Ukishima Cake Style Cornbread

I have always loved the look of traditional Japanese sweets. Wagashi (和菓子, wa-gashi, lit. Japanese sweet) comes in many different shapes and colors, but even here in Southern California you’d be hard pressed to find many places to purchase these wonderful confections. One day I came across a group on meetup.com for making Wagashi a couple miles from me. Two weeks later I found myself in a home learning about and making Wagashi with three other strangers and the group coordinator. The magic of the internet.

Our coordinator was born and raised in Japan and had pursued the hobby of Wagashi after gaining her credentials in the art of Japanese tea ceremony. She explained that there were different types of Wagashi and the one we would be making that day was a mushi mono (蒸し物) (steamed confectionery) named Ukishima cake. After giving us a quick rundown of what we would be making, we tasted some cakes that she had had prepared beforehand. The cakes were delicious particularly because steamed cakes are a rarity here and even more so that we were using a particular type of rice flour called Joshinko (上新粉). Slightly mochi like, accented with the starchiness of lima bean, a mellow sweetness, and with several layers varying on the flavor. There was a nice variety of cakes ranging from yuzu with matcha jelly, to chocolate with dates, and pumpkin spice. Afterwards, we went through the steps to make the yuzu Ukishima cake with a matcha jelly layer and each took home a couple slices of cake.

As with any time I have a new experience with food, my mind began racing thinking about what I could apply this knowledge to. The possibilities seem endless as the process was relatively simple. In essence, Ukishima cake consisted of bean paste mixed in a food processor with some white sugar, egg yolks, and Joshinko, folding in some meringue, and then steaming the resulting mixture. Looking at that process there was one thing that came to my mind immediately. Cornbread.

I replaced the beans with corn and the white sugar with brown sugar and dark amber maple syrup. Everything else remained unchanged. I pureed the corn in a food processor, cooked it on a stove with the sugars to turn it into a paste, followed the rest of the process, and steamed the mixture having no idea how it would turn out. Beans and corn seemed similar enough so that the texture would be fine. Right? Turns out that the assumption was correct and all went according to my expectations. The result was a lighter, fluffier, slightly mochi cornbread with a strong corn flavor. Success. Now on to making a more savory miso version and a sweeter dessert version.