GlutenFree Sweet Red Bean Rice Cake (떡빵 Tteok Ppang)

Oven Rice Cake (Tteok Ppang 떡빵) – somewhere between tteok and cake.

This deliciously addictive Sweet Red Bean Rice Cake has the best of both worlds – the rich buttery taste of a regular cake but has the chewy(but not overly chewy) smooth texture of a rice cake. Koreans, especially those who live outside of Korea love this cake because it reminds them of the traditional Korean rice cake but it is easy enough to make at home. The ingredients are also pretty easy to get since it uses just Sweet Rice flour which is now readily available in most markets.

I first got to taste this gluten free Sweet Red Bean Rice Cake at my friend SoYoung’s house many years ago after I first found out I had gluten intolerance. I was still very weak after my gall bladder surgery and she invited me for lunch and this wonderful sweet dessert afterwards. She made it for me to help me get my cake fix and once I tasted it, I was totally hooked on it. It was so good, I think I ate it straight for many weeks after! I am always grateful for her for this wonderful recipe.

Servings: 10       Cooking Time: 10 min prep + 1 hr baking     Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 lb sweet rice flour
• 1/2 ~ 1 C sugar
• 2 C milk
• 1 stick (or 4 oz) of butter (softened or melted)
• 2 eggs
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 ~ 1 can Azuki red bean paste OR 1 C home made red bean paste
• 1 C chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans will do fine!) – optional
• 9×5 loaf pan

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.

1. In a mixing bowl, combine rice flour, baking powder and salt.

   Mixing bowl with flour, baking powder, salt

2. Add milk, eggs, butter and sugar.

   Rice cake batter with eggs, butter, milk

3. Mix with cake mixer for 3 min. or more until well blended with little or no lumps. Like so~ it looks almost exactly like a regular cake batter, doesn’t it? :)

   Rice cake batter mixed

4. Fold in red bean paste into the batter.

   Folding in red bean paste into rice cake batter

5. Chop nuts and add to batter.

   Chopping walnuts

6. Pour batter into a 9×5 non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour at 350°F. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean after poking the cake. I prefer to overbake then underbake because the top comes out nice and crusty when baked until golden brown.

   Oven Baked Sweet Rice Cake

   One note about baking rice cakes — depending on the pan, it may sometimes stick to the sides of the pan. Lightly grease the sides of the pan if you want to make sure the cake comes out cleanly.

   Oven baked rice cake baked in pumpkin bread pan

   I bought this loaf pan for baking pumpkin bread but the rice cake came out even better looking than the bread. It also tasted great because it was crispy on both sides and it was a great hit at my Studio Mari open house!

Storage

• Store the cake at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also freeze it right away and it will taste freshly baked when you defrost.

Variations

• Use less or no butter for a more traditional rice cake consistency
• Use less or more sugar to taste
• Add raisins or pine nuts for additional flavor

Enjoy this yummy Korean gluten free dessert with some ice cream!