Baked Taro Nian Gao (Mochi Cake) Recipe
makes ONE (9 x 7 inch Pyrex glass dish) cake
Ingredients
Mochi Batter
- 1 ½ cup mochiko flour, sweet rice or glutinous rice flour (175g), read notes*
- ⅓ cup tapioca flour (45g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar of choice (100g), or a sugar free alternative, such as granulated monk fruit sweetener
- 1 cup mashed taro (220g), cooked and mashed while warm. about 3 medium taro
- 1 Tbsp mashed purple sweet potato (15g), for natural color **. You can also use 3 tsp of taro bubble tea powder, or lavendar food coloring.
- 1 cup almond milk, regular milk or water (228g)
- 3 Tbsp light olive oil or melted coconut oil (42 g)
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and steam the taro and purple sweet potatoes for 30-40 minutes until easily pierced with a toothpick; then, while still warm, mash it with a potato masher or fork until smooth and chunk-free.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 8 x 8 inch square cake (I used a Pyrex glass dish) with some oil (spray oil works fine, too).
- In a clean bowl, mix glutinous rice flour (mochiko flour) with tapioca flour and sugar.
- Knead the cooked taro and purple sweet potato into the dry ingredients best you can, so that they are well incorporated with the flour. Set aside.
- Heat almond milk in a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup until hot, about 2 minutes. (This is an optional step to make the mochi chewier. Read notes***)
- Pour the hot almond milk into the flour mixture and use a whisk to mix well.
- Stir the coconut oil into the batter
- Pour batter into the greased cake pan or oven safe pan, and bake in oven 350F for 50-60 minutes , or until the middle is set and the edges are crispy.
- For softer texture, you can also steam the mochi batter on medium heat for 45-60 mins, or until the center of the mochi cake is set.
- Let cool completely before serving, or cool the cakes in the freezer for 2-3 hours which helps to get clean slices of cakes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
*Glutinous rice flour goes by many names. You'll see Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Flour (my favorite brand) in Asian grocery stores, and Sweet White Rice Flour in most other stores. Please note that regular white rice flour or brown rice flour is NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!
**the purple sweet potato is added for color, since most taro have white flesh. The mashed purple sweet potato will give us that lavender color we associate with taro. You can also use 3 tsp of taro bubble tea powder, or use purple food coloring.
***heating up the liquid ingredient in mochi recipes help the mochi become even more chewy and also makes the final product develop a glossy sheen.
Nutrition
Calories: 236kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 2gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 31mgPotassium: 315mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 12IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mgZinc: 0.4mg***Net Carbs: 46g
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