Ube Twunkie with Ube Strawberry Cream

Preparation

Prep ube

Defrost ube, then measure a heaping cup of grated ube and cook in pan on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes until water has evaporated and it resembles a dark purple hue. Remove from heat and set aside.

Make mochi batter

Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup of mashed ube along with melted butter, eggs, ricotta, sour cream, vanilla extract, and ube extract and whisk until combined. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: mochiko rice flour, sugar, kosher salt, and baking powder. Gradually pour the bowl of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients, and mix until the wet and dry ingredients have combined and resemble a smooth, creamy batter.

Bake mochi cake

In an oiled Twinkie mold (you can also use a cupcake mold too) pour batter 2/3's of the way. Bake for 27-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when stuck into the center. Once cooked, remove from oven and let it cool for about 15-20 minutes to let the mochi cake set.

Make cream

In a spice grinder or mortar in pestle, grind a handful of the dehydrated strawberries until its a fine powder. Measure out 1 tablespoon of strawberry powder and add into a mixing bowl along with heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar and with a hand mixer or whisk (and some 💪), mix until it goes from liquid to fluffy cream with stiff peaks. Add the remaining mascarpone, vanilla, maple syrup, white miso, apple cider vinegar, and ube extract. Continue to whisk until combined and the cream forms stiff peaks, then store in the fridge until ready to use.

Fill mochi Twunkie and serve

Once the mochi cake Twunkie has cooled, remove from molds and with a knife, poke 3 holes on the flat bottom side. With the piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off, squeeze cream into the each of the holes to fill the Twunkie. With a fine mesh sieve, sift a sprinkling of matcha powder and powder sugar on the tops of the Twunkies and serve fresh.