My sister-in-law, Tina, is an amazing person. She’s the middle girl in Old Goat Honey’s family and typical of the middle child, she’s easy-going but hardworking, innovative and willing to try new things, kind-hearted, peace-loving, and makes a great friend. She’s had some trials in her life but her perseverance always pulls her through with flying colors. She loves animals and her home in Australia has turned into a mini animal sanctuary for all the animals she’s rescued. I’m forever in awe of how artistic she is. She can draw, paint, sculpt… She made a mobile for No. 1 when he was born that was absolutely adorable. I always say she’s the family McGyver. Give her a sheet of plastic and an exacto knife and she’ll have a bunch of crowns made and all the children playing King Arthur’s Court in no time. Did I mention she cooks and bakes, too? She taught me how to make Maja Blanca. This is her recipe.
Maja Blanca is a traditional Filipino dessert. It’s kindof like a coconut pudding studded with kernels of corn. It sounds strange to think of coconut and corn together, but believe me this dessert is sooo good, you’ll find yourself coming back for seconds and thirds. I think Maja Blanca is traditionally topped with latik which is basically coconut milk curds. To make latik, you bring some coconut milk to a simmer and keep simmering till the oil separates from the milk solids which eventually start to fry in the oil and and turn into little brown curds. It’s a lot of work. My shredded coconut topping is way easier.
When you shop for the canned milks for this recipe, you’ll need to buy:
- 4 cans (13.5 oz. each) coconut milk
- 1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
From the 4 cans of coconut milk, you’ll be able to get 5 cups for the 1st Mixture, but you won’t have enough left over to make 2 cups for the 2nd Mixture. Never fear. What you’re going to do is pour the last of the coconut milk into your 2-cup measure and then add enough of the liquid drained from the whole kernel corn to make 2 cups.
Same thing with the evaporated milk. You won’t have enough in the can to make 2 cups but it’s not worth opening a whole ‘nother can when you’re just a little bit short, so pour the evaporated milk into your measuring cup and then add enough corn liquid drained from the whole kernel corn to make the 2 cups that you’ll need for the 1st Mixture. If you run out of corn liquid, go ahead and use water. It’ll be fine.
MAJA BLANCA
1st Mixture:
- 5 cups coconut milk
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 can (14¾ oz.) cream-style corn
- 1 can (15.25 oz.) whole kernel corn, drain and reserve the liquid
2nd Mixture:
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 2 cups cornstarch
- Grease a rectangular pyrex glass baking dish or metal baking pan with butter or margarine.
- Mix all the ingredients of the 1st Mixture together in a large pot.
- In a bowl, mix together the ingredients of the 2nd Mixture using a wire whisk until smooth.
- Bring 1st Mixture to a boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally.
- When boiling, pour the 2nd Mixture into the pot, scraping it all in with a rubber spatula, and continue to cook, stirring constantly until thick. The mixture will thicken really fast so this step is best done by two people. One person to stir the pot while the other person pours the 2nd Mixture into it.
- Quickly pour maja into prepared baking pan.
Toasted Sweet Coconut Topping:
- 1 cup fresh grated coconut
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
- Melt butter in a frying pan.
- Add grated coconut and sugar and toast, stirring constantly until golden brown. Watch carefully because the coconut burns fast!
- Sprinkle toasted sweet coconut over maja blanca.
NOTE: If you can’t get fresh grated coconut, you can substitute unsweetened dessicated coconut. If you can’t get unsweetened dessicated coconut, you can use sweetened dessicated coconut but cut the 1/2 cup sugar down to 2 tablespoons.
This is a big recipe so it’s great for potlucks and family gatherings. It makes enough to fill a 9×13 rectagular baking dish with enough left over to fill an 8-inch round pie plate. If you have a dish bigger than 9×13, use it to make one giant dessert.
Pinky's Pantry 