit and enjoy the holidays. The house would be filled with buzzing busy-ness; this would stop, however, on Christmas eve. Christmas eve dinner, or Noche Buena, is the feast on the night before Christmas when the family gets together and will eat to our heart’s content at 12 midnight. Presents will be opened and everyone will greet each other Merry Christmas.

This would also be my family’s down time. Mum’s shop will be open for half a day on Christmas day, so that we can all enjoy our Noche Buena the night before. The usual Filipino Noche Buena is indeed a big production, however, in our family it’s a bit more small scale. It usually involves roast chicken, or lechong kawali or crispy pata (roast pork), a noodle dish, and dessert.

AH DESSERT.

As I’ve mentioned previously here, Mum isn’t a baker. She’s a great cook, but cannot bake to save her life. We had oven but it was only for storage – baking in my house was unheard of. Everything was bought from the cake shops, and in the Philippines, when you say cake (or bake) shops, you only go to one place and one place alone: Goldilock’s (remember, this was the 90′s so Goldilock’s was THE bakeshop in season). Dad would buy himself silly of all the cakes and sweets that he wanted – he was literally a kid in a candy shop! We, on the other hand, would go for the decadent cakes and would usually get a Black Forest Gateau or a Sacher Torte – cakes that none of us knew how to bake so will only buy them for special occasions! However, on this special Kulinarya Cooking Club Christmas edition, I’ve decided on tackling two Filipino ingredients that is very close to a Filipino’s heart and budget. Two ingredients that, when combined together, amalgamates into something so spectacular that both Filipinos and non-Filipinos will surely fall in love at first bite… and second… and third… and so forth.

Filipinos have a way of injecting some Filipino colours into all these fancy European cakes (and in general, for most dishes!). There is cheese ice cream, pandan cake, ice blocks with coconut, the paddle pop with Pinipig (Pinipig Crunch!). There is also a cake that I think stands out amongst all the cakes – it is simple, it uses Filipino ingredients, and yet still divine.

For my Kulinarya Cooking Club December 2009 Noche Buena dish, I give you…

Ube or purple yam is made from a root vegetable. It’s a dessert ingredient usually added to sweets and rice puddings, Halo Halo (mixed ice dessert similar to Ice Kacang), or in this case, to cakes and pastries. Macapuno is sweet preserved young coconut – very, very sweet and again added to the same desserts as the ube.

Cooked Ube (purple yam)

The cherries were just an adornment to celebrate Christmas here in Australia. However, let me assure you that this cake was ube (purple yam) and macapuno (sweetened, shredded young coconut meat) all the way through!

Ube Macapuno Cake
Recipe adapted from All Recipes Ube-Macapuno Cake
Makes one 22 cm (or 9inch) round pan cake

2 1/2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup ube (purple yam) in a jar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2/3 cup vegetable oil
7 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup caster sugar
6 drops red food color
6 drops blue food coloring
1 jar macapuno (coconut preserves)

1. Preheat oven to 165 deg C. Line a 22cm (9inch) round pan with baking paper. Do not grease.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the ube, milk, vanilla extract. Add the egg yolks and oil and mix until smooth. Set aside.
4. In another separte bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar and increase speed. Add food colouring and beat until soft peaks form.
5. Fold in the 1/3 of the egg whites into the ube batter. Add the rest of the egg whites and fold into batter until smooth consistency. Adjust the colouring to achieve a purple (or orchid) hue.
6. Pour batter on to prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until skewer comes out clean.
7. Cool cake before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting

250g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar mixture
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
6 drops red food color
6 drops blue food coloring

1. Beat butter until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar while beating.
2. Add the vanilla and milk. Beat until well combined.
3. Adjust the colour by adding red and blue to achieve a purple hue.

To Assemble:

1 x Ube Cake
1 x Buttercream Frosting
1 jar macapuno (coconut preserves)

1. Cut the pan crosswise in half.
2. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on top of the bottom half of the ube cake. Add a generous amount of macapuno, and top with another thin layer of buttercream.
3. Place the top half of the ube cake. Spread the remaining buttercream on the top and sides of the cake.
4. Garnish with ube and macapuno. To achieve that “Goldilocks Icing”, put the cake in the fridge for a few hours to allow the buttercream to harden.
5. Serve and enjoy!

This, to me, is one of the ultimate Filipino cakes. The purple colours show the probinsya (province) rustic appeal of the Philippines, while the use of local ingredients highlights the versatility of the Filipino produce.

Celebrating the spirit of Christmas transcends not only through the food that we eat, but in all aspects of what we do. May the peace and love of Christmas be upon all of you, and the hope of a happy and safe New Year to everyone!

Here’s to more cooking, travelling, eating and baking for 2010!

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Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

If you’re interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our foodblogs and leave a comment – we would love to hear from you!

Welcome to the new members of the Kulinarya Cooking Club!

Olive – http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline – http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Peachy – http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/

And of course… Kath of A Cupcake or Two and Trissa of Trissalicious!