Corn Butter Mochi Cake With Honey-Graham Crumb
Makes 2 8×8 butter mochi cakes (16 servings each) or one 9×13 butter mochi cake (24, larger servings)
Corn Butter Mochi Cake With Honey-Graham Crumb
As a baker, I draw inspiration from the flavors of my family and culture, as well as those around me. I am eternally thankful to have grown up in a Thai-American household, enjoying bouncy, not-too-sweet desserts since before I even had teeth. I am also inspired by desserts from other cultures that I now have the pleasure of enjoying, like Hawaiian Butter Mochi and Bibingka (which is believed to have inspired Hawaiian Butter Mochi). My first time baking butter mochi was from Sheldon Simeon and Garrett Snyder’s cookbook, "Cook Real Hawai‘i" and since then have adapted that recipe near-countless times. I love anything chewy and slightly sweet and have found glutinous rice flour to be my canvas of choice for experimenting with different flavors and textures. This week? A Corn Butter Mochi Cake With Honey-Graham Crumb.
Before I lose you, hear me out, it's like a cooler (not better) version of cornbread, just with a super buttery and crunchy graham cracker crust that is SO good together. Eating this reminds me of my grandma (who famously loves corn milk whenever we're in Thailand and devours the graham cracker crust on any given cheesecake).
The crust comes together like any other, and much like you would for a cheesecake, you just add the butter mochi batter on top and bake it as usual. It’s so good I swear I levitated while eating it. One tip, though, always use a metal baking pan (never glass) for butter mochi or else it will heat unevenly.
Ingredients
- 20 to 22 graham crackers
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, pus 2 cups of granulated sugar, divided
- 1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk (or 1 1/2 cups milk/non-dairy milk of choice, I prefer something with higher protein like soy milk)
- 1 (13.5 oz) can of full-fat coconut milk
- 1 (15 oz) can of unsalted sweet corn, drained
- 12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) salted butter, melted
- 3 eggs
- vanilla extract to your heart’s desire (1 tablespoon)
- 3 cups sweet rice flour (or one box of Blue Star brand)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 8x8 pans or one 9x13 pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor (or mortar and pestle like me), pulse the crackers until ground (doesn’t have to be finely done). Put into a large mixing bowl and combined with butter, honey, and 1/2 cup of sugar and mix to combine.
- Add the graham-honey mixture into the bottom of the baking pan, pressing down to smooth with the bottom of a cup or mug. Bake for 12 and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, start the butter mochi batter: In a blender, puree the corn, milk, and coconut milk, until fully blended (about 30 seconds on high).
- In a mixing bowl, add the melted butter to a large mixing bowl with the granulated sugar, mix to combine. Add the eggs, whisk to combine. Stir in the corn-milk coconut milk mixture and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine rice flour and baking powder. Stir in the liquid mixture gradually, until it is thoroughly combined — no lumps (don't worry, it's hard to overmix the batter).
- Pour your batter on top of your graham cracker crusts; bake for roughly an hour at 350 F, until the top gets a golden-brown crust.
- When the mochi cake is out of the oven, let rest for at least half an hour before serving!
