Hawaiian butter mochi is a popular bakery item in Hawaii and is very similar in taste and texture to Filipino cassava cake. It also happens to be really drop dead simple to make so it’s fun to play around with. I’m gonna show you a basic recipe for butter mochi. From there, you have a blank canvas from which to make your own culinary dessert masterpiece!

You will need:

• 1 box “Mochiko” sweet rice flour
• 1t baking powder
• 2 1/4 C sugar
• pinch salt
• 1/4 C melted unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can water
• 1t vanilla extract

Start by preheating the oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl and combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk and gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry until you get a smooth batter. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan and bake on the middle rack for about an hour. The surface will be a nice golden brown when done and should be springy to the touch. If you’ve never had mochi before, it’s chewy and glutinous, not airy like a cake so don’t fret if it doesn’t look ‘cakey’. Cut into bars and top with grated coconut.

In the video, I made my mochi in a mini cupcake tin, lined with banana leaves. This jacked up the presentation factor and also gave it a hint of aromatics. My aunt used to make bibingka (a Filipino sticky rice cake) and always used banana leaves. It brings the whole experience to a whole new level. One thing to add is that when you do use the mini cupcake pan, adjust the cooking time accordingly. Mine took about 30 minutes.

This is a great dessert for potlucks and parties. For convenience, do the baking pan version, then cut into bars. You can add a little love by wrapping them in banana leaf with a little twine. They look awesome and are biodegradable. Yay environment! Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!