I noticed an abundance of macapuno (coconut sport, mutant coconuts) at the market the other day. I wonder if I am just sensitive to the produce now that I have actually tried it. 
I can’t imagine that macapuno has a seasonal preference as mutants wouldn’t just occur in the Fall or Spring, no? At any rate, I bought three heavy nuts the other day with the intention of trying to re-create the macapuno tarts that I recall from childhood. In preparation for the tarts, I started to make a pate brisee which is a classic French tart dough essentially made up of flour, butter, salt and cold water. I find it is difficult to do perfectly in a tropical country unless you have a chilled marble countertop and an airconditioned kitchen. If the butter rises above a certain temperature, the dough is a goner. And our butter here is pathetic to begin with. At any rate, I made enough dough for three tarts, two small (6-inch) round tart pans I bought on Saturday and a long rectangular tart pan. Since the dough needs to be started several hours before it is cooked, I had the dough done early Sunday morning…
Mid-afternoon Sunday we opened the three macapunos only to find that 2 of them were rotten and unusable…don’t you hate it when that happens with any fruit? So I 
made use of only one macapuno that I scraped with a melon scraper into strings. I plopped 3 cups worth into a heavy enameled pot and added half the amount of sugar and stirred over medium-low heat until thickened a bit. I set that aside to cool. After pre-baking the tart shells, I filled them with the macapuno mixture and baked them for about 20 minutes at 375 F. After allowing them to cool, they can be served plain or if you want a really over the top dessert, put a generous scoop of good ube ice cream on top of a slice of the macapuno tart. It was absolutely delicious and incredibly simple to make. If you aren’t too finicky, use a regular pie dough whichmay be easier to manage (but pre-bake it as well)….
14 Responses
this looks absolutely lush!!!!!!
i want proper ube and macapuno!
I just really love anything with macapuno! lol..Your tart looks heavenly delicious that I’m actually salivating as I read your post. hahaha.I need to find macapuno ASAP!
this is something i really want to try. i can already imagine the macapuno and ube ice cream! good post and great desert MM!
wooow! that looks absolutely…royal? can’t find the right word…it loks absolutely scrumptious…hard to believe it was made with the fewest of ingredients. we used to have a macapuno-yielding tree in the backyard, but i never made macapuno tarts – mazapan (not marzipan) de macapuno was one of my favorite things to make. must try making the tarts sometime.
thanks for the idea! will have to make do with a store-bought pie crust and bottled macapuno…no ube ice cream available here, but I think (tillamook) vanilla bean ice cream will do nicely :)
This looks a lot like the dessert my Nana makes. I can’t spell the word, but she calls it (I’ll try my best) “Cuncanun”. Same as Beco, I believe.
I may just try this sometime!
Besides the melting crust, this was incredibly easy to make. I would have liked my crust a little less pale but it tasted good. The filling is easy but the key is the quality of the macapuno and the right balance with the sugar. I don’t like it too sweet so I start with 1/2 the amount of white sugar (1 semi-packed cup of macapuno to 1/2 cup white sugar)or even less and taste as I cook it. You should have a distinct macapuno flavor and the the sweetness. If you let this tart cool, place it in the fridge and serve it by slices and allow it to warm up a bit, the filling is just the right consistency. Serve in small portions, too much of a good thing can kill you! :)
death by macapuno! ‘kala nila chocolate lang huh!
MM, I don’t like macapuno too sweet myself. Have you tried flavoring the macapuno with 1 pandan leaf? It’s also great that way.
they look absolutely delish!!!
my mouth is watering – dammit!!
MM, my day is not complete without a visit to your blog.
i absolutely love macapuno! when i was pregnant with my 1st kid, i pigged out by eating half a big nescafe bottle of home-made sweet macapuno in one sitting. i guess that’s why my firstborn was mestizo! haha! hey, i could really eat 2 of those pies in one sitting, they look sooo delicious!
oh wow! i so love macapuno. where did you say you got them? please tell me where i can get some..
i’m dying right now to have a piece of that pie..
babycakes, you can get some macapuno at the Market!Market! outdoor market in Fort Bonifacio. Just make sure to warn the vendor that if it turns out to be a spoiled you’ll knock his coconut silly. Two out of three macapunos I recently bought were spoiled!