Vegan Pumpkin Mochi Cake With Black Sesame Glaze
Makes 24 mochi cake squares in a 13×9 pan and 32 in two 8×8 pans
Vegan Pumpkin Mochi Cake with Black Sesame Glaze
I'm still working out the kinks of hosting my own pop-ups, and one that I keep thinking about is making my desserts as accessible as possible. One of the cornerstones of Hawaiian butter mochi cakes are, well, butter (which is famously full of dairy) along with milk and eggs. This has pushed me to experiment with a vegan-friendly version to compliment its already gluten-free nature. After several rounds of testing, I present to you my Vegan Pumpkin 'Butter' Mochi Cake with Black Sesame Glaze.
My first time baking butter mochi was actually from Sheldon Simeon and Garrett Snyder’s cookbook, "Cook Real Hawai‘i" and since then have adapted that recipe near-countless times, including this time to make it dairy-and-egg-free. I was actually vegan throughout my teens, so I pulled out some of my favorite baking tricks to make this recipe happen. Flax seed eggs are my go-to egg replacement (even these days when I run out of eggs but want to bake) and in this recipe, I use the equivalent of 2 (instead of the typical 3 eggs) because the pumpkin puree also works as an egg replacement, so there’s no need to make 3 eggs worth of replacement. If you want to adapt this recipe with your own flavors, I'd recommend doing 3 worth of flax seed eggs (1 ground flax seed meal-to-3 tablespoons of water for one egg).
This recipe is also my attempt at a Halloween-inspired dessert (you know, black and orange!) and is actually something that I developed for Larry's Cà Phê, where I'll be selling it next weekend (10/26 + 10/27). The warm spices and the pumpkin work exceptionally well with the nuttiness of the black sesame. It's chewy, sweet, and totally delicious.
Note: always use a metal pan. Glass heats unevenly and can yield a mochi cake that is burned on the outside and raw on the inside.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed, plus 6 tablespoons water
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups of cane sugar (or sugar of your choice)
- 1 (13.5 oz) can of full-fat coconut milk
- 3 cups sweet rice flour (or one box of Blue Star brand)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 can coconut sweetened condensed milk (half for batter, other half for glaze)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, for the glaze
- 2 tablespoons black sesame paste, for the glaze
Directions
- Make the flax seed egg: combine ground flax seed and water in a bowl, mix to combine and let sit for five minutes.
- Meanwhile, microwave coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the melted oil to a large mixing both with the granulated sugar and pumpkin puree, mix to combine.
- Add the flax seed egg mixture, mixing to combine. Stir in the coconut milk, half a can of sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ground cardamom, and ground nutmeg. Stir in the liquid mixture gradually, until it is thoroughly combined — no lumps (although a lump or two won't hurt you)!
- In a 13x9 baking pan, or two 8x8 pans, add parchment paper and then your batter. Bake for roughly an hour at 350 degrees, or at least until a chopstick can go through the cake and still come out clean.
- While the mochi cake is baking, mix together the remaining sweetened condensed milk, black sesame paste paste, 3/4 cup of powdered sugar until you reach a silky, frosting adjacent consistently.
- When the cake is out of the oven, let rest for at least half an hour and then pour your glaze evenly over top. For a cleaner cut, let chill in the fridge before cutting into squares and serving!
