Champorado cheesecake with dilis, bibingka ice cream cake, and other Filipino-inspired Christmas offerings

Do you love Pinoy delicacies?

Filipinos love them in their traditional forms—Brazo de Mercedes cake, ube halaya, classic ensaymada, puto bumbong, and so much more. But when they’re stepped up even further and reinvented, they turn into a whole new adventure that’s magically fresh to the tastebuds again. For some reason, these delectable delights taste ten times better during Christmastime.

Craving yet? We’ve got you. Scroll down for some Filipino-inspired offerings you’ll absolutely love.

Want some puto? What makes Tita Letty's Pinoy Deli special is its puto especially designed for the Yuletide season. For P160, you can enjoy 12 pieces of it in different shapes (like Christmas tree, Santa Claus, and Christmas stocking) that can easily get you into the festive spirit.

McDonald’s Philippines’ Brazo de Mercedes and Ube Pastillas sundaes (P38) made the rounds online early this month. If you haven’t tried it, here’s your sign. These cold delights combine the goodness of native delicacies with the fast-food chain’s creamy vanilla ice cream. They’re also available in the form of beverages: Brazo de Mercedes iced coffee, Brazo de Mercedes frappe, and the Ube Pastillas frappe. To know more about these, you may check out our honest review here. 

The classic ensaymada is well-loved for its creamy and soft features that’s taken up a notch with grated cheese. For the holidays, Conti’s decided to turn things up by adding another layer of flavor. One is topped with dark chocolate toppings, while the other is finished off with luscious ube. Each is priced at P60.

Attention cheesecake lovers! Max’s Restaurant is offering different variants of this irresistible dessert for Christmas. Priced at P424 each, flavors include the Malagos Champorado Cheesecake topped with candied dilis, the crowd favorite bibingka cheesecake, and puto bumbong cheesecake. 

If the mention of bibingka got you feeling excited, you’d be tempted to order what we’re about to mention STAT. Introducing Sebastian’s Bibingka Supreme Ice Cream Cake, made with freshly baked bibingka, Queso de Bola ice cream, and salted egg yolk ice cream. It’s then brushed with melted butter and finished off with salted duck egg as well as a generous serving of grated cheese. 

Bibingka is also the star of the show in Bibingkinitan’s cheesecakes. For P450 each, you can devour the exciting taste of bibingka mixed with other well-loved treats. There’s the salted egg and Queso de Bola flavor that highlights sweet and salty notes and the brown butter muscovado variant with crunchy and crumbly sugar. The bibingka butter yema cake (P350) is made sweeter with some creamy custard that sparks some Christmas cheer.

If you like Queso de Bola, you'll enjoy Isabel's Queso de Bola Crisps—the perfect low-carb snack. You can buy it on its own at P280 per tub or purchase a Christmas Care Box which comes with a Queso De Bola Spread, two kinds of dressing, Queso De Bola Crisps, chips, and bibingka.