Pumpkin Mochi

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on October 27, 2010 in Blog, Desserts & Treats, Special Occasions, Traditional Holidays, Wagashi | Japanese Sweets | 20 comments

I couldn’t resist! I had to make something gold, Lakers Gold that is, for the Lakers vs. Rockets season opening game. I’ve had nothing but pumpkins on my mind and to me, any shade of gold (yes, goldish-orangish-pumpkin-brown is close enough to Lakers gold in my book) is cause for celebrating opening night.

I’ve always had a love for pumpkin desserts. My first and most memorable experience with pumpkin is unsurprisingly pumpkin pie. It’s a dessert that I associate with Thanksgiving feasts and Marie Callendars. Growing up, we always had pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and I remember as a child thinking that the texture and taste of the pie was different than other pies we were more familiar with such as apple, fresh strawberry, and lemon meringue. It was different, but oddly delicious.

Since my early childhood experiences with Marie Callendar’s pumpkin pie, I eventually moved on to other pumpkin treats such as Cheesecake Factory’s pumpkin cheesecake. This delectable dessert is my all time favorite Fall treat. Yet, despite this love for pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pie, I’ve never been motivated to make either by myself. Why mess with perfection, right? I would much rather sink my teeth into a slice (or two, or three) of Cheesecake Factory’s pumpkin cheesecake or Marie Callendar’s pumpkin pie.

More recently, I tried pumpkin frozen yogurt at Yogurtland, but I didn’t love it. I might try it again the next time I go back, just to give it another chance, but it was, for the most part, unimpressionable. While it’s not a dessert, I also discovered a unique find at Trader Joe’s – – – pumpkin cream cheese spread. Oh… I love this stuff. It’s my latest obsession. This spread is great with wheat toast or bagels, and I don’t even like toast or bagels for that matter. It’s also good on pumpkin bread, banana bread, and even sliced apples.

When I thought about what I wanted to make this week, I remembered a pumpkin dessert that was introduced to me two years ago. When I started writing this post, it didn’t occur to me that this dessert was offered to me at the post-funeral meal for the father of one of my childhood best friends. My friend’s father was always the cool dad. He was a regular presence in our lives while my best girlfriends and I were growing up, from childhood, teenage adolescence, college and beyond. He was the one that joked with us and always made us laugh whenever we were over at the house. He danced with us at weddings, watched Lakers games on TV with us, drank with us competitively (he never lost), and always looked after us. He was the dad that took me to play golf with him and his buddies because my Dad doesn’t golf and his daughters didn’t either. I have nothing but great, heartfelt memories of him.

Given how upset I was at the loss of my friend’s father and the grief that she and her family were enduring, I had no appetite at the time pumpkin mochi was offered to me. Until that day, I had never even heard of pumpkin mochi. While I’ve thought of my friend’s father several times over the past two years, I truly haven’t given pumpkin mochi a second thought until this week. I’ve had nothing but pumpkins on my mind since last Sunday when we visited the pumpkin patch at Tanaka Farms (we saw A LOT of pumpkins). I started to think about what I could make with pumpkin. I didn’t want to make pumpkin pie or cheesecake and couldn’t think of anything except… pumpkin mochi.

Pumpkin Mochi

Recipe compliments of AlohaWorld

Dry ingredients:

• 1 pound box (16 ounces) Mochiko flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Wet ingredients:

• 2 – 14 ounce cans organic pumpkin (28 oz total)
• 14 ounce can organic sweetened condensed milk
• 2 blocks butter, melted
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1) In a large bowl combine wet ingredients. I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Next add all of the dry ingredients to the wet mixture until smooth.

NOTE: Mochiko can be found at most any Asian supermarket, and possibly even at your local Ralphs or Albertsons.

I am not a believer in using mochiko flour. (Although I admit I used it for another recipe as a shortcut to a quick dessert which I will share with you shortly, but it wasn’t great.) I realized that I prefer to stay true to my roots and I enjoy mochi the most when it’s prepared the old-fashioned way, the way my ancestors made it. Traditionally, mochi is made from glutinous rice that is first steam cooked then pounded by hand (and/or machine). One of my favorite mochi desserts is homemade ohagi, the way my mom makes it.

2) Spray 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour mixture into dish and bake 60 to 70 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Because I’d never made or eaten pumpkin mochi before, I didn’t know how to tell when it was done. It looked like a big cake on the outside, but it’s definitely not cake-like on the inside.

CHECK FOR DONENESS: I attempted to use the toothpick method to check for doneness, but I used a chopstick (don’t ask, I’m Asian, what more is there to say) instead which is why you see 4 – 5 large holes in the pumpkin mochi featured below. The first time, my chopstick didn’t come out clean and was rather wet and clumpy, so I baked it for another 10 minutes. The next time, the chopstick came out somewhat clean but it was still wet with mochi-like residue on it. Since I didn’t want to burn the ends I decided to pul it out of the oven.

ALLOW IT TO COOL:   Please be patient and allow the pumpkin mochi to cool completely. I read several recipes blog posts regarding pumpkin mochi (all the recipes were practically identical to that which I found on AlohaWorld) and all of them recommended cooling it completely, so I followed suit.

It turns out that the consistency of the pumpkin mochi is sticky and mochi-like on the inside, with a thin cake-like texture on the top and the bottom.

I can’t say that I loved my first bite. It was different. Bebe Dada said it was like really chewy pumpkin pie. He liked it. Big Onechan said it was like pumpkin rice and didn’t want to eat more than two bites. My brother loved it. He said he ended up eating most of what I gave him – about 5 or 6 squares! My BFF also said it was delicious.

If you love mochi, and you love pumpkin pie, I’m almost certain you’ll enjoy this treat. I think my Mom would really like this because she loves – loves – loves mochi. I’ll probably eat another square or so of this interesting dessert but I’m going to give most of it away. One 9 x 13 baking dish yields many squares of pumpkin mochi. Perhaps too much for our little family alone. Lucky (or unluckily) for my BFF who lives across the street because she’ll find some wrapped on her doorstep waiting for her after work.

As for last night’s Lakers game, the NBA Championship ring presentation before the game was great to watch. I felt great pride as a Lakers fan. Then the Lakers beat the Heat 112 – 110 in a close opening game. Seriously, THANK GOODNESS they won. The game was very close at times, and other times, disappointing. Let’s hope it’s going to be a good season. Let’s hope I get another text from M-kun inviting me to a game. Let’s also hope Bebe Dada comes through on his promise to take me on a date night to see my Lakers buddies in person, and up close in 2011.

In closing, this pumpkin mochi is made in loving memory of my friend’s father who also just happened to be a great Lakers fan. I know he would have been mad at the Lakers during last night’s game but that he would have also been proud that they received their 16th Championship.

Judy | bebe mama