A thousand layers of pumpkin and coconut~ These steamed rice cakes have the most dreamy texture - chewy, bouncy, soft, pillowy... just like mochi but even more fun cuz you can peel off each layer! They're sugar-free, gluten-free, and only call for 5 ingredients!
Thousand-layer steamed rice cakes are a classic Chinese dessert. The line between dessert, and actual food you can eat as a meal is often blurred in Asian cuisines and that is especially true with these rice cakes, such simple ingredients, so therapeutical and hearty, just the right amount of sweet or can even be made unsweetened completely.
The possibilities for flavors are endless, black sesame, red beans, purple sweet potato, brown sugar... I did pumpkin and coconut for these, the two flavors complement each other very well and the stripes are just so pretty! And when you either bite through the whole square and have your teeth sink into a pillowy dream or peel off each layer so you can play with your food (sorry mom!) you will get a strong feeling of oh so satisfying... ^^
If you try these or have any other questions come find me on Instagram and Tiktok
INGREDIENTS:
For the pumpkin layer -
250 g pumpkin, no skin
200 g water
100 g tapioca flour
20 g sticky rice flour
2 tablespoon monk fruit extra, or sweetener of choice, optional
For the coconut layer -
250 g coconut milk
100 g tapioca flour
20 g sticky rice flour
1 tablespoon monk fruit extra, or sweetener of choice, optional
TO MAKE:
- Peel and cut the pumpkin into thin slices, bring your teaming pot to boil, and steam the pumpkins for 15 minutes till you can easily mash them with a fork;
- Add pumpkin and water to a blender, blend till smooth;
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the tapioca flour, rice flour, and monk fruit extract, pour in the pumpkin juice mixture while stirring, keep stirring till you achieve a super smooth batter, make sure there's no lump, set aside;
- In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut layer ingredients the same way, whisk together the dry ingredients first, pour in the coconut milk while stirring;
- Add a drop a oil in your mold and brush evenly to coat the bottom and sides, spoon in a layer of the pumpkin mixture first, about 1/4 inch thick, the amount of the batter depends on the size of your mold, I used 5-6 tablespoon each layer;
- Steam covered for 4 minutes, open the lid, spoon in a layer of coconut mixture, cover, and steam for another 4 minutes;
- Repeat this process, alternate between the two flavors, and use the pumpkin flavor for the final layer, cover, and steam for 8 minutes;
- Take it out of the steamer, let it cool down before flipping it out of the mold and cutting into your preferred shapes and sizes;
- Rub a little oil on your knife before cutting to minimize sticking, enjoy!