bibingka..a christmas food

Filipinos are familiar with this food, bibingka...
i really love this food and seeing that people are selling this on streets and malls it makes me feel that Christmas is getting near.
bibingka is made of rice flour(galapong)made from galapong, baked in a special clay pot, lined with a piece of banana leaf, with live coals on top and underneath. It is topped with slices of kesong puti (white cheese) and itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs) and it is usually served with butter or margarine on top and sugar is sprinkled over it and it is typically served with grated coconut.
here is one of bibingka recipe one from the many variations of bibingka.Enjoy..
Ingredients

1 cup thick galapong
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsps. baking powder
2 tbsps. melted butter (My mom used regular hydrogenated margarine, out of a tub)
4 tbsps. sugar for topping
3 eggs, well-beaten
1 cup coconut milk
3 tbsps. grated cheese (Mom used Magnolia or Kraft processed yellow cheese; I’m more partial to using goat cheese and salted duck’s eggs)

To make galapong:

Soak rice in equal amounts of water overnight. Grind and let stand until the next day.

Note: We used a meat grinder.

For the bibingka:

1. Add sugar to the galapong.

2. Add baking powder, melted butter, and the well-beaten eggs and coconut milk. Mix well.

3. Pour a thin layer of this batter into a hot (native clay) baking pan or molds lined with banana leaves (which has previously been passed over an open flame, to soften the fibers).

4. Cover each baking dish with a galvanized iron sheet with live embers on it.

5. When almost cooked, sprinkle grated cheese and sugar on top of each — and cover again. Continue baking until brown; brush top of bibingka with melted butter and serve hot with grated coconut.

Note: If you want a more waxy, chewy “feel” to the bibingka, try mixing malagkit rice to make the galapong. For example, try the ratio of 1/4 cup malagkit rice to 3/4 cup regular rice.