Sometimes strange things inspire me to make something. Sometimes I'll see beautiful ingredients and work around them to prepare a dish. Sometimes it's thinking about what Son and Daughter want so I make a dish just for them. Other times it is about something someone said that catches my ear and gets me riled up. The latter is how this cake came about.
Most telephone calls with friend HKL who has a newborn baby and a toddler to take care of, center around baby issues, sleeping issues, and how tired everyone is. We discuss together tantrums, toddlers, timeouts and just the regular mommy stress issues. On one particularly extended phone call, after discussing different mommy issues of note, her voice suddenly lit up and got super excited and said, "I know that this is going to get your competitiveness riled up, but I had the BEST baked thing ever."
"What was it?" I asked, not without a bit of edge in my voice.
"Blueberry Mochi Cake," she responded. "It is SOOOO good and I have to have it again."
"Where did you get it from?" I asked.
Turns out another friend of ours, HYK had brought it over to this friend and HKL simply fell in love with it.
After hanging up, what kept poking me in my competitive gene was how could something taste SO good that it would make a sleep-deprived woman's voice light up so much that I could tell on a phone call? At first I refused to succumb to the competition, but in the end, I was too riled up and had to give in.
I began my search for a mochi cake recipe, and decided on one from epicurious.com because I remembered that another friend of mine had made it and told me that it was amazing.
Today I made it with a bit of skepticism, because honestly the thought of mochi mixed with cake sort of freaked me out. If you want to eat mochi or dduhk (떡 - Korean rice cake), eat mochi or dduhk, and if you want cake, eat cake. The combination just sounded odd. But given the fact that my friend had raved about something that someone else had made and I didn't even have a chance to TASTE the competition, I just had to make it.
The great thing about this cake is how EASY it is to mix together. It's literally dumping ingredients together and whisking it until you have a batter. It does take significantly longer than a standard cake in the oven, clocking in at one and a half hours. Yes, you read that right. NINETY minutes, but considering how easy it is to whip together, the time in the oven shouldn't bother you. You can stick it in the oven and go away and get a massage and come back with some time to spare.
After it had come out of the oven, and cooled for about 30 minutes, I got confirmation that it could be eaten warm. I flipped it out of the pan and cut into it and the smell was enough to make my mouth water. I cut off a piece and served it to Mother-in-Law who was visiting for the day and she took a bite and said, "Oh! This is so good! I want to give it to my sister right now!" The best way to describe it? A cross between a really delicious pound cake and mochi. The flavor is all pound cake; the texture is all chewy yumminess. The best part is definitely the edge, as it is especially chewy and wonderful.
If you like mochi or dduhk (떡), then you will absolutely love this without a doubt. I guarantee it. But I warn you in advance, make sure you have a lot of people around to eat this cake, because otherwise you will find yourself eating piece after piece, after piece. Even as I sit and type this, I am mentally going over the 4X4 inch square I consumed today. Not with regret, but rather with wonder that I could completely lose control like this. Good thing my competitive side reared its head and made me make this.
Mochi Cake Gourmet Magazine | May 2005
Makes one 9X13 pan, or 24 squares
1 lb box of mochiko flour (3 cups equivalent)
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 14 oz cans of coconut milk - not lowfat (I used two cans of 13.5 oz)
5 large eggs
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup of butter) melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mochiko flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl or large measuring cup (4 cup capacity), beat eggs, then add coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.
Carefully pour the wet ingredients over the mochiko flour mixture and whisk until mixture is smooth and uniform in texture.
Pour batter into greased 9X13 pan. Carefully smooth out the top.
Bake for 90 minutes, until top is golden brown and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Allow cake to cool for about 30 minutes on a rack, and then carefully flip it out and cut into 24 squares, or the size of your choice. Can store mochi cake for three days, covered.
Printable recipe
You can really see the texture of the cake in this photograph.
See the edge piece? That is what just tastes soooo yummy.
What Mochiko is...this is not a good price. I got mine for $1.99 for a 1 lb box at my local Chinese market.
My favorite measuring cup, as I can mix up 4 cups of wet ingredients and easily pour it over the dry ingredients.
Posts
25 comments:
mmmm... must try ;)
Wow, that sounds like something I must try right away. Even though I'm visiting relatives in Kansas City, I'm going to run to the Asian market nearby and whip this up. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Do you think I'm asking for too much if I attempt to freeze it? It sounds like the perfect gf cake for me but i never have enough mochi lovin' folks around to make it.
There are a lot of variations of cake like this in Hawaii - they go by names like "butter mochi," and "chocolate mochi cake." It's really delicious :)
Leesh - how about cutting the recipe in half? and just doing two eggs? I bet it would work...
or - Koreans freeze their rice cake all the time - I think you could but you'd lose the crispy crunch texture which basically disappears the second day of the cake...but the chewiness I think would hold up.
Mine's in the oven right now. If the batter was any indication, this is gonna be GOOD!
i just took my first bite and i'm so upset about how good this is and how long it took me to finally make it. i've had all of these ingredients in my kitchen for weeks but i think the heat scared me...not anymore. totally worth the time!
do you think i eat it for b-fast?
made it tonight for a potluck...everyone loved it! no leftovers! can't wait to make the other variations!
Beautiful cake! So unique...now where to find that flour?
made this for my mom's group today. it was one among several dishes but the only one that was completely cleaned out--and I was deluged with requests for the recipe so I think you'll be getting a new group of fans! =)
thank you!!
Alissa
I tried this recipe and it was a great success. This is a great base recipe for trying all sorts of new variations.
do you serve this top-up or bottom-up?
serve it top up!
Will it matter if I use a glass dish instead of a metal pan?
I wonder how this would taste as mini muffins, too...? I'll have to try some variations!
I have made this 3 times in the last three weeks - for my kids school auction dinner, for my home fellowship, and for my sister-in-law's birthday. Its a big hit everytime. My 3 and 5 year olds request this cake for their next birthdays. thanks for sharing the recipe.
variations i tried:
1. lightly stir in some bittersweet chocolate powder to final batter so the swirls are still visible - very yummy and pretty!
2. sprinkle some non-sweetened dry coconut flakes on top of batter after pouring into baking pan. Even more coconut-ty and adds a little crunch to the bite.
OMG....I love mochi! Mochi everything! My middle name should be mochi! Have you ever had pumpkin mochi? To die for!!!!
i just recently discovered your blog and i'm in love! i can't wait to try this, my mouth is watering just looking at your pictures
It can't truly work, I think this way.
Hi, Joanne,
Thank you so much , i love your Mochi.
When you brought it to church it was Soooo good and now i know how to make it thanks to your blog.
jean~
Oh my! This is so tempting! I wanna try! But the only square tin I own is 10 inches. Should I reduce the recipe to 4 eggs? :D
is this cake supposed to be chewy? i just made this and the texture is very soft..
Thank you for posting this on your FB, the recipe looks very easy to follow (as long as I can find the mochi flour). Looks like my family will have tasting this pretty soon!
I just made this and it was exactly like I thought it would be only 1000x yummier! (How is that possible?) Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the recipe. I've made this 3x already and it turned out perfectly each time. The whole family loves the edge pieces so I'm going to use 2 smaller pans next time. So easy and delicious!
Just made this tonight for the first time. It was a huge hit! Even my husband, who generally does not like sweets of any kind, ate TWO pieces! I think next time I might try topping it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, but really, it's perfect all by itself. Thanks for the great recipe!
Post a Comment