Hawaiian Butter Mochi Cake & Chocolate Mochi Cake

In high school, my mom discovered Mochiko, which is a Japanese sweet rice flour, and started baking with it constantly. She'd combine half a box of cake mix with half a box of Mochiko which resulted in a chewy, subtly sweet, delicious treat that I wholly appreciated. Koreans do not use ovens; there are zero Korean recipes that call for baking. So the fact that our Corelle dishes were being used for something other than serving japchae at a family party was a revelation. I had always wanted my mom to be the type of lady that baked desserts - you know, like a wholesome '80s sitcom stereotype - and this it had finally happened.

This is a riff on my mom's recipe, except no boxed cake mix involvement, with some inspiration from Hawaiian butter mochi and I ended up making a chocolate version as well. The chocolate version has a little less chew and bounce, probably because of the added dryness of the cocoa powder, but it's still really good.

Ingredients:
8 oz. Mochiko or sweet glutinous rice flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
6 oz. evaporated milk
6 oz. coconut milk
2 eggs
¼ cup butter, melted

6 oz. Mochiko or sweet glutinous rice flour
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
6 oz. evaporated milk
2 eggs
¼ cup butter, melted
2 oz. chocolate, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon flaky salt

For either recipe, it's pretty straightforward. Just combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, combine the wet ingredients in another bowl until homogenous, and then bring the two together until a smooth batter forms.

Grease and line an 8" x 8" pan and pour the batter in. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and set.

I ended up bringing this cake to a Super Bowl pot luck last month and it was popular enough that I only had to bring the empty pan back home, which I took as a compliment.

The texture of the butter mochi is great because it's bouncy and chewy. This is like the cheating way to make mochi without all of the labor.

The chocolate version is exactly the same concept. Combine wet in one bowl, the dry in another, and then bring the two together. Pour the batter into a greased and lined pan. The only difference in this one is chopping some chocolate and sprinkling it on top with a little salt. Pop the pan into a 350F oven and bake for 45 minutes or until set.

This one feels a little more cakey and indulgent and desserty. The little bit of salt on top is great for bringing out the chocolatey flavor and tempering the sweetness a little.

Here's the recipe page: