Mochi flour, also known as mochiko flour, sweet white rice flour or glutinous rice flour is used to make delicious sweet treats in Japan. In Hawaii, where spent the second half of my childhood, American style cakes made with mochiko flour are a very popular treat. It has a springy texture that I love. When I moved to NYC, mochi was one of the foods that I missed the most. One of my mother’s co-workers at the Wailuku Public Library on Maui, heard that I could not get Hawaii style mochi in New York, so she sent me this particularly delicious recipe. Depending on the method employed, you can use exactly the same proportions to produce two very different cakes. If you combine everything together in one big bowl, blend it and pour it into the pan, you end up with a dense, buttery, custard like cake. If you cream the butter and sugar and then alternate between adding the flour and milk gradually, you end up with more of a standard cake with a nice light crumb. Both are delicious. The one pictured here is the dense baked custard variety.
LEMON MOCHIKO CAKE
- 1 stick of butter (8 Tablespoons)
- 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 pound of mochiko flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 3 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
CAKE STYLE INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 baking pan and dust it lightly with some extra mochiko flour.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture one at a time.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
- Add one third of the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar and egg mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Add half of the milk to the mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Add another third of the dry ingredients to the mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Add the remaining milk, stirring until just combined.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
- Stir in the vanilla and lemon extract.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
CUSTARD CAKE INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 baking pan and dust it lightly with some extra mochiko flour.
- Melt the butter.
- Combine the butter, sugar, eggs, mochiko flour, baking powder, milk, vanilla extract and lemon extract in a large bowl and whisk until they are totally combined. You could do this in a blender if you liked.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
Big Sis Little Dish 
Yum!! Hey, that tablecloth looks familiar!
Hi! This is Sxip’s cousin, who you met on New Year’s–this looks delicious. I have a friend who makes mochi cake in the form of waffles. Give it a try if you haven’t, it adds one million more crunchy edges, the best part.
Oh my god! That is the best idea EVER! I need to get myself a waffle iron!
xo
Erin
Oh! I had no idea glutinous rice flour could be used this way! I have a packet that has been lying open for a while after making some dumplings….this is a great way to use the rest up! Looks so good!
In Hawaii, there are entire cookbooks dedicated to this kind of cake. Let me know how it works out for you!
Erin
Oh my goodness, I love the texture of any treats baked with mochiko, but have never thought about using it as the base for an entire cake! I am definitely bookmarking this recipe! 🙂
I am a mochi freak and I love the taste of lemon. Can you add lemon zest to the batter?
I don’t see why not!
I was thinking about adding poppy seeds and making lemon poppy seed mini cupcakes. What do you think?
I love lemon and poppy seeds together. Let me know how it turns out!
I made this… exactly as instructed. It has way too much baking powder in it. It became a baking powder cake instead of the creamy butter mochi I was expecting. I will try it again because the base seems right. Will just use less baking powder. Thank you.
Hi Amy,
Yes. This is lemon cake recipe that just happens to be made with mochi flour. Although the texture is more custardy if you use the custard instructions rather than the cake instructions. I do have a recipe for butter mochi, and you are right that it uses less baking powder! I’d recommend using the butter mochi recipe if that is what you are after! Here is the link to the butter mochi recipe https://bigsislittledish.com/2016/09/26/butter-mochi/
best wishes,
Erin
AWESOME!!! Thank you.