Pear Ginger Butter Mochi Cake With a Spiced Pear Glaze
A few weeks ago I brought up a gallon or so of fresh figs from my trip to visit family in NC. The beauty of pears is that they take a bit of time to ripen, so I felt good about bringing them up in bulk and slowly eating them as they ripened. What I didn’t expect though, and should’ve, was that they would ripen all at once and I’d be left with a dozen pears that are days away from rotting. My solution? Making a pear-ginger mochi cake with a concentrated pear glaze.
And I know it’s only August, but when life gives you too many pears what am I gonna do, let them just rot??? Yes this is a very fall-forward recipe but it’s so good that I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll be able to forgive me.
Oh, and be prepared to want to drink the pear concentrate straight out of your saucepan. I’m grateful that my recipe made a good bit of it. I’ve been adding it to my teas and such (it’s so good!).
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 ripe pears
- 1 1/2 cup (12 oz.) of whole milk (or sub for any other milk, including non-dairy milk)
- 1 (13.5 oz) can of full-fat coconut milk
- 12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) salted butter, melted
- 3 cups of or granulated sugar (2 cups for the mochi, 1 cup for the pear concentrate)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons ground ginger powder
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups sweet rice flour (or one box of Blue Star brand)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2-inch piece of fresh ginger
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Directions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add your pears and boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the skin around the pears starts to fall off.
- Immediately add the pears to a bowl of ice water to cool. When cooled, scoop the flesh from the pears and set into a bowl. Save the core and skin (for the concentrate<3).
- In a saucepan, combine your excess pear bits and pieces (skin, core, any overflowing juices), 1 cup of sugar, fresh ginger, and 1/2 cup of water on medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. When it does, reduce heat to low and let simmer for about five minutes. Strain the mixture and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Smash your pears with a fork until it becomes an applesauce-like consistency.
- Microwave butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and then in a large bowl add the melted butter to your granulated sugar, mix to combine. Add the eggs, mixing to combine. Stir in the pureed pear. Mix in the can of coconut milk and evaporated milk.
- In a separate bowl, combine rice flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground cardamom. Stir in the liquid mixture gradually, until it is thoroughly combined — no lumps!
- 5. In a 13” x 9” baking pan, add parchment paper and then your batter. Bake for roughly an hour, or at least until a chopstick can go through the cake and still come out clean.
- While the mochi cake is baking, mix together 1/2 cup of your concentrated pear mixture and a cup of powdered sugar until you reach a silky, frosting-adjacent consistency (add more powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time until you get your desired consistency).
- When the cake is out of the oven, let rest for at least half an hour and then pour your glaze evenly over top. Before serving, cut your cake into squares (or really any shape). Enjoy!
