Matcha Azuki (Green Tea Red Bean) Chiffon Cake Recipe

First post of 2014! Ok, not exactly as this post has been on backlog for about a month. I haven't been that busy, especially towards the end of 2013 - I am merely a procrastinator. If you check out my Instagram account, (@themoodkitchen or #themoodkitchen) and you will see I am still diligently baking and cooking away. Fret not, the recipes will come! (soon enough... :P)

Before I launch into the post proper, I would like to wish all readers a very happy 2014!

A new year, bringing forth not necessarily new beginnings, but a continuation of never-ending challenges. May we all surmount each and every one of them with great courage and success.

Red Bean Mochi Recipe

With some leftover glutinous rice flour from my previous Muah Chee (chewy rice dough with roasted peanuts) attempt, I decided to go for a dessert which I enjoy loads, Red Bean Mochi.

This is one dessert which goes by many names; to the Japanese, it is known as Daifuku whereas the Koreans call it Chapssalddeok. Either ways, it is a dessert confection of mochi/chewy rice cake stuffed with a sweet filling, usually sweetened red bean paste made from red/azkui beans.

1st attempt - A little rough looking...

2nd attempt - Success!

Matcha/Green Tea Cheese Tart Recipe

Green Tea Mochi Cakes with Red Bean, Chilled Green Tea Beancurd (tau huey), Soft Centered Green Tea Cupcakes, Green Tea Chiffon Cake (to be shared soon...) I love the taste of green tea and here's another recipe to add on to my growing list, Matcha/Green Tea Cheese Tart!

My recipe is shared by Chef Tomoko Higashiguchi of Patisserie Glace from herworldplus. It seemed pretty easy, with steps similar to my previous Cheese Tart recipe but flavoured with Matcha/green tea and addition of gelatine and yogurt. Usually, in no-bake cheesecakes, either yogurt or whipping cream is used but this time around, both are used. Interesting to see how those two will gel together!

Soft Centered Green Tea Cupcakes Recipe

After experimenting with green tea powder/matcha in my baking, I realise it is a tricky ingredient to work with; too much of it and there will be a bitter after-taste, too little of it and you don't get the taste and fragrance.

Wanting to try something new, I decided to make green tea soft centered cupcakes. This recipe by Rachel Yau, 丘桂玲 in 为你做甜品 Dessert for you, gives a twist on normal green tea cupcakes. Imagine peeling apart your warm green tea cupcake to reveal more oozing green tea custard!

Chilled Beancurd (tau huey) Recipe

The whole chilled beancurd (tau huey) craze started last year and I remember being fascinated by how smooth the texture was. It is rather different from the the traditional beancurd which tends to be "rougher" and is sweetened with sugar syrup and other toppings like red bean, grass jelly, etc. Put simply, chilled beancurd tastes like soy bean jelly.

Personally, I am a big fan of chilled beancurd over the traditional beancurd as I heard that traditional beancurd contains gypsum (石膏粉), which is also used in the manufacture of casting (plaster, surgical castings). Even though the amounts used are probably negligible but it still freaks me out that I am consuming something so seemingly inedible and highly artificial.

Green Tea Mochi Cakes with Red Bean recipe

In a recent trip to Korea, I picked up a few bottles of Green tea/Matcha powder at O'sulloc Tea Museum from Jeju. O'sulloc Tea Museum is a beautiful place with green tea plantations and there is lovely section selling a variety of green tea and tea products.