This pumpkin mochi is easily made with canned pumpkin puree and sweetened condensed milk. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Sift mochiko, baking powder and sugar ...

I love how the tradition of mochi spans memories and cultures, from Filipino bibingka and Chinese nian gao to Japanese mochi and Hawaiian butter mochi. Mochi’s presence in my daily life was fleeting.

When I was growing up, my mom coated slabs of niangao, a dense and sugary glutinous cake, in egg and fried them French-toast style. It was a dessert you had to eat right out of the pan. I’ve found ...