Chinese Pumpkin Cake

I made a pumpkin pie a couple weeks ago. The inevitability of the pumpkin leftover going bad has loomed over my head ever since, but I kept forgetting to do something about it. Of course, the container sitting at the back of the fridge didn't help me to remember it either. Today, I finally remember to make some Chinese pumpkin cake.

This is part of the dough. Remembered to take a picture halfway.

1 cup mashed pumpkin
1 cup glutinous rice flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
Red bean paste for filling
Extra flour for rolling
Oil for frying

Frying on the bottom sides.

Mix the pumpkin, flour and sugar well together to form a stretchy dough. Add a little water if it gets dry. Put hands on the extra flour so when your hands roll the dough, it won't get sticky. Form a dough ball with a generous inch diameter. Make an indentation in the middle while holding it in one hand, scoop some red bean paste in there, say 1 to 1&1/2 teaspoons full depending how sweet you want it to be. Pull the edges of the dough to wrap the filling inside, make sure no filling is showing. Apply more flour if it gets sticky to the hands (you don't want that, it'll be a sticky mess). Flatten it to a small round shape. The batch makes about 15 little cakes.

Heat oil in the pan, fry each side of the cakes for a few minutes until they are golden brown. Drain the oil off the cakes a bit on a paper towel. Let them cool. Voila! They are ready to eat. Good stuff!

I used cashew butter as filling for some and the rest was the traditional red bean paste. My family members prefer the bean paste ones. I think it's because they are sweeter than the cashew butter ones. I like both kinds. I can imagine experimenting with other food as fillings, sweet or savory, creamy or crunchy, whatever floats your boat. It might turn out to be a pleasant surprise.

Nicely browned and ready to be eaten.