Purple Yam (Ube) Sweet Rice Cake

I was first introduced to this delicious treat called Butter Mochi cake by a friend of mine while living in Hawaii and instantly became one of my favorites  simply because it’s out of this world.  However, it’s very rich, so I try not to eat it often.  This inspired me to make my own  version and made it lighter by reducing the calories and fat content.  I also added some fiber.  And what could be better addition than the purple yam; my favorite! ❤   How did this come about?

I had a bag of thawed purple yam  in the refrigerator that was begging to be used, but  I was feeling under the weather and had no motivation to do anything.  I haven’t spoken to my mother for almost a month, so I called her up.  Well, I found out she’s ill.  So, we just talked about her health and what’s happening in Hawaii instead of sharing my thoughts and emotions with her.  After speaking to her, I did two loads of laundry and spent the rest of my day in the kitchen and developed four recipes at first try.  One of them was our dinner last night and this addicting treat, Purple Yam Sweet Rice Cake.  I’ll be sharing the rests in my  upcoming posts.  Meanwhile, enjoy this delicious cake. 🙂

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sweet rice flour
• 1/2 cup unbromated, unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup organic oat flour, sifted
• 1 cup firmly packed frozen grated purple yam, thawed and completely drained (see notes)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 organic eggs
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 can (12 oz.) low-fat Evaporated milk
• 1 can (13.5 fl. oz./400 ml.) organic light coconut milk (available at Wegman’s)
• 1 & 3/4 stick melted unsalted butter
• 3/4 tablespoon McCormick Ube (purple yam) extract (see notes)
• toasted coconut flakes and whipped cream for topping and garnish
• salted caramel (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Coat a 9.5 x 13.5 x 2 inch deep glass baking dish with baking spray; set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add all flours and baking powder.  Whisk to combine; set aside.
• In another medium bowl, whisk sugar and eggs until creamy.  Add the purple yam, melted butter, coconut milk,  evaporated milk, and purple yam extract.  Whisk until well incorporated.
• Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.  Whisk until smooth or free of lumps.
• Pour in the prepared baking dish and bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Let cool in the baking pan at least two hours before cutting.
• Cut in squares to desired sizes.  Garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut.
• Drizzle with salted caramel (optional).

Devour!  Oh, so moist and so good! ❤

Mm…Delish!

the more coconut and salted caramel, the yummier! Mm…

Notes:

• You can substitute sweet potato or purple potato for the yams as well as pumpkin, which is great for Thanksgiving or fall treats.  You can cook the potatoes and mash them.  Add 1 firmly packed of the mashed potatoes or 1 cup of pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg   and use brown sugar (firmly packed)  instead of white sugar.  Omit the purple yam extract and add vanilla extract.  Adjust the sweetness  to your taste.
• For purple yams, place the thawed purple yam in the (dry) measuring cup then press down and dump excess liquid.  I like doing it this way for less cleanup.  It’s faster too.  Or, use cheesecloth then wring to drain.  If you don’t have one, follow the above step. However, only do this if the purple yam is not to mushy.
• Make sure the cup is firmly packed for this will affect the consistency of the cake.
• I eyeballed the measurement of the purple yam extract.  It’s okay if you use 1 tablespoon.  No harm in doing so,  it would just enhance the flavor and give the batter mixture a deep purple color.
• For the health conscious, you can omit the salted caramel to reduce sugar consumption and eat it plain if you so desire.  But, I highly recommend the whipped cream and toasted coconut.
• Refrigerate leftovers or you can freeze them.  Thaw completely before reheating it in a 300 degrees oven until just heated through about 15 minutes or so.

I tried as much as possible to reduce the total calories and fat content of this addicting treat without sacrificing the flavor and the consistency.  I’m so happy I was able to do so at first try.   According to my research, this delicious treat is 1,600 calories, 183.4 grams of fat, 116 saturated fat and 1,300 plus sodium lighter than the original recipe overall.  That’s 610 calories, 7.64 grams of fat, 4.8 grams saturated fat, 54.17 sodium less per serving.

I’ve made a quinoa version sometime ago and I suggest to use white quinoa rather than a combination of red and white if you have a picky eater in your household.  It’s less noticeable.

Here’s what the original looks like.  It looks delicious, isn’t it?  Tempting I know.  As for me, at least I have the purple yam version.  It’s the only thing I’ll eat from now on (for sure).  It’s so delicious!  I also made a spinach, kale, and avocado version of this addicting treat and ooh…you…will…love it!!!   My family loves coconut, so I’m also planning to make a coconut version of this as well using coconut flour along with the sweet rice flour and mostly egg whites.  We’ll see.  Stay tuned…:)

Here’s the Spinach, Kale, and Avocado version of this addicting treat.   Just add three handfuls of spinach and a handful of Kale and flesh of 1 ripe avocado.  Blend in a blender with the evaporated milk.  Reduce butter to 1 stick.  Adjust the sugar to your taste.  You have an even healthier sweet rice cake. ❤

Anyway, here’s the grated purple yam and extract I used and will be using in all my purple yam recipes.  It’s available at Asian stores, especially Filipino stores.  They come in different packaging and made by different manufacturers, but  I like this one in all of them  because it’s not too mushy.

Thanks again for stopping by.  Don’t forget to Subscribe or Follow to get the latest recipes.  Please be kind and mention my blog or link back to source if you plan to use or share any of my recipes.  Thank you.  Have a great weekend! ❤

~Anna