April 14, 2019

Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) Butter Mochi Cake

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Lilikoi (Passion Fruit)

Butter Mochi Cake

April: Easter Season (Palm/Passion Sunday)

On the last Sunday of Lent, a week before Easter, we attend Palm/Passion Sunday mass and listen to scriptural readings about Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. With a symbolic palm leaf that we receive at church, Highlander would make a cross for Islander to decorate our dining area. She usually prepares a Hawaiian or tropical meal for dinner with a dessert featuring lilikoi as an ingredient. These are our little Palm/Passion Sunday traditions.

Lilikoi is the Hawaiian word for passion fruit. It is aromatic and tart and grows abundantly on the islands. When we do find them on the mainland, the lilikoi is overpriced and overripe. So we settle for the much cheaper passion fruit pulp in the frozen section of our grocery store. It works fine as an ingredient for our Palm Sunday desserts and adds a fragrant and flavorful twist to a regular butter mochi cake.

For a Palm/Passion Sunday-inspired food, start a little tradition and make something with passion fruit, like lilikoi butter mochi cake.

 Recipe

(Adapted from Hawaii Magazine)

Ingredients

  • 1 box (1 pound) mochiko flour
  • 3 cups sugar, granulated white
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 can (12-14 ounces) coconut milk
  • 4-6 tablespoon lilikoi puree (we substituted defrosted passion fruit pulp)

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the mochiko flour, sugar and baking powder. Melt the butter. Cool slightly.

Pour the melted butter into the mixing bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and coconut milk.

Stir in the lilikoi puree. Blend well. Pour into a greased 9×13-inch baking pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 40-50 minutes, testing the cake with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from the oven. Cool slightly and spread glaze on top (optional—see Notes). Slice with plastic knife to prevent from sticking to the blade. Yield: 2 dozen.

Notes

  • Glazing the top of the cake is optional. To do so, mix together 1-2 cups powdered sugar with 2-4 tablespoons of lilikoi puree. Stir until it is a smooth consistency. Spread on top of the cake while still warm.
  • Try our regular butter mochi cake and poi mochi cake recipes.
  • Our final food photo of the lilikoi butter mochi cake above is set on a red tablecloth. Red is the liturgical color for Palm/Passion Sunday.
 

April 11, 2019

Our 9th Blog-o-versary

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HI Cookery is 9!

Our little blog is now 9! We sure have taken our sweet time to savor the journey of food blogging. But even when we reach our destination of “cooking our way through the calendar” next year, we still plan to continue sharing occasional recipes with everyone (we are still very surprised that people other than family and close friends have become loyal subscribers—for this we are flattered and most grateful). We might not post as often but our intent is just to share! Eventually we hope to figure out how to add printable recipe links, too.

We still get requests to monetize our blog but politely decline. We might be missing out on the extra money, publicity or online traffic. But we do not want to feel swayed or pressured to write about specific products. We use whatever is on sale, ingredients that are available locally, gourmet goodies that are gifted to us or items that we personally like/are used to, and these are all revealed in our posts and pictures.

There are so many other beautiful and better blogs out there and we admire those who are able to maintain them all and keep on cooking when life is just a busy reality. They inspire and educate us and we are humbled to be a part of the food blogging community since 2010.

Thanks to our readers for your continued prayers, encouragement and support. Y’all make turning 9 simply divine!

 

March 17, 2019

Irish Soda Scones

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Irish Soda Scones

March 17: Feast Day of St. Patrick

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (much like Cinco de Mayo) is often an excuse for some people to party and drink alcohol excessively. For us, we see it as a reason to try Irish-inspired recipes from Highlander’s heritage (he is Scots-Irish, according to genealogical records) and honor the patron saint of the Emerald Isle.

For the Feast Day of St. Patrick, we modified an Irish soda bread recipe and made Irish soda scones. The currants in this recipe lend a subtle sweetness to these scones (without the dried fruit, they would really taste like biscuits, which are close to mini Irish soda bread).

Have a terrific “top o’ the mornin’” or teatime treat with some Irish soda scones on St. Patrick’s Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Tea Time Magazine)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup butter, cold and cut into small pieces
  • ¼ cup dried currants
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • ¾ cup+ buttermilk, whole

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, sugar and salt.

Add small pieces of cold butter and mix with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in the currants and caraway seeds.

Stir in the buttermilk until a sticky dough is formed. On a clean, floured surface, pat the dough to 1-inch thick circle. Cut out shapes with a 2-inch round cutter (or use a 3-tablespoon scoop to make drop-style scones). Place scones onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little buttermilk (optional). Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve warm with Irish butter, clotted cream and/or jam.

Notes

  • Since we like currants, we added ¼ cup more than stated in the original recipe. We also reduced the caraway seeds to ½ teaspoon because we are not too fond of the flavor.
  • Feel free to substitute the currants for raisins (black or golden).
  • Search our blog for more Irish-inspired recipes. Or see the St. Patrick’s Day recipe list under the Theme Menus option.

 

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