No Lunar New Year celebration is complete without enjoying rice cakes of all flavours. Turnip and taro cakes are the most common savory kinds while coconut and brown sugar cakes top the sweet-tooth's list. Usually, rice cakes are steamed ahead of time and then re-fried at the time of serving. That requires more work, but also a labour of love, so our family to enjoy the delightful taste and texture of these rice cakes.
Recently, my friend Marlene introduced me to this no-brainer recipe for a baked sticky rice or mochi cake. It is super easy to make with young children, and I absolutely fell in love with it. No more store-bought ones! Now I can have freshly baked rice cake all year round. Or maybe not, for the sake of my weight...
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 400 g glutinous rice flour (most store-bought packages are 400 g each)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 can of coconut milk (400 ml each) plus 1/2 cup of milk
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 300g package of red bean paste (most store-bought packages are 400g each)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F.
- Mix and blend all ingredients above.
- Line a 9" x 13" baking pan with parchment paper as this will help remove the mochi cake from the pan in the end.
- Pour half of the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the mochi cake from the oven and spread a layer of red bean paste on top.
6. Pour the remaining mixture on top of the red bean paste and bake for another 30 minutes. Test it with a skewer. If it comes out clean, it’s ready.
7. Cool the mochi cake for about 10 minutes and serve.
Notes:
- This recipe yields quite a large portion, enough for 10 to 12 people to share. You could use two smaller baking pans and send one portion to a friend.
- You can make this recipe without adding the red bean filling in the middle. In this case, use 2/3 cup of sugar instead of 1/3 cup and bake the cake for 1 hour.