2nd April 2010 Edit: New flavour variations added below - so now it's Matcha or Black Sesame or Chocolate Mochi Cakes! Enjoy :)
Hi everyone! It's been almost a month since the last post, but I won't go on talking about how busy I was (read: IB) but instead, I'm going to talk about these lovely Matcha Mochi Cakes I made yesterday...because baking is the most interesting aspect of my life :)
It was just another library day when I was inspired to bake these cakes. My friends A., P. and I were going to the library the other day, and he wanted to get some food so we went to a bakery nearby. Upon seeing a tray of little cakes labelled 'Green Tea Mochi Cake', it rang a bell in my head - I remembered that I had seen a recipe before for mochi cake! I had a bite of the cake - it had a slightly chewy texture that I loved and immediately proclaimed that I had to recreate the cake. And here it is!
Please don't be intimated with the name - it almost seems oxymoronic, as mochi is usually chewy whilst cakes are meant to be fluffy in texture - but it really is the texture of the cake that makes it unique. These cakes really combines the best of both Western and Asian dessert worlds - baked in a cupcake pan, it resembles a normal cupcake on the outside.
When you bite through, you first break through a layer of fine cake crumbs on the outside, and then your teeth gets to sink into the soft, chewy centre that greatly resembles a Japanese mochi. The red beans dotted within also adds a bit of contrast, lending a mellow sweetness to the cake that blends really well with the matcha. P. also added that the cake's subtle smell of glutinous flour reminded him of traditional Chinese nian gao (the orange rice cakes eaten during CNY).
I'm not going to lie, this cake shot straight up to my favourites list upon my first bite; not to boast but I think this version is better than the one from the bakery! I'm hooked and I cannot wait for next week after my French orals where I will bake these again, since mum has alot of glutinous flour left over from making homemade radish cake and nian gao for CNY.
