nian gao

happy monday from m&i! the end of the semester is near! hang tight!

after all the turkey and pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving, m and i are now turning towards a completely different treat for the week! r8 goes oriental. dun dun dun.

this week, in the baking sphere, we have nian gao--a chinese dessert of sticky sweetness and happiness. manna from heaven. it's typically made with glutinous rice flour and red bean paste. m did all the baking today because i have a chem exam i am supposed to be studying for and i basically watched her put everything together while devouring my pizza slice (aka dinner.)

the red bean paste looks awful on this picture because i don't have time to edit. but i assure you, it tastes delicious

the first half of the flour mixture is baked for 20ish minutes (don't quote me on this, because i wasn't really paying attention.) then the red bean paste is added and then topped with the 2nd half of the batter. if you're feeling extra fancy, you can also top it with additional toppings such as sesame seeds, raisins nuts, etc. we went with craisins and almond slivers this time around.

& here is the final product in all it's beauty! mmmm. next week, r8 bakes/makes mochi?!?! i mean, what else are we going to do with all the leftover glutinous rice flour? ;) oh dear, i better ask m first before i promise anything though. heh.

well, on fb, i told everyone that there was a hidden message amongst the toppings. it was amusing to see the comments. even more amusing to see mike's face when he asked and realized we had trolled you guys. sorry not sorry! #r8trolls (okay, seriously, i need to stop now.)

my favorite comment was from julie who said, "all i see is a bunch of raisins and almond silvers." good job girl, you were on the right track. [runs away from angry mob]