- [Beryl] People often fall into two camps, dessert and non-dessert people.

- I bake a lot of desserts, learned it from my grandma.

- This is kind of strange.

- [Beryl] For the dessert people out there, this episode is for you.

Whoa.

- Whoa.

- This is so exciting!

(laughing) - [Liam] We got one brown speckle.

(Beryl laughing) - My name is Beryl, and this show explores how our foods can bring our different cultures together.

And this is our dessert episode.

Today, I've paired up Jeanelle and Liam to swap their favorite dessert recipes from their cultures.

- I think a lot of Filipinos have a pretty strong sweet tooth, but I'll say British desserts and Scottish desserts are also pretty sweet.

- [Beryl] So you guys have a lot in common.

- We do.

(chuckles) - [Beryl] Jeanelle will be making a classic British treat, sticky toffee pudding.

Dude, why haven't I bought this?

Oh my god, it's so delicious.

Okay.

- [Beryl] While Liam will make Jeanelle's childhood favorite, Biko, a sticky rice dessert.

- If we mess this up, we have to wait another 45 minutes for it.

- I may not have started this episode with the biggest sweet tooth, but filming this has made me understand what dessert people are all about.

- Mm.

Oh my god, it's bubbling.

This looks like chocolate milk.

- It smells good.

- It looks really good.

- It's bubbling.

Look at the oozing.

Oh my god.

(gentle music box music) Dear Liam, my name is Jeanelle, and you're gonna be making Filipino Biko.

I live in California, but my family is originally from the Philippines.

We moved to the US about 23 years ago.

One of my favorite Filipino desserts is called Biko, which is a caramelized sticky rice cake.

- All right, making Biko.

What is the first step?

- [Jeanelle] It's made by cooking down brown sugar and coconut milk, and then mixing in the sticky rice with that sweet sauce.

- [Beryl] Wow, it's like a brick.

(rice thumping) Is it?

(air whooshing) Oh wait, was that the vacuum's noise?

- Yeah, that was the vacuum noise.

(chuckling) That wasn't me.

Two cups of rice - [Jeanelle] Biko belongs to a collection of Filipino rice desserts called kakanin, and I'd say it's one of the more popular ones.

It's always been there as long as I can remember, from the local shops in the Philippines to the grocery stores here in the US.

- Boil down cream until it turns into a caramelized crunch.

That is it.

(laughing) - [Jeanelle] One day I remember talking to my dad, he was stirring a pot of coconut cream.

I look away and then I look back, and all of a sudden he's got these crumbles on his pan, and I had no idea that it was made from one ingredient.

So here are some cooking tips.

When you're cooking this, make sure that you're stirring constantly.

You wanna make sure that the caramelized coconut milk doesn't burn.

- So I think we've been cooking this for about 40 minutes now, (chuckling) stirring constantly, - And it might seem like it'll take forever at first.

- If we mess this up, we have to wait another 45 minutes for it, - But once it starts to brown, it'll caramelize pretty quickly after that.

- [Beryl] Is that brown?

- [Liam] We got a brown spot, yeah.

- Oh, it's happening.

It started to turn brown.

This is so exciting!

(laughing) - [Liam] We got one brown speckle.

(Beryl laughing) (playful jazz music) That was very satisfying.

(laughing) - [Jeanelle] Every year I spend living in the US is another year away from my childhood in the Philippines, but once I plate the Biko and I take a bite, those memories come flooding back.

This dish helps me remember where I came from.

- It smells incredible.

It smells like caramel toffee, like fragrant and floral from the coconut milk.

It smells great.

- I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't like this.

It's a highly rewarding, decadent, low effort treat.

If you like sticky toffee pudding, Biko is kind of like its sticky rice cousin.

I recommend eating this dessert warm.

If you wanna have some fun with it, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

I hope you enjoy this dish so much that you start making it for family and friends.

Love, Jeanelle.

- All right, Biko.

I'm so excited.

I think first I will do it without the ice cream.

It is really good.

Oh, the crunchy coconut bit almost kind of makes it taste like there's like nuts inside.

It's almost like, I dunno, like weirdly like a caramel pecan kind of flavor.

I have never eaten anything like this before.

I think the closest I've ever got is maybe some like leftover semi-congealed rice pudding, which is not glamorous in any way.

But this is like, this is so good.

Creamy, rice grains are soft.

Making Biko is definitely a lesson in patience.

Mindless, repetitive tasks like stirring are always very relaxing.

And try not to put the burner on high.

Are we gonna adopt Beryl's mentality here and just like whack it up to a solid 10?

- See?

See?

This is what happens when you cook with me for too long.

- [Liam] Enjoy the process, the long process.

- I'm gonna give it a go.

Mmm!

The texture of the rice is perfect.

I love, why do I love this so much?

You did a great job.

- Thank you.

(chuckling) (Beryl laughing) Jeanelle did a great job with all the instructions, so I think thank you to her as well.

- Thank you, Jeanelle.

- Thank you (light playful music) - Dear Jeanelle, my name is Liam, and today you'll be making sticky toffee pudding.

I was born in the UK.

I've lived there my whole life, but five years ago I made the move to Brooklyn, which is where I live now.

And my family is still all in the UK.

Sticky toffee pudding is my favorite dessert ever.

- Okay, so I'm making sticky toffee pudding.

- The first thing you get is really rich caramel tones, but it's not like an American caramel.

It's a much richer, much darker, more molasses toned caramel.

- So when Liam was talking about that deep molasses flavor that he doesn't get with caramel, I think that's because they're using muscovado sugar, dark muscovado sugar, which has a lot of molasses compared to just brown sugar.

- [Liam] My earliest memory of eating it is my grandmother making it for us for dessert for after Sunday roast dinners.

- [Beryl] Can I just like taste this?

- [Jeanelle] Yes.

- Whoa.

- Whoa.

- Like the molasses flavor is so deep in that.

- Mm.

- [Beryl] That's wild.

- Dude, why haven't I bought this?

Oh my god, it's so delicious.

Okay, distracted.

Okay.

- [Liam] Sticky toffee pudding originally is a steamed pudding, but most often than not, it's kind of baked nowadays, and you'll pretty much find it in any good pub or bistro in the UK.

(blender whirring) - [Beryl] It looks like Oreo Cookies batter.

- It does.

This is like sandy consistency.

Okay, so now I have to pour the milk in the measuring jug, beat in the egg.

- [Liam] I haven't really found the American version, but having a recipe for a sticky toffee pudding in my repertoire means I can bake it whenever I want.

- I'm gonna whisk now.

- [Liam] My husband loves it.

It's a really great dessert to kind of plunk on the dinner table after eating and just have one spoon and a couple of bowls and everyone help themselves.

- Oh (bleep), we need to chop the dates.

Okay, fold in the dates, then scrape into the prepared pudding dish.

- [Liam] I usually bake in a baked dessert dish, and that way there's more portions to go around.

Don't panic.

So you do pour boiling hot water over the top of your raw cake batter, which can be a little bit daunting if you've never done a cake like that before.

- I've never poured boiling water over batter before.

This is kind of strange.

- I'm really excited to see you pour the boiling water over this.

- Me too.

I'm so curious.

- [Beryl] Your face.

(laughing) - It's so interesting.

Wow.

- [Liam] I think you're gonna love this because it's rich.

It's got really nice complexity, and it's amazing.

I hope this dish gives you as much of a warm hug as it gives me, and that it's something that you start making for your friends and family as a way to kind of give them a good hug as well.

Enjoy making it and trust the process.

Don't panic.

It will all work out great.

Can't wait to hear about it.

Love, Liam.

- Oh my god.

I am so excited to eat this.

It looks so good.

Oh!

It made a crackly noise.

Oh my.

Okay.

Anticipation.

I did not expect that crackly top.

It's so good because the middle's moist, the top is crackly, and then you get the creaminess from both the caramelized sauce and the ice cream.

It's sweet, yes, but not super sweet.

Like I could probably keep eating this.

(chuckling) Its a caramelized flavor, but it's a deeper caramel.

Okay, you got caramel, and then if you maybe toasted it, this would be like the brown butter of caramel, I guess.

(laughing) I always do get hesitant when I'm making dishes from other countries that I'm not familiar with, because there's always something that's a bit nuanced that I've never experienced before, like if I read pour boiling water on top, I have to pour (laughing), what?

And Liam wasn't there to comfort me and be like, no, do it, I'd probably be like, this is a typo or I think I'm doing this wrong.

It's so interesting.

Wow.

- [Beryl] Have you ever done anything like that?

- No, I have never done anything like that before.

- I'm so excited.

I didn't do much work in this, but I'm still getting in on it.

The flavor is so deep and the sponge is really light.

Liam was right.

It's a soft and sticky.

It's a Sticky Toffee Pudding.

- Yeah, sticky.

- That was such a cool experience watching you do that, like just seeing something baked like this, it's so different.

It looks so good.

- It smells good too.

- Oh my god, it's bubbling.

(Beryl laughs) - Wait, the sauce on the bottom?

Yeah, the sauce.

It's bubbling.

Look at the oozing, oh my god.

Liam, we love it.

(chuckling) Thank you, Liam.

- Thank you.

(gentle music) I hope you enjoyed this episode of "Pan Pals."

Let me know in the comments if you're team sweet or team savory.

And if you like home cooking, you should check out the new season of the "Great American Recipe."

The show features eight talented home cooks in a competition that celebrates the diversity and flavors of foods across the US.

You can watch the first episode here on the PBS Food YouTube channel, and check out the rest of the season every week on the PBS app and your local PBS station.

Check it out in the links and in the description.