Butter Mochi . . . Cake???

No, that's not cornbread you're seeing, nor is it a plain Jane yellow cake. This is something much, much better. It's Butter Mochi Cake (and I do emphasize the "butter" part).

My sister could absolutely live off of butter mochi. It is her all-time favorite. In fact, when we were at the store, she was actually willing to pay more than $5 for a few small pieces of it. That to me was unthinkable. So, I convinced her to put that measly tray back by promising her that I would make an entire panful of the stuff just for her (much cheaper that way).

Of course, I had never made butter mochi before in my life, so I guess it was sort of a risky promise. But, I had faith in my baking skills and was sure I could find a good recipe, so we bought the ingredients and I put myself to the test.

First off, finding a decent recipe. If I could do that, the actual making of it would take care of itself. I went straight to a book called "Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes" by Jean Watanabe Hee.

(picture taken from Amazon.com)

This is a wonderful little book with all sorts of recipes for mochi - blueberry mochi, pumpkin mochi, strawberry mochi, and more. I bet you didn't know there could be so many variations for that chewy little treat. Upon looking, I found not one, but three recipes for Butter Mochi. Each one differed regarding the ingredients and the amounts used. How was I going to choose? Well, I did the only thing I could do, I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best, and picked one.

The ingredients used are very rich - one WHOLE stick of butter (no substitutes), 2 1/2 cups of sugar, and a whole can of coconut milk (I used the good stuff, not the lite - after all you only live once). After combining the ingredients, you pour everything into a well greased pan (mochi is very sticky). Then, you pop it into the oven and let it bake.

The smell from the oven was heavenly - imagine the air wafting with butter and a slight coconutty undertone. Once it was done baking, I pulled it out and stared in awe at its beautiful, luscious, shiny, golden surface. It's 24 Karat goodness alright.

(go ahead, you can stare at it too)

The only thing we noticed was that it differed in texture from other butter mochi we had eaten before. Butter mochi is usually very dense, but this one was, dare I say, fluffy, like a cake??? But, upon tasting it, all was forgotten. The taste was perfect, spot-on. It was buttery and sweet, like eating warm sunshine itself. My dad even said that he liked it better as a cake. As for my sister, she was happy as a clam. I don't think she'll ever buy butter mochi again.

Butter Mochi (from Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee)

1 pound mochiko flour (16 oz. box)
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter
5 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can coconut milk (12 oz.)

Melt butter and set aside to cool. Combine butter with sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Add the coconut milk. Combine the baking powder with the mochiko flour and add. Mix with spoon until batter is smooth. Pour into well-greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 375F for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.

Cocoa Mochi

Being from Hawaii, I grew up eating mochi. But, I had never eaten Cocoa Mochi until now. Seriously, "Cocoa Mochi, where have you been all my life?" My mom had a recipe for it, but she herself had never made it. My family, however, was eager to try it, and, since I was on vacation and had a lot of time to bake, I was elected to break this recipe in.

The recipe was extremely easy to follow. The only thing I noticed is that the mochiko flour tends to clump a lot when you add it to the wet ingredients. Obviously, you can't bake it like this because the lumps will turn hard in the oven and it just won't be very good. I solved this problem by pressing the batter through a strainer. It was quick work and the batter became smooth as silk.

After baking them, we took a taste. They were chewy, chocolatey, and ever so good. Think of brownies, but in a mochi form. My family absolutely loved them and promptly began to devour the batch. My sister took them to work with her and her co-workers loved them. I made another batch that same night and my mom took it to work with her. She said that her co-workers wiped them out.

So, the next time you have a chocolate craving, you could turn to the old stand-bys like cake or brownies. But, seriously, with a recipe like this, why would you? Kick things up a notch and satisfy that craving with Cocoa Mochi.


Cocoa Mochi

2 c. mochiko (rice) flour
1 (12 oz.) can coconut milk
1 (14 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs

Combine the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs and cocoa powder. Add the coconut milk. Add the evaporated milk. Combine the baking soda with the mochiko flour and add to the wet ingredients. Upon adding the dry ingredients and stirring, you will find that the batter is very lumpy. Push the batter through a strainer to remove all the lumps. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan (or even better, a pan lined with parchment paper) and bake at 350F for 1 hour.