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    Home » dessert » cake » Secret Recipe Club: Cocoa (Kinda) Mochi Cake

    Secret Recipe Club: Cocoa (Kinda) Mochi Cake

    Sep 3, 2012 · 15 Comments

    It's Secret Recipe Club time again!

    This month, my assignment was Sweet As Sugar Cookies, a blog by Lisa in Hawaii.  As you might have guessed from her blog name, Lisa is all about sweet treats and desserts, though she does have a handful of savoury recipes to balance things out. :) What's I particularly liked about this month's assignment is that Lisa had my blog back in July, so it's fun to return the favour so soon after - check out her version of my Gingerbread Biscotti!

    Cocoa Mochi

    Obviously, there was no question that I should make a dessert this month, but I still had a pretty tough time narrowing it down to just one considering there are literally dozens of different treats to choose from.  Out of all the choices I had on my shortlist, it was the Cocoa Mochi that intrigues me the most, mostly because I've never tried mochi in cake form before. (And also because I happened to have a wicked bad chocolate craving at that moment in time).

    According to Lisa's blog, mochi are a popular dessert in Hawaii, where they come in all kinds of flavours.  I wish I'd know about these gooey, buttery treats before my trip to Hawaii last fall, because even though I thought I'd managed to cram every possible Hawaiian delicacy into my mouth, I somehow didn't get around to mochi. (Of course, I did manage to eat malasadas, li hing mui gummies, spam musubi, sweet bread, mac salad, kahlua pork, loco moco, manapua, Portuguese sausage, saimin, and several kinds of poke... so I think I still did a pretty good job, all things considered. It's a wonder I didn't come home a hundred pounds heavier, honestly.)

    Cocoa Mochi

    Unfortunately, I still can't say that I've tried mochi, because I made a major mistake with this recipe.  It's totally my fault, though - in my enthusiasm to make these babies, I bought regular rice flour instead of mochiko rice flour, not realising the two are actually quite different. Yes, that's right... there are different kinds of rice flour. Who knew! (OK, probably everyone but me. But now I know.)

    So, much to my dismay, I didn't get the dense and slightly chewy mochi cake I was expecting based on Lisa's descriptions. Instead, I ended up with something a little closer to a light, fluffy chocolate cake that separated into a custardy pudding-like layer on the top as it baked. Still, while it might not be mochi at all, it was downright delicious served slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - rich and buttery, crisp and slightly chewy around the edges, and with a not too sweet chocolatey flavour with a hint of coconut.

    Cocoa Mochi

    Aside from my mistake with the flour, I also made a few intentional changes to Lisa's original recipe - I used slightly less sugar, added a dab of vanilla extract, traded partly skimmed evaporated milk for the full-fat kind, and swapped around the amounts of coconut milk and evaporated milk based on the can sizes sold here in Canada (it basically evens out, since my coconut milk was 14 oz instead of 12oz, and vice-versa for the evaporated milk).

    Cocoa Mochi

    So, while I still can't scratch mochi off my bucket list, I'm still pretty happy with whatever it is that I did make. It's pretty much a win-win, as far as I'm concerned - aside from getting to eat this delicious cake, I also have an excuse to make it again (only with the right kind of flour, for a change). Not bad for an accidental kitchen mishap! :)

    (PS - If you actually want to make proper mochi, make sure you buy the right kind of flour - depending on where you're shopping, it may be sold under the name "sweet rice flour", "glutinous rice flour", "mochi flour" or "mochiko". To get these fluffy pudding-cake bars, use regular rice flour instead.)

    //

    5.0 from 2 reviews
    Cocoa Mochi
     
    Print
    Prep time
    10 mins
    Cook time
    1 hour
    Total time
    1 hour 10 mins
     
    These sweet chocolatey squares are made with glutinous rice flour, which gives them a chewy texture and makes them a great gluten-free alternative to brownies.
    Author: Adapted from Sweet as Sugar Cookies
    Recipe type: Dessert
    Serves: 24
    Ingredients
    • 1½ cups sugar
    • ½ cup butter, melted
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 can (398 ml / 14 oz) coconut milk
    • 1 can (370 ml / 12 oz) evaporated milk
    • ½ tsp vanilla extract
    • 2 cups mochiko (rice) flour
    • 3 tbsp cocoa powder
    • 1 tbsp baking soda
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan, and line with parchment paper.
    2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together butter and sugar until combined. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add coconut milk, evaporated milk and vanilla, and stir until smooth.
    3. In a separate bowl, combine mochiko flour, cocoa and baking soda. Whisk into the wet ingredients. If your batter looks very lumpy, push it through a wire mesh strainer into a bowl to remove the lumps.
    4. Pour the prepared batter into the prepared pan, and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
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    Comments

    1. Susan says

      June 27, 2013 at 1:44 pm

      I just read another recipe about chocolate mochi cake/brownies. It mentioned that deleting baking soda will give you the denseness you are looking for. I haven't tried your recipe yet, but a gooey layer sounds delish!

      Reply
    2. Eliana says

      September 21, 2012 at 4:27 pm

      Oh my oh my - sinfully delicious.

      Reply
    3. Kim Bee says

      September 19, 2012 at 10:48 pm

      Holy mocha these are fabulous.

      Reply
    4. Katherine Martinelli says

      September 6, 2012 at 10:39 am

      Yum! Whatever you call this it looks amazing. So fun that you've had each other for SRC.

      Reply
    5. Margaret says

      September 5, 2012 at 9:35 pm

      These look really good. And love the combo of cake and pudding in each bite!!

      Reply
    6. Jess says

      September 4, 2012 at 11:30 pm

      I probably would have made the same mistake (even though I live in Asia, differences in rice flour is over my head), but these little bars still look delicious!

      Reply
    7. Lesa @Edesia's Notebook says

      September 4, 2012 at 11:00 am

      I hate getting home from the store and finding out that I bought the wrong thing. So frustrating! But you did a great job of creating something spectacular out of it anyway!

      Reply
    8. Jen @ Savory Simple says

      September 4, 2012 at 8:50 am

      Sometimes mistakes lead to great success! You may not have made the intended dessert but it looks decadent.

      Reply
    9. Gretchen (Veggie Grettie) says

      September 3, 2012 at 9:41 pm

      Mistakes in the kitchen can yield awesome results! I love the idea of a mochi cake...I have always loved mochi.

      Reply
    10. Pretend Chef says

      September 3, 2012 at 5:15 pm

      Delicious looking mistake. Yummy!

      Reply
    11. Noelle (@singerinkitchen) says

      September 3, 2012 at 2:41 pm

      It still looks quite delish! Are you gonna make it again?

      Reply
    12. Lisa~~ says

      September 3, 2012 at 1:11 pm

      I had Lisa's blog a few months back and she does have so many wonderful sweet treats but I somehow managed to do a savoury dish. You did a fabu job with the mochi cake and I love how using the wrong flour made the separation of layers, looks delish!

      If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC entry: Fried Green Tomatoes.

      Lisa~~

      Reply
    13. Ginny says

      September 3, 2012 at 12:36 pm

      That cake looks absolutely delicious in all it's moist, spongy, and gooey glory. I think I might go out and buy the "wrong" ingredients to purposely duplicate your "mistake"!

      Reply
    14. [email protected] says

      September 3, 2012 at 12:17 pm

      It's great when "mistakes" still turn out delicious :)

      Reply
    15. Lisa @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies says

      September 3, 2012 at 12:09 pm

      I think I like how yours came out - cake and pudding? Yum! Glad you enjoyed the recipe even with the mishap.

      Reply

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    Hello! I'm Isabelle, and this is my blog. I'm a 40-something coffee-chugging, booty-shaking, bargain-shopping, trucker-swearing self-taught cook with a major addiction to vintage cookbooks. Come for the recipes, stay for the terrible puns! Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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