The Scent of Cherry Blossoms and Mugwort: Ukishima Cake

Ukishima cake with cherry blossoms and mugwort is a spring dessert made from a moist, fluffy dough called joshinko (which is different from mochiko glutinous rice flour because it is made from short-grain rice), white bean paste, cherry blossoms and mugwort. It is basically a two-layered steamed cake, and each layer can have a different colour, for example, a green one can be made with matcha.

What we need

Ingredients for a 12 cm cake tin:

o 25 g rice flour

o 150 g white bean paste

o 50 g sakura bean paste

o 6 pieces of salted cherry blossoms

o 3 g powdered mugwort

o 1 tablespoon of water

o 1 egg

o 10 g millet sugar

o cherry blossom powder

How to prepare it

Procedure:

1. Mix the artemisia powder and water, meanwhile soak the salted cherry blossoms for 5 minutes to remove the salt.

2. Place the egg yolk and white bean paste in a bowl and mix with a whisk until the mixture becomes smooth.

3. Add the rice flour, sifting it in and continuing to stir with a whisk.

4. At this point, divide the dough into two equal parts and add the artemisia powder to one half and mix well.

5. Once the artemisia has been thoroughly incorporated, beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff. At this point, divide the mixture in half and incorporate it into the two mixtures obtained in step 4.

6. Now it's time to pour half of the dough with artemisia into the mould, level the surface and crumble the cherry blossom bean paste on top.

7. At this point, cover everything with the other half of the dough and level it off.

8. Decorate the surface with dried cherry blossoms and place the pan over a steamer over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, then heat for another 10 minutes over medium-low heat.

9. Once cooked, remove the cake from the steamer and cover it with a damp cloth until it cools down. Once cooled, remove the cake from the mould and place it on a plate, sprinkling the surface of the cake with cherry blossom powder.

Here is your spring cake with cherry blossoms and artemisia, ready to serve.

Enjoy your meal!