Red Bean Mochi Cupcakes

I first heard about mochi cake through A Food Lover's Journey.  I looked through the recipe and it is a lot like the baked nian gao that I did for Chinese New Year except probably half the recipe called for.  It is an interesting idea to bake it in cupcakes and I wanted to give it a try.  Since I love red bean flavor and have some red bean paste on hand, I made mine into a red bean mochi (glutinous rice) cupcakes.

It tasted like "kuih" (a Malaysian cake), soft, sticky and slightly chewy with red bean flavor.  You can certainly substitute the milk with coconut milk to make it richer. This recipe of mine stays soft even after three days in a container.  Best eaten within three days, might go bad after that. One thing to note though, the paper will be hard to unwrap on the first day it was baked, but easier on the second day onwards.

You can buy the red bean paste in a can at the Asian grocery stores in the U.S. for those who are interested.  Feedback to me when you try this red bean mochi cake.  I had made it twice and loved it!

~Yield about 12-18 cupcakes (about half of the normal paper cup size), depending on the cupcake paper size and how much batter you add.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 200g red bean paste (sweeten) from a can
• 200g glutinous rice flour (about 2 cups)

Method:

1.  In a big mixing bowl, add in eggs and sugar.  Use a hand whisk or electric whisk and whisk until light and well mixed, sugar dissolved.  

2.  Add in oil and milk, hand whisk until combine.

3.  Stir in baking powder and red bean paste, whisk until smooth.

4.  Lastly, add in glutinous rice flour, whisk until well incorporated.  The batter will be watery so don't have to be alarm.  Use a soup ladle and fill the paper cup almost to the rim.  The cake will sink down a little after you take it out of the oven.

5.  Bake in preheated 350'F oven for 20-25 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack and store in air-tight container.