Mochiko Cupcakes...

I recently had to come up with a dessert recipe using rice for Honolulu's 3rd annual Rice Festival.

Coconut Mochi cupcakes with Pumpkin frosting and crispy rice brittle

Chef Mavro and I got to demonstrate how to to make the Coconut Mochi cupcake recipe that I chose as one of the 'celebrity chef' appearances along with Hawaii News Now's Stephanie Lum and Shawn Ching...

We had a lot of fun and I wanted to share the recipe...

Coconut Mochi Cupcakes (makes 5 dozen mini cupcakes)

1 lb Mochiko sweet rice flour

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3 each eggs

1 1/2 cups rice milk

3/4 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line mini muffin pan with paper liners.  

In a large bowl combine the rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl combine the eggs, rice milk, and coconut oil.  Pour the egg mixture into the rice flour mixture and mix thoroughly with a whisk.  The batter will be stiff, keep mixing to combine well.  

Transfer batter to a piping bag and fill the mini muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake about 20 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.  

Top the cupcakes with your favorite frosting.  I used a Pumpkin Cream Cheese frosting recipe that I found online and garnished it with a bite size crispy rice brittle.

Took my favorite peanut brittle recipe and in the spirit of Rice Fest substituted crispy rice cereal for the peanuts...

Chef Mavro and I prepping for our
Rice Fest demonstration.
I'm breaking up the
brittle into pieces.  

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

2 cups crispy rice cereal

1 1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp vanilla

In a large pot combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, and butter.  Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat to 275 degrees F (use a candy thermometer).  Add the crispy rice cereal and continue cooking, stirring constantly to 300 degrees F.  Add the baking soda and vanilla and mix just to combine.  Pour onto a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking sheet and spread evenly.  Allow to cool before breaking up into bite size pieces.  

I was surprised how great these cupcakes turned out.  They were nice and crispy on the outside and had the familiar chewiness of mochi on the inside.  The combination of coconut and pumpkin was an interesting fall flavored treat with a tropical twist.  Hope you enjoy the recipe!

and although it's embarrassing to see myself on the stage with a microphone I'll share this clip with you:)

Candied Kaffir Lime Leaves...

Kaffir lime leaves are a popular ingredient in Southeast Asian cooking.  Commonly found in curries, these flavorful leaves add a distinct flavor reminiscent of fruit loops.

I used these on a dessert last winter, paired with a fresh coconut mousse, calamansi cherry coulis, almond ice cream, and candied almonds.  My original thought was candied lime zest of course but necessity is the mother of invention and we had a bagful of lime leaves in the freezer that couldn't go to waste so I decided to try my usual citrus candying technique on the leaves.  The result was unbelievable!

I always start by washing thoroughly the leaves, then julienne the leaves.  When using citrus peel you carefully remove the peel from the fruit with a vegetable peeler making sure not to take any pith, julienne  the peel.  Citrus peel can be so bitter that it is best to blanch the peels three times, using fresh water each time before candying.

Kaffir lime leaves can be bitter also, as well as chewy, so I modified the technique to account for this.  Combine equal parts sugar and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  The amount of syrup you must make depends on how many leaves you'll be candying, you need enough to cover the leaves.  At least one cup of sugar and water should be used so you have enough liquid to proceed.

Add the julienne lime leaves to the boiling sugar syrup, boil for one minute and then remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes.  Return to the heat and bring to a boil; again boiling for one minute and standing off the heat for 15 minutes.  Repeat this process one more time.  The purpose of the triple boiling is to remove bitterness and to bring out the fruity lime flavor of the leaves; as well as to tenderize them so they are not chewy.  After the third boil taste one of the leaves, if it is still bitter you can repeat the process one more time.  If the leaves taste sweet and fruit loop lime flavor then return to a boil and testing with a candy thermometer bring the syrup to 130 degrees F.

Once 130 degrees is reached remove the lime leaves from the syrup using two forks and toss in granulated sugar in a shallow pan.  Use the forks to separate the pieces and coat in sugar.  Remove the lime leaf pieces from the sugar and transfer to a clean baking sheet and let cool.  The leaves should become crispy once cooled.  The result is a crisp, sweet, fruity product that is easy to eat and can be added to many desserts to add an intense lime flavor.

Fresh Coconut Mousse, Calamansi Cherry Coulis, Almond Ice Cream,
Candied Kaffir Lime Leaves, and Candied Almonds
Photo Credit:  Will Blunt, Starchefs.com 

White Chocolate Avocado Cremeaux

White Chocolate Avocado Cremeaux
served with spiced chocolate sauce, raw Hawaiian chocolate mousse, 
corn financier, lime oil, basil syrup, cocoa nibs

For the avocado puree...

Start with four perfectly ripe, medium size hass avocados and four limes.  Split the avocado, remove the pit, then remove the fruit from the avocado into a bowl.  Squeeze the juice from three limes over the avocado and toss to coat.  The lime juice is necessary to preserve the green color of the avocado and also contribute to the flavor of the finished dessert.  

Using a bowl scraper push the avocado fruit through a fine tamis into a bowl (pictured left) to create a smooth puree (pictured right).  This method helps to remove any brown fibers from the fruit.  

Stir the puree to combine thoroughly all the fruit and lime juice, taste for flavor, you should first taste avocado and the lime will follow.  If there is no hint of lime, squeeze half or all of the 4th lime into the puree, combine and taste again.  



Cover the puree directly with plastic wrap to prevent oxidation, reserve in the refrigerator until ready to use.  

 
For the cremeaux...
Carefully and accurately scale all ingredients:
200 grams whole milk
40 grams granulated sugar
80 grams egg yolks
200 grams white chocolate (Cocao Barry)
10 grams sheet gelatin
500 grams avocado puree
Kosher salt, to taste

Bloom the sheets of gelatin in ice water until softened.  Have the white chocolate ready in a medium mixing bowl and a fine chinois.  

In a small pot bring the milk to a simmer.  While waiting for the milk to simmer combine the sugar and egg yolks in a small bowl and whisk to create a light foam.  Temper the egg mixture into the milk by first pouring about half of the simmering milk into the bowl, whisk to combine.  Return the contents of the bowl to the pot and cook, stirring constantly until custard is thickened; while trying not to curdle the eggs.  


Immediately pour the cooked custard through a fine chinois over the white chocolate and stir to melt the chocolate.  Once all the chocolate is melted squeeze all of the water out of the gelatin sheets and add to the white chocolate mixture, mixing to combine.  

finished cremeaux...

Allow the mixture to cool to about room temperature.  Scale 500 grams of the reserved avocado puree.  Add the puree in thirds to the custard mixture and whisk to combine.  Add a large pinch of salt and taste for flavor.  You should first taste avocado and white chocolate, the flavor should finish with lime and should not be bland.  You will know when there is enough lime and salt so keep adding if it's not there yet.  All the flavors come through at different times in each bite but they are all present.

Place the cremeaux into a piping bag and pipe into 40 financier molds, level and smooth.  Cover the finished cremeaux directly with plastic wrap and freeze until set.  The cremeaux can now be removed and two pieces sandwiched together to form a hexagon.  

The white chocolate avocado cremeaux is served with a dark chocolate sauce spiced with Thai bird chiles and cinnamon; a corn financier; raw Hawaiian chocolate mousse (Madre Chocolate, 70%); lime oil; basil syrup; and cocoa nibs.  

This dessert was inspired by the ripe avocado.  Looking for a summertime chocolate dessert I decided to finally try using avocado in a dessert, something I've been contemplating for a while.  The lime flavor was second to present itself, making sense since I needed a way to preserve the color of the avocado and it is a classic flavor combination.  In thinking about which application to choose to present the avocado I thought about a white chocolate mousse recipe that I've used in the past.  I first decided to add white chocolate to the recipe in order to keep the avocado recipe relevant in a chocolate dessert.  Once I experimented the recipe the flavor combination made perfect sense.  

In trying to come up with other components to go with the dessert I thought about classic flavor combinations with avocado...corn, and spice.  I liked the idea of using a financier mold for the cremeaux and loved the idea of pairing a financier as a cake-like component in the otherwise all mousse-like textured dessert.  So I took my favorite financier recipe and substituted cornmeal for the hazelnut flour, leaving the brown butter and honey which also made sense in the dessert.  

The spiced chocolate sauce is simply my favorite basic dark chocolate sauce recipe infused with Thai bird chile and cinnamon. 

The chocolate mousse adds richness and bulk to the dessert.  When I tasted the raw Hawaiian chocolate from Madre Chocolate here on Oahu I knew it was an automatic match for this dessert.  The flavor of the chocolate is so distinct and unique and the nutritional value and health benefits of raw chocolate were something I really wanted to add to this already nutrient rich dessert.  

Finally, olive oil is a component I've wanted to try in a dessert for a while and I also wanted to get basil into the flavor profile somehow.  I used Boyajan lime oil to infuse the olive oil with lime flavor and made a basil simple syrup to create a dessert "vinagairette" look on the plate.  

Overall I have been very happy with this dessert, it has been on my dessert menu at Chef Mavro Resaurant for the summer season and is about to retire as fall is approaching.  It was also featured in a starchefs.com photo gallery of food from the restaurant.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about this recipe and the inspiration behind the dessert, let me know if you try it out and how you like it!