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Soft and chewy Chinese-style nian gao (sticky rice cake/mochi cake) is studded with sweetened red beans and baked. The recipe is incredibly easy to put together and is naturally gluten-free.
Making traditional steamed nian gao can sound intimidating to some people. Some just can’t be bothered to steam nian gao for hours and hours. I never liked to eat traditional nian gao as is. We usually use them to make other things like Pan-fried Nian Gao with Egg, Fried Nian Gao Sweet Potato Sandwich, Fried Nian Gao Sweet Potato Balls (炸年糕球),
Super Easy Baked Nian Gao Puff Pastry (3 filling combo)
The baked version of nian gao is so easy to put together and it tastes great the way it is. It’s like a baked giant mochi cake. Few years ago I made this Baked Chinese New Year Sweet Nian Gao (Baked Mochi Cake) and it is always well-received when I made them. This year I decided to bake this red bean nian gao with the leftover honey red beans I have. We love how it turned out too!
Why you’ll like this recipe
1. It’s incredibly easy to put together
You don’t need any special kitchen gadget to make this cake. Mixing bowl and a whisk are all you need to get the job done
2. It’s a very forgiving recipe
Like for real! it’s almost impossible to mess this up
3. The cake has a soft and stretchy texture and is slightly crisp on top when first out from the oven
How to bake a really good red bean nian gao
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt 20 gr of butter on a small pan, let it cool down a bit. Mix all the wet ingredients and whisk to combine
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients while whisking until you get a smooth runny batter. Strain this batter if you see any lumps. The batter should be smooth and runny
3. Grease the bottom and the side of the pan. Pour half of the batter into the pan
4. Use a spoon to top with 3/4 of the red beans. Gently pour the rest of the batter
5. Top with the rest of the red beans and bake in the preheated oven, 3rd rack from the top for 45-50 minutes or until the side is lightly golden brown and the top is dry to touch and no longer jiggly
6. If you insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake, it may have some sticky crumbs but it shouldn’t be wetLet the cake cool down for at least 1 hour before attempting to cut
7. Serve the cake as is or you can also cut the cake into slices and pan fry on the pan with a bit of oil
Did you make this baked red bean nian gao recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
You may also like these nian gao recipes
Baked Chinese New Year Sweet Nian Gao
Traditional Lunar New Year Nian Gao (sweet sticky rice cake)
Chinese Baked Red Bean Nian Gao (Red Bean Mochi Cake)
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 20 gr butter melted
- 100 gr egg from 2 large eggs
- 160 gr granulated sugar
- 350 ml coconut milk full-fat (don't use the lite version)
- Zest of 1 orange
Dry ingredients:
- 226 gr glutinous rice flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Filling and topping:
- 200 gr honey red beans make 1/2 recipe of this honey red beans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt 20 gr of butter on a small pan, let it cool down a bit. Mix all the wet ingredients and whisk to combine
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients while whisking until you get a smooth runny batter. Strain this batter if you see any lumps. The batter should be smooth and runny
- Grease the bottom and the side of a 7 or 8-inch round pan. 7-inch pan will yield a bit taller cake. Pour half of the batter into the pan and then use a spoon to top with 3/4 of the red beans. Gently pour the rest of the batter. Top with the rest of the red beans and bake in the preheated oven, 3rd rack from the top for 45-50 minutes or until the side is lightly golden brown and the top is dry to touch and no longer jiggly
- If you insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake, it may have some sticky crumbs but it shouldn't be wetLet the cake cool down for at least 1 hour before attempting to cut
- Serve as is or you can cut the cake into slices and pan-fry on the pan
6 comments
Is there any leavening agent in this recipe?
Hi Jenny, there is no leavening in this cake. It is supposed to be dense and chewy, like mochi in texture, I hope that makes sense 🙂
Is 200g of honey red bean = to 1 recipe of honey red bean?
If you click on the link for honey red bean on the recipe card, you’ll see the recipe for it. It uses about 227 grams (about 1 cup) of uncooked red beans and you get about double the amount of cooked red beans. So to make this red bean nian gao, you can make just half the recipe if you don’t want any leftover. I hope that helps to clarify.
Super easy recipe to follow, I’m shocked mine looks just like your photo!
That’s awesome Marie 🙂