Kabocha Pumpkin Mochi Cake

This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, Keroppi Cookies,Totoro Cookies, Taro Fries, and Chinese Long Beans with Garlic

I’ve found that baked mochi is almost always a universal crowd pleaser at potluck parties, especially if many of the party-goers are Asian. Asians (including me!) have some sort of addiction to the chewy-sweetness of mochi desserts.

The classic baked mochi dessert involves red bean, which I make all the time. This fall, however, I decided to put a slight autumn twist on the traditional mochi cake for my Thanksgiving meal, sort of as a replacement for pumpkin pie.

This mochi cake is inspired by my Project Food Blog Round 8 entry from 2010, which included three different pumpkin desserts. Instead of using normal pumpkin like I did last year, this year I made the dessert even more Japanese by substituting Kabocha Squash (still one of my all time favorite squashes!).


Roast Kabocha squash in the oven (see detailed instructions here).
Remove the kabocha flesh and mash it up! Gather the rest of your ingredients (eggs, sweet rice flour, sugar and the like). I loved baked mochi desserts because they are so easy to prepare. Since it uses vegetable oil, you don’t even need to cream butter or anything! Just throw everything in a pan, mix, and bake!

So easy and so delicious. Note: definitely let the cake cool COMPLETELY before trying to remove it from the pan. Otherwise, you will be very, very sorry (I learned that last time the hard way! Even this time, I had to use a knife to pry it out a bit).
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mochi Cake
Adapted from Jen’s mom’s recipe

1 lb glutinous rice flour
1 cup baked kabocha squash, mashed
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs, beaten

Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined. Add to a well-greased bundt pan (or other shape if desired). Bake at 350 ° F for at least one hour depending on the pan. A bundt cake will take over an hour, whereas two loaves will take less time. Cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly. Let cool completely before trying to removing from the pan! Otherwise it will stick and you will be very, very sorry.

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