Chinese red bean cake recipe

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 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

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

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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