published Jun 16, 2021, updated Oct 08, 2021 When you want to make an impressive looking dessert without exerting much effort, these beautiful little cakes are the perfect solution! There are many different ways to make them, and yes, some recipes for moong dal cake are much more difficult and time consuming than others. Fortunately, this particular recipe isn’t difficult to make, and it doesn’t take very long, either!
Mung bean cake
The majority of Americans have never heard of this dessert, which is unfortunate because it’s pretty amazing. The green bean cake is made with either whole or split mung beans, two pulses in the legume family that boast some impressive health benefits. In fact, both green (whole) and yellow (split) mung beans (also known as moong dal) are rich in antioxidants. Two of them specifically may help protect our bodies from heat stress, heat stroke, and high blood pressure! (source) So, it may not be a surprise to know that during summer months in China, mung bean soup is a favorite lunch and mung bean cake is one of the most popular Chinese dessert recipes. When you want a refreshing summer treat, turn away from trendy drinks like bubble tea. Those boba drinks are packed with sugar, so they don’t hydrate your body. A better option is a tall glass of water with one of these adorable little mung bean cakes.
How to Cook Split Mung Beans
The first step in making the cakes is to cook the split mung beans. This can be done on a stove top or even a slow cooker if you prefer, but to save time, I make them in an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker). This helpful post shows four ways to cook split mung beans. Should you soak mung beans before cooking?Unlike when you cook chickpeas and other large dried legumes, you do not need to soak mung beans. The moong dal are small enough that soaking isn’t necessary, but if you’d like to soak them, you certainly can. The next step is to create a smooth paste from the cooked moong dal. Mung bean paste can also be used to make other desserts. For example, it’s often the filling in Chinese mooncakes.
Making Mung Bean Paste
Coloring and Forming Mung Bean Cake
As for coloring, my experience is that using food coloring drops makes the dough wet and tacky. For the best results, I suggest using an organic food powder. I like this brand: organic powdered food coloringFor the green color, you could use traditional green matcha powder, which adds flavor as well as color.
Molding the Cakes
Check out the equipment section below for information on the cake molds I recommend. They are easy to use and I really like that there are two mold sizes and several designs included in the package. Temperature of the Dough Some of the other recipes for mung bean cake on the Web suggest working with warm dough. I found that warm dough tends to stick to the molds.So instead, I recommend chilling the dough balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before pressing the dough into the cake molds. Feel free to experiment and use the method that works best for you.
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
