This week’s mission was to make a baked version of those crispy, crunchy Okinawan fried spheres — andagi — on behalf of a correspondent, Cynthia. She’d made an attempt using a standard recipe in muffin pans but wanted to know if there was a real recipe out there.

Well, mission not accomplished, but not for lack of trying.

Jill Tsuchitori responded to Cynthia’s request with a personal story: She’d used a coffee cake batter in a cake-pop mold, and people thought the baked rounds were andagi.

Cake pops, if you’ve never chanced upon one, are Tootsie Pop-shaped cakes on sticks. You can buy a contraption that makes them (similar to a waffle iron) or a baking pan that does the trick in the oven. Picture a muffin pan, but with half-dome-shaped depressions, and a second matching pan that fits on top. The dough bakes into little balls, which you can put on a stick (cake pops), pile in a bowl (doughnut holes) or simply roll in the direction of hungry people.

I do not have, nor do I desire to have, a cake-pop mold (if you want one, check the As Seen on TV stores at Ward Warehouse or Ala Moana Center). But I tried matching the effect by placing two minimuffin pans on top of each other, sealed with metal clips, the type used to hold thick stacks of paper together. If I didn’t get a sphere, I thought I might get something vaguely trapezoidal.

What I got was a muffin with a pingpong ball on top (take a look at the photo). Really cute and a really tasty one-bite treat, but not very andagi.

So, the answer to Cynthia is use your andagi recipe but use a cake-pop pan. They won’t be as crunchy on the outside, but you’ll save on fat and calories. Anyone else who’d just like to bake up something fun, Tsuchitori’s recipe makes great minimuffins, easily fancied up by stirring in some dried fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, blueberries or banana chunks. I’ve taken the liberty of giving it a new name.

MINI PINGPONG MUFFINS

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat (or white whole wheat) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening or butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
» Topping:
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two minimuffin pans well.

Sift together flours, baking powder and salt.

Cream sugar and shortening. Beat in egg, then milk. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Spoon batter into a muffin tin (you’ll have enough for about 16, so if your tin only makes 12 you’ll need to make two batches, or use the leftover to make a few regular-size muffins). Fill each cup to the top. Place second muffin tin over the first. Secure with metal clips on all 4 sides. Place in oven and place an oven-proof weight (such as a Pyrex measuring cup) on top of tins, in the center (this keeps the batter from seeping between muffins). Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Carefully remove clips and lift off top tin. If muffins are not quite done, return to oven uncovered for a few more minutes.

Combine cinnamon and sugar. Remove muffins from pan and dip in butter, then dust with cinnamon-sugar. Makes about 18.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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