kakanin

Kakanin is a category of Filipino desserts made from rice or rice flour, usually cooked in coconut milk and sugar. The name derives from Tagalog, literally meaning "rice cake." Kakanin is a staple of Filipino festive and street-food culture, often prepared for celebrations, merienda, and Christmas, and is commonly wrapped in banana leaves for aroma and presentation.

Prominent examples include bibingka, a soft, lightly sweet rice cake baked in banana leaves and traditionally topped with salted egg and cheese; puto, a fluffy steamed rice cake that is commonly white but may be flavored with cheese or salted egg; kutsinta, a glossy orange steamed rice cake sweetened with brown sugar and seasoned with lye water, usually served with grated coconut; sapin-sapin, a multi-layered steamed cake made from glutinous rice and coconut milk in alternating colors; palitaw, a flat disk of glutinous rice cake boiled and rolled in grated coconut, sugar, and sesame; suman, a family of rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, with varieties such as suman sa lihiya; and biko, a sticky rice dessert cooked in coconut milk and brown sugar, often topped with latik.

Texture and flavor range from soft and fluffy to dense and chewy, with prominent coconut sweetness. Preparation often involves soaking and grinding or soaking glutinous rice, mixing with coconut milk and sugar, and steaming or baking. Banana leaves impart aroma and help shape the cakes.