Brown Sugary Balls

My grandmother and her sisters sometimes make a quick dessert of caramel covered, deep-fried doughballs made from rice flour, macapuno, and water.  They call these sweet spheres "Cascarone".  Problem is, they also refer to another dessert that they make as "Cascarone" as well.  This second "Cascarone" is also a deep-fried dough; but it is shaped by rolling it off of the tines of a fork (kind of like gnocchi) and covered with a white sugar glaze.

I'm confused too.

I guess the term "Cascarone" refers, in general, to a deep-fried dessert covered in sugar?  I have no idea.  I didn't want to question my grandmother, lest I be finger-jabbed in my Adam's apple.  Further research into this matter was fruitless as well (and by research, I mean Google).  I did however, find a similar dessert in my Memories of Philippine Kitchens cookbook that was referred to as "Bunuelos"--the  dough was completely different, but these Bunuelos were shaped into spheres, deep-fried, and covered in syrup.

Anyhoo, I'm not sure why I'm so fascinated with the name of this dessert.  It's not that I don't believe my grandmother, it's just that I've never heard of "Cascarone" in this context before.  If any of my Filipino readers could provide some clarity, it would be much appreciated.  Until then though, I will just refer to this dessert as Brown Sugary Balls.

That's right.

Brown Sugary Balls.

These are not to be confused with Chocolate Salty Balls.  My Brown Sugary Balls are waaaay better.  They are quick and easy to make and they really hit the spot.  I'm serious.

All you have to do is mix some rice flour with a bit of water and some macapuno until a dough is formed.  The dough shouldn't be too sticky and should be easy to work with.  Then, you can begin making separate bite-size spheres.

After you have shaped all of the spheres by rolling bits of dough between your palms, fry them in hot oil until they are golden (the spheres, not your palms).

Finally, after draining the spheres on some paper towels, throw them in a bowl and drizzle with some caramel.

Mmmm. Brown Sugary Balls.  Sweet and crisp on the outside, chewy and coconutty on the inside.

Cascarone (AKA Brown Sugary Balls)
Yield: about 12-15 doughballs

1 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup water, divided
1/4 cup macapuno (macapuno is shredded coconut that can be found in jars at Asian markets)

For the glaze:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon water

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the rice flour, baking soda, and half of the water (1/4 cup at this point) and mix well. Slowly add the rest of the water, little by little, until a dough is formed.  You may not have to use all of the water.

Add the macapuno to the dough and mix well.  If the dough is too sticky, add more rice flour if needed.  The dough should be easy to work with.

Using your hands, break off small pieces of the dough (about 1 tablespoon) and roll between your palms to form spheres.  Place the spheres on wax or parchment paper.

In a large frying pan, heat a half-inch of oil (canola or vegetable) over medium-high heat.  Test the oil by gently dropping a small piece of dough into the pan. If the dough sizzles gently, the oil is ready.  Place the rest of the doughballs in the pan and fry until golden brown. Place the fried doughballs on paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile, make the caramel by combining the brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of water in a small saucepan over medium heat.  When the sugar and water reach a boil, reduce heat and continue to stir until all of the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.

While the doughballs are still warm, place them in a medium bowl and pour the caramel over them.  Toss to coat the doughballs with the caramel. Serve immediately.

Comments

[Wandering Chopsticks]

I don't know about cascarone, but the Mexican bunuelos I've had were closer to elephant ears. Fried flour tortillas topped with sugar and cinnamon.

Know what my brown sugary balls are? No, not that! I'm a girl! I use instant biscuit in can, cut each biscuit in half, roll into a ball, and fry that as doughnut holes. :)

[Fran]

The other cascarone you described...(the one that's rolled off a fork) is what we called guguria (pronounced gudzuria) in Guam (see here http://tinyurl.com/396ync). My best friend's mother made the absolute best guguria (unfortunately, she's not Tita). That's the Chamorro word for it. My husband said his mom (Ilocano) had a different name for these, but I can't even begin to try to spell it!

[Fran]

OOPs! to use that url, remove the ). at the end!

[Burnt Lumpia]

Dub C, for being a chick, your brown sugary balls sound delicious.

Thanks Fran! Those guguria are EXACTLY what I was referring to for the ones rolled off of a fork.

[Janice]

mmmm donuts...*drools*

those look like those donuts they serve at Chinese buffets...

mmm Chinese buffet...*drools*

[henrychan]

hey BL!

those look sooo good right now (just finished dinna)...

Have you run across any stores selling these or even the other cascarones?

[joey]

You read my mind! As I was reading the name you decided to call this snack, I kept giggling to myself thinking, "Like Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls!" :) Hahaha!

Whatever they are called, they look good! I like any sweet fried dough :)

[oggi]

They are also called carioca and in my hometown, bicho. Different regions in the Philippines, different names. And in Japan they're kushi dango or chi chi dango. To me they are yummy sweet chewy balls!:D

[brilynn]

I had to google what macapuno was, but even without knowing I wanted some of these!

[Burnt Lumpia]

Janice, if you're referring to those deep-fried sesame-covered balls at dim sum restaurants, you are right. The interior texture of the Cascarone is very similar to those, kind of chewy and gummy, but in a good way.

Henry, I haven't seen these before in any store. There might be a small chance to find something like this in a Filipino market.

Joey, I'm glad you got a chuckle from my balls, teehee. But yes, you are right, any fried dough is a good dough.

Oggi, I guess no matter the name, they all taste great;)

Sorry about that bri, I should've clarified that in my post. Macapuno are a type of preserved shredded coconut from the Philippines. You can find a jar of Macapuno at Asian markets. I've updated my recipe in this post to reflect that. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Hillary]

The coconut seems to add the best part! Mmmm...they're like Munchkins, haha, but better I'm sure!

[Christine]

Fried dough in any shape and form is goooooood! I actually try to stay away, the horrors, but I have an addictive personality when it comes to food. See that second gorgeous picture of yours? I can wolf that down in 60 seconds!

[Patricia Scarpin]

Fried dough covered with caramel?? Please, send some my way! :)

[irmathin]

BL:

Did you use glutinous rice flour?

[Burnt Lumpia]

Hillary, thanks for stopping by! The coconut is a very good part of this dessert.

Christine, 60 seconds? We should have a Cascarone eating contest!

Hi Patricia, I wish I could send you some, but they tend to get soggy if not eaten right away.

irmathin, I used sweet rice flour. The Mochiko brand that comes in a white box with the blue star on it.

[caninecologne]

my mom calls these carioca. she put three on a short barbeque stick. they were fun snack to eat when we were kids.

[Burnt Lumpia]

Hi caninecologne. You are the second person to call these carioca, which is a much better name than I called them:)

[caninecologne]

i like brown sugary balls better!

[Trina]

Yes, we call it carioca too. I love it and didn't know that it was that easy to make. I would usually see that in the palengke (wet market) but nowadays these can also be found in the malls here in Manila where a lot of kakanin stalls have sprung up.

[Steamy Kitchen]

hee hee! "brown balls" hee hee!

[Donna L.]

We called these cascaron (no "e" at the end). They were a favorite at the county fair.

[Sereena]

I love your story...sounds just like I remember it from my own grandma...Cascarone or Kakanin is how I remember it!!

[jaimee]

I know this as carioca too. It's one of my favorite desserts and I've been looking for this recipe. Thanks!!!!

[emmisme]

I've always known them as cascaron, except my mom uses milk for the liquid and dessicated coconut then rolls them in a torpedo shape. She is Ilocano but a Tagalog relative calls them Bitsu Bitsu. Never heard them called carioca.

[Jessica]

I really can't believe that I was able to find this recipe! My Lola is suffering from alzheimer's these days, and doesn't remember the dishes she once prepared for us so lovingly. Cascarone was one of those, which she last made for us when we were in grade school. And yes--there were several dishes she called by the same name. So, I'm as confused as you, BL. I just can't wait to go home and make these for myself!

[nina]

hi, who ever posted this great recipe from the philippine, thanks, I was looking for this recipe for long time and now I've finally got it, this is one of my favorite snaks back home,I hope that this is the right recipe i was looking for carioca balls with stick.

[Scott]

Thanks for this post. Cascarone in my family is this exact item. Off to the kitchen to make some now!

[pokffdv]

yoomy yooomy

[ilander00]

this is also commonly sold in cebu by street vendors near schools. although they shape them in smaller balls for the kids (about 1/2 diameter), it's pretty much the same. in cebu they're called qui-qui.

although, there's also another snack called qui-qui in cebu which is battered and fried hard boiled quail eggs, but that's completely different.

it's confusing, but both are tasty none the less.

[N. Jayme]

Yes, different regions, different names. My mother in law (she was Ilocano) called them cascarone. My mother (Visayan) called them bicho bicho. I've seen a different spelling of it as "karioka", but don't know which region that is from.

[MaryAnne]

I know this dessert as Bitsu-bitsu.
1 box of rice flour
1 can of coconut milk
1 jar macapuno
Mix together, using a smal ice cream scoop (like you do for cookies) carefully drop into hot oil, fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Put 4 on a bamboo skewer and ladel the brown sugar syrup over the ball rotating to cover the entire ball.