F.F.F.- Red Bean Cake

Last night I stumbled upon a fascinating Korean cooking site maangchi.com.  I was going to make and share a recipe from the site as this week's F.F.F. but sadly, the international grocery store that I love, didn't have a few of the key ingredients.  Already running late to see a friend, I couldn't try another store, and not wanting to alter the recipe, I put it "on the back burner" and grabbed something that looked amusing with the idea of trying it with my friend.  Turns out today was her birthday, I swear I didn't know or I'd have brought something better. 

 Happy Birthday Julie! 

This F.F.F. the Red Bean Cake edition is for you.

I know someone out there is thoroughly unimpressed by my choice.  But, I've never tried this.  So it's pretty cool to me.  And yes, I do realize it was made in Texas, but for goodness sake, would you just let me have my moment.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, red bean cake.  At first glimpse, I imagined a nice bit of fluffy or chewy bread with a tiny bit of red bean filling.  I've had red bean ice cream, and red bean dumplings before, so I know red beans.  Their flavor is mild with the earthy/wholesomeness of dates, or figs or molasses, but nowhere near as sweet.  The texture of the paste is like slightly grainy/dry pureed beans, which makes sense, because it is beans.

Cutting into the bean cake, I was surprised by how dense the filling was and how flaky the "cake" part was.  The "cake" is like a very tender pie crust.  When it first hit's your tongue, it doesn't have much flavor, but then, the richness of the crust hits you and the sweetness of the beans comes through, and it's like YUM! I'm not sure Julie is so keen on it, but my family loved the leftovers.