V-Day Special – Steamed Red Bean Cake 紅豆糕
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With the celebration of Chinese New Year still ongoing around the world, we are getting ready to embrace yet another celebration – Valentine’s Day!!
To continue what I did last year for the Valentine’s Day, I brainstormed ideas for a unique Valentine’s Day treat. Not that I don’t love chocolates or other mainstream sweets, I just like to think outside of the box and try to make something thoughtful every year to score some extra cool points from you picky readers 🙂
For this year, I am sharing a coconut flavored Heart-Shaped Red Bean Cake. The inspiration came from one of my readers’ request for Red Bean Cake (紅豆糕) recipe. Red Bean Cake (紅豆糕) actually refers to two different dishes. One of them is a summer sweet treat made of red beans (aka Azuki Beans) and coconut milk with jelly-like consistency; the other one is the traditional steamed red bean rice cake made during Chinese New Year and exchanged between families and relatives.
In creating today’s dish, I adapted the both dishes by steaming the red bean rice cake with a hint of coconut flavor. I mixed the rice flour with some corn flour to make the texture of the rice cake softer and more fluffy than the traditional rice cake but chewier than the jelly consistency, The end result is this unique and delicious modified Red Bean Cake!!
This recipe makes the cake medium sweet with a hint of coconut flavor. Depends on the taste of your Valentine, you might need to adjust the amount of sugar and coconut milk used in the recipe. Whatever you plan to do, please don’t forget the big day is on Feb 14th not the day before or after (yes I did blow it once when I marked my calendar wrong and it was not fun :)).
P.S. please post your Valentine’s Day ideas and tips in the comments below so we can also share!!
P.S.S. if you have not done so, please check out my Chinese New Year Giveaway. You might be the lucky winner to walk away with the 10-Peice Wok Set!
Step by Step Instructions:
Soak the red beans in cold water overnight. Rinse well before use. Boil the beans in cold water until soft. About 1 hour. Separate the liquid from the cooked beans
In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked beans, 100g of brown sugar, and 2 tbsp of butter. Mix well so all the beans are coated with sugar. Set aside. You can make this ahead of the time. If you have any leftover candied beans you can turn them into Red Bean Paste
In another mixing bowl, combine the coconut milk, the liquid from cooking the red beans, and sugar. Mix until the sugar is dissolved. If you don’t have enough red bean liquid you can use water to make up the volume. Combine the rice flour with corn starch. Slowly sieve in the flour while mixing until all the flour is well incorporated to form a batter
The batter should be light and dripping. Add sugar-coated red beans to the batter and mix to well. Feel free to add all or just a portion of the red beans to the batter based on your own preference
Lightly coat your cake mold with some melted butter. Evenly dispense the batter to the mold. Let the batter settle for 5 minutes before you steam it. On high heat, steam the cakes in a steamer or a wok (find out what you need to steam in a wok) for 15 to 20 minutes (depends on how big your cake is). Once done steaming, turn off the heat and leave the cakes in the steamer for an extra 2 minutes before you take them out.
Serve them hot or at room temperature
Ingredients
- 1 cup red beans (azuki beans), about 150g
- 180g rice flour (do not get glutinous rice flour)
- 20g corn starch
- 150g brown sugar, divided to 100g and 50g
- 2tbsp butter plus more, about 30g
- 1 cup Coconut milk
- 1 cup red bean cooking liquid
Instructions
- Soak the red beans in cold water overnight. Rinse well before use. Boil the beans in cold water until soft. About 1 hour. Separate the liquid from the cooked beans
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked beans, 100g of brown sugar, and 2 tbsp of butter. Mix well so all the beans are coated with sugar. Set aside. You can make this ahead of the time. If you have any leftover candied beans you can turn them into Red Bean Paste
- In another mixing bowl, combine the coconut milk, the liquid from cooking the red beans, and sugar. Mix until the sugar is dissolved. If you don’t have enough red bean liquid you can use water to make up the volume. Combine the rice flour with corn starch. Slowly sieve in the flour while mixing until all the flour is well incorporated to form a batter
- The batter should be light and dripping. Add sugar-coated red beans to the batter and mix to well. Feel free to add all or just a portion of the red beans to the batter based on your own preference
- Lightly coat your cake mold with some melted butter. Evenly dispense the batter to the mold. Let the batter settle for 5 minutes before you steam it. On high heat, steam the cakes in a steamer or a wok (find out what you need to steam in a wok) for 15 to 20 minutes (depends on how big your cake is). Once done steaming, turn off the heat and leave the cakes in the steamer for an extra 2 minutes before you take them out. Serve them hot or at room temperature
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Not sure what I did wrong but mine turn up with uneven surface :((
Made these and they turned out wonderful! Has a lovely aroma of coconut and red bean, and a great bouncy texture. I steamed them in disposable foil tart tins (as I was planning to give some away). Everyone who tried them loved them!
Thanks for a great recipe! x
Hi Renee, thanks for your feedback and I am so happy that the red bean cake came out delicious! Happy cooking!
Can I use milk + coconut extract instead of coconut milk?
hi Carolina, coconut milk is definitely preferred but if those are the only two ingredients available to you, you can use them in place of coconut milk. Please let me know how it comes out. Thanks.
用粘米粉太硬了 而且不太會熟 我覺得哪裡改進
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i love red bean cakes. Yours are especially in these perfect heart shapes. 🙂 I say they are perfect for the V-day..or any day of the year! I have a bag of red bean sitting in the pantry begging to be turned into these lovely red bean cakes .now 🙂
Thanks Amy. I think red beans are such an underrated ingredient in cooking. I’ll try to make more red bean desserts in the future.
I go crazy over sweet red bean falvoured anything. love them in steamed buns, or in panfried pancakes, whatever! so am sure this entire cake of red bean will be devoured in no time at all. and you win on making them look ultra gay and pretty for vday hee hee. nice one, and happy belated vday! x
thanks shuhan for your kind words!
Oh! I always order this when having dim sum…but have to admit that never even thought in making my own…thanks for the recipe Yi, love the tutorial…
Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine’s Day!
hah i actually don’t normally see this in dim sum restaurants in NYC. Gotta look harder next time. Thanks stopping by!
I am a HUGE, HUMONGOUS fan of sweeten red bean and this Valentine treats are JUST FOR ME! 😉 I’m a chocoholic too, but seriously, I don’t know what to do if someone asks me which I prefer chocolate or red bean! I’d be in trouble picking one. I’m not creative enough to think of red bean dessert for Valentine’s. This is a good one! 🙂
Thanks Nami for your kind words. Enjoy your Valentine’s day!
I admit I’m not always the biggest fan of red bean desserts. But these look so pretty, I might just change my mind! 😉
Thanks Carolyn for checking out the recipe. I actually didn’t like red beans as much as I do now but they just grew on me over time. Give this recipe a try if you get a chance!
These look awesome! I’ve eaten red bean cake, but have never made it. Definitely something I should do – the flavor is so good! Great pictures and instructions – thanks so much.
Thanks Kitchenriffs. Definitely give it a try when you get a chance.
Happy New Year Yi! This recipes looks real good, I’ve never thought about making red bean dessert other than red bean soup. A must try!
Thanks Jeno. Red beans are very versatile and the possibility is unlimited.
These look so good, Yi. Must get some red beans to try.
Thanks Angie.
I’ve yet to meet a red bean dessert that I didn’t love! these cakes sound wonderful! I’ll definitely need to try them!
Thanks Joanne, please let me know how they turned out.