Mochi, Cakes and Bakes: Simple Yet Exquisite Desserts with Ube, Yuzu, Matcha and More

By Catherine Zhang

Create Asian-inspired Desserts with Ease!

These 60 tasty and accessible desserts from baking prodigy Catherine Zhang showcase flavors that will have you rethink what you know about cakes, cookies, tarts and more. Inspired by Catherine’s Chinese heritage as well as her cosmopolitan influences, these simple yet delectable recipes fuse vibrant flavors like ube, lychee, hojicha and miso with beloved bakes like macarons, tiramisu and palmiers. These beginner-friendly delights from China, South Korea, Thailand and more include:

• Mochi Donuts
• Japanese Strawberry Shortcake
• Tahini “Nutter Butters”
• Vietnamese Coffee Tres Leches
• Chocolate Matcha Viennese Swirls
• Cookies and Cream Snow Skin Mooncakes
• Tangzhong Cinnamon Rolls
• Raspberry Yuzu Cream Puffs
• Brown Sugar Boba Popsicles
• Baked Ube Cheesecake

Whether you’re new to baking or are looking for unique and exciting ways to add a little sweetness to your day, this collection will have you making delicious desserts over and over again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Dec 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781645676379

Book preview

the essentials

Every baker should be equipped with a strong set of basic recipes they can fall back on. These are the perfected versions of my very best recipes. They have never let me down and will become the foundation for not only the recipes in this book but the desserts that you will create in the future!

The essentials I like to keep in my back pocket are the Cotton-Soft Sponge Cake Base, Sweet Shortcrust Tart Pastry, Milk Bun Base, Pastry Cream and a couple of buttercreams and ganaches. With just a few solid basics, the different dessert combinations you can create are endless. Use this chapter to build your very own set of essential recipes that you can use and adapt in your own baking. All you need to do is switch up the flavors with a dusting of cocoa, a splash of fruit and a touch of creativity!

sweet shortcrust tart pastry

Sweet tart pastry, pâte sablée in French, is a versatile base for any kind of sweet tart. This pastry is sweet and buttery with a crisp and slightly short texture. If you’re looking for a basic but sturdy tart shell, this is the one! I’ve baked these in tart rings for a classic French-patisserie-style tartlet, but feel free to use a regular tart tin or tartlet tins.

makes 12 (3-inch [8-cm]) tartlet shells

2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour

¾ cup + 1 tbsp (100 g) powdered sugar

⅓ cup (32 g) almond meal

Pinch of salt

½ cup (120 g) unsalted butter, chilled, cubed

1 large egg, beaten

Baking beans or uncooked rice, for filling the shells

In a large bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, almond meal, salt and butter, and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles sand. Add the egg and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and form it into a ball.

Feel free to use a food processor for a quick, fuss-free dough. Simply pulse the flour, sugar, almond meal, salt and butter until a fine crumb forms before streaming in the egg to form a shaggy dough.

Divide the dough in half and roll each half out between two sheets of baking paper to 2 mm in thickness. Transfer the rolled sheets of dough to a baking tray and chill for 1 hour, or until firm.

Once the dough has chilled, line a baking tray with baking paper. Place twelve 3-inch (8-cm) tart rings on the baking tray. Remove the baking paper from the chilled dough and cut out twelve 3-inch (8-cm) dough circles. Line the base of the tart rings with the dough circles. Using a ruler, cut out strips of dough slightly wider than the height of your tart rings and line the sides of the rings. Trim the excess dough, dock the base with a fork and chill for 1 hour, or until firm.

To bake the tart shells, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare the chilled tart shells for blind baking by lining the insides with baking paper and filling them with baking beans or uncooked rice. Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove the beans or rice and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 1 hour, or until completely cooled before removing the tart rings.

french macaron shells

Macarons are cookies that have come with me on a long and difficult journey. I think it’s safe to say I’ve come a long way from the cracked and lopsided macarons I made ten years ago. These macaron shells are made using a French meringue base for a quick and easy shell without the sticky mess of making a sugar syrup. For precision, make sure you weigh out your ingredients to ensure macaron perfection. Macarons may be finicky to make at first, but once you nail the method, you’ll be making perfect shells every time!

makes 18 filled macarons

¾ cup + 1 tbsp (80 g) almond meal

⅔ cup (75 g) powdered sugar

1 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice

4 tbsp (60 g) egg whites, approx. 2 large egg whites

¼ cup + 1 tbsp (60 g) granulated sugar

Gel or powdered food coloring, optional

Sieve the almond meal and powdered sugar together into a bowl, discarding any large chunks of almond meal that don’t pass through the sieve. This ensures the shells are