Finally, a version I am happy about! :) An 8.75 bordering on 9.00/10.00. They look like the macapuno balls I recall from childhood, they taste like macapuno (not coconut masquerading as their coco loco cousins), and despite being on the sweet side for my adult taste buds,they possess that characteristic semi-gelatinous texture and unique mouthfeel. After a couple of days, their surface dries out but the core is still a bit moist. Yum.
As usual, it’s the recipes with the fewest ingredients that are the hardest to master. I tried macapuno balls before, with just macapuno and sugar, that resulted in tasty but rather moist balls. Then a few days ago, I tried a version with condensed, milk, here, that turned out rather disappointingly. So with just two cups of homemade macapuno preserves left, I decided to risk one more experiment that resulted in this batch of macapuno balls…
I placed two cups of macapuno preservers that I made earlier, with less sugar than I thought was best, then I added 1 cup of refined sugar and blitzed this in a food processor. Put this in a saucepan over medium heat and stirred for about 15 minutes or so, and the mixture was starting to come away from the sides of the pan. You need to mix this constantly to avoid burning the mixture. I then mixed about 3-3.5 tablespoons of cornstarch with about 1 tablespoon of water (or slightly more) and added this to the macapuno mixture and stirring constantly to ensure it mixed in well, rather than burning on the bottom of the pan.
Another 15 minutes or so of cooking and stirring and the mixture looked about right. I took it off the heat, and let it cool down for about 3 hours. Rolled the macapuno into balls, coated them in regular white granulated sugar (caster sugar was too fine, we tried), and wrapped them up in clear food safe wrapper (not cellophane). Add a touch of dayap rind and juice to the mixture before cooking for that little extra touch of flavor and aroma. :)
17 Responses
Wow! That;s determination for you MM…looks yummm….I like the contrast of the green container with the beautiful violet flowers….Wish I could open one macapuno wrapper……yummm…
Success!!!
Congratulations MM. Now, if only i could lay my hand on one of those…..
Wow! Congratulations MM!
I have to say, these macapuno balls look like the ones I always have in Pampanga! Yummy! However, those commercially-available treats have more cornstarch and sugar in them…
Not related but what are those flowers in the background? They’re very pretty! :)
pixienixie, they are hydrangeas, or locally known as milflores, or hortensia in Europe…
I wonder if you could substitute mochi flour instead of cornstarch for thickener?
i will try this recipe thank you for a great website.
Thank you! I’ll be sure to make these macapuno balls if ever I’m lucky enough to come across fresh macapuno.
I miss macapuno balls… and I miss marketmanila.com! Too busy to blog-hop lately and it’s so nice to catch this yummy post! :)
“it’s the recipes with the fewest ingredients that are the hardest to master” – I agree, congrats for this winning recipe.
You know why “it’s the recipes with the fewest ingredients that are the hardest to master”? Because you can rest assured, it’s going to be technique dependent and technique is always harder to master than measuring off a variety of ingredients.
finally,a success :) ,will keep the recipe so i can make it soon..mm,you think it will be possible to use bottled macapuno(no fresh source here) and lemon/lime rind for aroma (might be impossible to find dayap also)? …cant wait to finally eat these again..
Hi MM just a clarification on your cellophane wrapper, I ordered from an Ohio based company pre-cut 5 x 5 cellophane wrappers for candy and on their website it says that cellophane is a paper product derived from cellulose (wood) pulp . “Cellophane” is made from cottonwood trees purposely grown, farmed and harvested for “Cellophane” production. No need to worry they are not cutting down trees in the rainforest or your neighborhood to produce “Cellophane”. * while the polypropylene ( i think this is the most common plastic wrapper) are plastic products derived from crude oil so i think what you did use is cellophane?
*clearcellobags.com
Looks so yummy, MM. Your version is way way better than the ones I’ve tried back in my childhood days. I wanna try this one soon. Thanks for sharing. :)
This looks so yummy! What is dayap?
hi mm,
this is a bit off topic but any idea where to get pastillas wrapped in intricate paper designs?
im based in singapore and would love to bring back some as presents to my colleagues…
not only its uniquely pinoy but also a very nice work of art!
thanks in advance!
i wish i can find macapuno here in malaysia so i can try your recipe. many filipinos here miss that. :)
Thanks for the recipe
I love hortensia on designer bags- they are the flowers on the Louis Vuitton monogram