Pumpkin Mochi Cake

Every year when Thanksgiving is coming around the corner, we might think of the tasty pumpkin pie. How wonderful it would be when this traditional Thanksgiving dessert is served after an enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner.

Quite often, I feel a bit weird of living down under here, while Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming closer, but the weather getting hotter and hotter. Sometimes It comes to the point that I don’t want to turn on the stove, let alone the oven. Being a home cook, I feel the hot weather is a hindrance to enjoy cooking. Here come these cute pumpkin mochi cakes served perfectly in such a situation, but when I'm still craving some warm pumpkin dessert. Best of all, the dessert can be finished within half an hour, and help my family to feel the atmosphere of Thanksgiving.

But for this year, I and my family would experience an extremely special Thanksgiving. We will travel on that day overseas. The whole family will be enjoying the company of each other in Tokyo, Japan for a week. Yay!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Enjoy every moment of being with your loved ones! Sure, I’ll moderate and respond to your comments whenever I have access to internet during the stay in Japan.

Makes 6 mochi cakes, 2 1/2 inch diameter

Ingredients:

• 160 gm pumpkin, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 60 gm sugar, or to taste
• 80 gm glutinous rice flour

Method:

1. Sprinkle water over the pumpkin, covered and cook in a microwave oven at high power for 4 minutes, or until softened and cooked. Or you might like to steam the pumpkin in a wok for 20 minutes.
2. When the pumpkin is still hot, immediately stir in sugar. Press and stir hard until sugar dissolves completely. This is the sweet pumpkin puree you need. If you steam the pumpkin, use the same method of mixing sugar and make pumpkin puree.
3. Stir in one-third of the glutinous rice flour and combine thoroughly when the puree is still warm. Incorporate the rest, with a small amount at a time until you get a smooth, non-stick pumpkin dough.
4. Roll the dough on a clean surface, sprinkle extra flour if it's too wet or sticky. Cut into 6 equal portions, each about 40 to 42 grams, and shape into little balls. Press with the bottom of a cup to shape a flat disc.
5. Heat some oil in a non-stick frypan. Place pumpkin cakes in a single layer and fry both sides over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Cut a bit to taste. There should not be any raw flour taste when they are cooked through. Serve hot on a platter. Decorate them with roasted almonds if desired.

Tips:

1. When rolling the pumpkin dough, you can add more glutinous rice flour if you feel too wet, or vice versa add more water when it’s too dry.
2. You might like to put cooked pumpkin with sugar into a food processor and get smoother puree within a few seconds.
3. If you use steaming method, the dough would be a bit wetter than those cooked by microwave oven. Don’t discard any water in plate, combine with sugar as well.

Other pumpkin recipes for Thanksgiving:

• Pumpkin Cheesecake (from Simply recipes)
• Low-Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie Recipe for a Thanksgiving Dessert Option (from Kalyn’s Kitchen)
• Traditional Pumpkin Soup Recipe (from Christine’s Recipes)