I have been on a real hotcake kick lately. Hotcakes are pancakes, but fatter and thicker. They are very popular in Japan, and are often ordered at cafes! When I was in Kyoto, I was able to get some at the hotel we were staying at, and they were super fluffy and tender. So I wanted to make some hotcakes again, but this time, fully gluten-free. I love cooking with mochiko, which is a kind of glutinous rice flour, and while the name is misleading, mochiko itself is 100% gluten-free. It might be glutinous in texture, in that it creates gooey, sticky doughs, but mochiko actually contains no gluten. So that clarification out of the way, we are using mochiko to make our super fluffy hotcakes. The fun part of doing that is our final product, while still soft and airy, has this satisfying chew to it that is reminiscent of Hawaiian butter mochi. I also used black sesame powder in the hotcakes, because I love the toasty flavor and it plays off of the chewy mochi texture pleasantly well. Just to embrace that mochi aspect more, I also made these black sesame dango, just to be another medium to soak up a delicious kuromitsu(black sugar syrup), and to add another textural foil to the hotcakes themselves. On top of the homemade kuromitsu and black sesame dango, we have a tahini cream, which is made with sesame paste, just to further emulate the sesame flavor that is running through the entire recipe!

For the recipe, almost everything could be made ahead of time, besides the hotcakes themselves. The dango is straightforward, just 5 ingredients, and can be assembled in cooked in about 5 minutes, tops. The tahini cream, I actually froze mine into quenelle molds and plated them frozen on top of the hotcakes, so that they would hold their form on top of the warm cakes and not just melt into a bobbly mess. However, since not everyone has silicone quenelle molds, I just recommended refrigerating the cream so that it stays cold for assembly. The kuromitsu is as simple as boiling sugar into water and making sure that everything is melted together. And then we have the hotcakes. These are very temperamental and must be cooked and served in the moment. The batter uses a lot of whipped egg whites, so the longer you hold off on cooking it, the more deflated and the less fluffy the cakes become. I found that cooking each hotcake in a separate nonstick pan gives you the most consistent cook on each one, but if you own a pancake griddle(I do not but I seriously need to invest in one), just use the damn griddle and save yourself the awkwardness of burning half of your hotcakes. Outside of the struggle to get an even sear on these using nonstick pans, I enjoyed eating these hotcakes, and they were so rich and satisfying.

For the black sesame dango:
2oz mochiko
.2oz black sesame powder
.2oz granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1oz water

In a bowl, combine all of your ingredients to form a dough. Split the dough into 8 to 9 small balls(I measured each out to be about .4oz) and poach in boiling water for 2 minutes, or until the balls float. Store in an airtight container lined with oil, at room temperature until time to use.

For the tahini cream:
2oz heavy cream
.5oz tahini paste
.5oz confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, whip everything together until stiff peaks form. Store the cream in the refrigerator until time to use.

For the kuromitsu:
2oz black rock sugar
4oz water
a pinch of salt

Bring everything to a simmer until the sugar is fully dissolved. Allow the liquid to cool before using.

For the black sesame hotcakes:
2 egg whites
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
2/3 cups mochiko
2 tbsp black sesame powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
cooking spray

In a bowl, whisk the egg whites and sugar to stiff peaks. In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, and salt. Sift into the buttermilk the flour, black sesame, baking powder, and xanthan gum. Lastly, fold into that the whipped egg whites to form your batter. Spray either a griddle or 2 large nonstick pans with cooking spray and place onto a stove with medium heat. Place down the batter into the pans in 1/4 cup-sized mounds, keeping them at least 2 inches apart from one another. Allow the batter to cook on one side over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. The hotcakes should come cleanly off the pan when you run a rubber spatula underneath them. Flip the hotcakes and sear on the other side for 30 seconds.

For assembly:
Start by placing down your hotcakes on a plate. In a bowl, toss the dango in the kuromitsu, and place those on top of the pancakes. Quenelle the cream and either place on top of the hotcakes, or to the side of them. Finish the entire plate with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.