15+ Best Filipino Desserts You Must Try in the Philippines

Looking for traditional Filipino desserts? This is your ultimate list for must-try sweet treats in Filipino cuisine! Filipino desserts draw inspiration from Malay, Chinese and Spanish desserts, using glutinous rice, coconut and condensed milk as key ingredients for creamy and sweet delicacies. While the ingredients have a lot of overlap with other Southeast Asian desserts, Filipino sweets have a distinct and delicious take. This food guide will give you a tour of popular and traditional Filipino desserts for your trip to the Philippines, when visiting Filipino restaurants, or if you want to make them at home.

The World of Kakanin

Kakanin is a uniquely Filipino category of desserts made from rice, sweet rice or root vegetables and optionally with coconut or coconut milk. The following treats represent some of the most beloved varieties of this category.

Bibingka

Bibingka is a Filipino baked rice cake that is customarily prepared in a clay oven lined with banana leaves and served for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon snack, particularly during the Holiday season. The aroma that comes out when you open the banana leaves already wets the appetite for something special. It is often enjoyed during the Christmas season in the Philippines, especially after attending the dawn mass called Misa de Gallo. Bibingka is even better as a Filipino street food where you often see it charcoal-baked instead of electric baked in restaurants.

Biko

Biko is a smooth and sticky rice cake that is cooked with coconut milk and brown sugar. This traditional Filipino dessert has a sweet and nutty flavor that is enhanced by latik, a coconut topping that can be either crunchy or syrupy. Biko is also called bibingkang malagkit, sinukmani, or kalamay in different regions of the Philippines. It is a festive kakanin dessert that is served on special occasions, such as birthdays, fiestas, and Christmas.

Buko Pandan

Buko Pandan is a creamy and refreshing Filipino dessert made with young coconut strips, pandan-flavored cream, and green jelly cubes. The jelly cubes are cooked with coconut juice and pandan extract or leaves for extra flavor and color. This is one of the popular traditional Filipino desserts during holidays and celebrations, and best enjoyed cold or frozen.

Puto

Puto is a traditional steamed rice cake in the Philippines and is often seen at Filipino parties in various colors like white, purple, green, and more. These bite-sized kakanin (or “rice cake”), is named puto from the Malay word “puttu,” which means “portioned.” These are often steamed in mini muffin molds or cupcake molds.

Traditional Pastries and Puddings

Ensaymada

Ensaymada is a Filipino pastry that traces its origins to the Spanish ensaïmada, a bread made with pork fat. However, this traditional Filipino dessert uses butter instead, and adds custard filling, cheese, and sugar toppings. It is a soft, fluffy, and creamy dessert that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere, and is widely available in bakeries and pastry shops in the Philippines.

Leche Flan

Leche flan isn’t native to the Philippines, but it’s definitely become a traditional dessert. Unlike its predecessor from Spain, Filipino leche flan is richer because it uses lots of egg yolks, condensed milk, and is steamed in the oven in oval llanera molds. This ultra creamy and sweet creme caramel is often eaten by itself or added as a topping to halo halo, chiffon cake, or cheesecake.

Taho

Taho is a cup full of silky tofu pieces layered with sago pearls and sweet syrup called arnibal. This traditional Filipino snack was originally introduced to the Philippines during pre-colonial times by Chinese migrants. These days you can find taho on Filipino street carts, or make it at home if you’re living abroad.

Root Vegetable-Based Delights

Ube Crinkle Cookies

Ube is a native Filipino root; it is a violet colored purple yam that has nutty and vanilla notes of flavor. These sweet and nutty crinkle cookies have a soft, but slightly chewy texture and are covered in powdered sugar. What was once an American cookie took an unexpected Filipino twist when someone switched out chocolate for ube and we’ve never looked back.

Cassava Cake

With a thick and moist layer of cake made of fresh cassava root, sweetened condensed milk & evaporated milk, and rich coconut cream–cassava cake is a Filipino party decadence, especially with its extra silky custard topping! Cassava cake is a type of traditional rice baked cake (bibingka), which uses cassava root as its base instead of glutinous rice.

Quick Comparison of Popular Filipino Desserts