烤紅豆年糕 Baked Sweet Rice Cake with Red bean paste

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year Eve (1/30/2014) and it is the year of horse.  I got this recipe from my Chorus friend Anne Chou last year and I made it many many times.  My friends and family love it.   It is a easy dessert for the Chinese New Year.  Try it yourself.

Ingredients:  

• 16 oz sweet rice power (green bag, see picture below)
• 3 eggs
• 2.5 cups milk
• 2/3 cup begetable oil
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cut chopped walnuts (optional)
• 10 oz sweet red bean paste (Sukina, or 小倉紅豆) (see picture below)

Steps:

 1. Preheat the over to 375 degree.

 2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, milk, sweet rice powder,  baking powder, vanilla extract and oil together.

 3. Pour the batter into two 8 inch round baking pans, or one big 8x12 pan. You can add the red bean paste and walnut after you pour half of the batter.  The red bean paste is very thick and it is hard to spread it evenly.  So, just drop a small spoonful here and there and try to be even.  The batter is pretty thin, and the red bean will sink to the bottom of the pan.  On the contrary, walnuts will float to the surface.

A more complicated way is to bake half of the batter for about 7 minutes or until it starts to set, then pour the red bean paste on it.  However, there is a drawback – since the bottom part cooks 7 minutes longer than the top, the bottom may be a little burned when the top is done.  I tried both way, I still like to cook the bottom part first even though the bottom is a bit burned.  

4. Bake for about 45 minutes at 375 degree. Stick a chopstick into the center of the cake and make sure it comes out clean.  If the top is already brown but the center is not done yet, reduce the temperature to 350 degree.