What's Butter Mochi?
Butter mochi is a Hawaiian sweet, made from mochiko (sweet rice flour) instead of wheat flour. It's also a fusion of a Japanese ingredient ,western cooking, and a tropical ingredient, coconut milk. It was originally home-cooked in Hawaii and served at domestic celebrations.
Tender and chewy, mochiko (sweet rice flour) gives the distinctive marshmallow-like softness, and also lends a natural sweetness to the cake.
Butter Mochi with Sakura
Butter mochi, it is said, was made by the people who moved to Hawaii from Japan. Now, it has "returned home" and is re-created with a Japanese spring symbol, sakura (Japanese cherry blossom).
Sakura is quintessential for Japanese culture, especially for spring celebrations. Read more about sakura from Feel Sakura in Your Mind, Bring Sakura to Your Table
Chopped salt-pickled sakura blossom is added to the batter for this recipe. The sakura blossom develops a special vanilla scent after salt-pickling. This special flavor adds a nice accent to the butter mochi, and the saltiness enhances the flavor ,too.
Salt-pickled sakura blossom
If you sprinkle the blossom on top when you serve, it will be even more attractive.
Gluten-Free and Easy Cooking with Mochiko
With this very simple recipe, you just need to mix all the ingredients together and put it in an oven. Furthermore, mochiko is easy to handle as it doesn't contain gluten. No need to sieve, and no need to worry about mixing too much as there needs to be for wheat flour.
Let's start!
Sakura Butter Mochi Recipe
Ingredients
[ 22 x 22cm (8 x 8 inch) baking tin ]
- mochiko (sweet rice flour) 240g / 8.5oz
- sugar 180g / 6.5oz
- baking powder 1tsp
- eggs 2
- coconut milk 200ml
- milk 200ml
- butter 60g / 2oz, melted
- salted sakura blossoms 30g / 1oz
- red food coloring, to taste
- unsweetened ground coconut for sprinkling
-
salted sakura blossoms for topping, to taste
Instructions
-
Preparation for the sakura blossom:
Soak it in water for 10 minutes to remove some salt, changing water 1-2 times. Chop them finely and remove some water by squeezing with your hand or with a paper napkin.
-
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and grease a baking tin or line with a baking sheet.
-
Prepare the dry and wet ingredients: Place mochiko, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Place eggs, coconut milk, milk and melted butter in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
-
Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients: Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, add the food coloring, and with a wooden spoon or whisk, stir until well combined. Add the sakura blossom and mix.
-
Pour the mixture into the tin and sprinkle ground coconut on top.
-
Bake it at 180°C/350°F until it gets golden brown on top, about for 35-40 minutes.
-
Let it cool completely, and cut it before serving.
If you sprinkle sakura on top, remove some salt following the instructions 1, and remove some water with a paper napkin. Microwave it at 500W for 10-30 seconds until it dries. Add the blossom or crush the blossom with your hand and sprinkle on top when you serve.
Today's Recommendations
Mochiko
Mochiko - Mochi Rice Flour Grown in Niigata 160g, Kyo no Kanbutsuya 京の乾物屋 もち粉
Salt-pickled Sakura Blossoms
Iijima Seitarou Shoten KN003: Salt-Pickled Sakura Blossoms (Japanese-grown) 桜花の塩漬
This family-run factory, located in Odawara, Kanagawa, grow sakura and ume trees, and use the techniques inherited over the generations to make these salt-pickled sakura, umeboshi (dried Japanese plums), and yukari (ume-pickled purple shiso leaves).
Japanese Green Tea
Yunomi House Blend Green Tea - Daily Grade, Delicious Grade, Premium Grade
It's a good option to start with this house blend green tea if you haven't had Japanese green tea before. See the description on the product page and choose the grade. Also, even if you are a tea specialist, I recommend you to try it as you can have a new tea experience.
Recipes with Sakura
