Taro Mochi Cake

I was in the mood to make a mochi cake but wanted to change it up.  I remembered this recipe that used ube (purple yam) in the mochi cake.  I am impartial with ube, but I am a HUGE fan of taro root, so I thought I’d incorporate it into a butter mochi cake recipe.  I love the chewiness of mochi and the stickiness and flavor of taro; I wonder what the result will be…

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Taro Mochi Cake

Inspired from here.

Ingredients

2 cups peeled and diced taro (makes 1 ¾ cup mashed)

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup coconut milk

2 ¾ cup glutinous rice flour

1 tsp baking powder

Directions

1.   Steam taro until a fork easily pierces.  Puree in a food processor or mash with a potato masher.

2.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

3.   In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

4.   Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until smooth.

5.   Add coconut milk and beat until smooth.

6.   Add glutinous rice flour and baking powder, and mix until incorporated.

7.   Add taro puree and mix until smooth.

8.   Pour into a baking dish lined with parchment.  Bake for 1 hour and 4 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly dry (a very small amount of dough on the toothpick is OK).

Pureed taro.

Before baking.

After baking.

Verdict: These were soooo good! The edges were crusty and the middle was chewy with a great taro flavor! I couldn’t stop eating these so I had to give them away to family and friends before I ate the entire pan in 1 day.  I think it would be good with red bean paste incorporated into the batter (maybe a layer of red bean in the middle) too!  For those new to baking with glutinous rice flour, note that the middle will be sticky – this is normal and desirable.