Dinner parties rule for many reasons:
- You get to hang out with cool people, and sometimes meet new people.
- You get to eat a bunch of delicious things.
- IMPORTANTLY: Dessert is pretty much inevitable.
And after a recent dinner party at CS buddy Cindy's house, after being very impressed with her delightfully dense, lightly but not excessively sweet, almond-y Mochi Cake, she was a kind and generous hostess indeed and even sent the recipe:
As promised here is the recipe for the "Mochi Cake" (for lack of a more appropriate name). I checked the rice cup I was using and it is roughly the equivalent of 3/4 (wet) cup. Let me know if you have any questions and I hope it's rather straightforward.
Mochi Cake
*1 cup = 1 rice cup or 3/4 standard (wet) cup
Ingredients:
- 1 box (16 oz) Mochiko (sweet rice flour - I use the Koda Farms one, which can be purchased at most Asian grocery stores)
- 2 cup Milk (or Milk substitute, I used Almond Milk for the one you guys had)
- 1 scant cup vegetable oil (I tend to use slightly less to avoid excess oil)
- 1 to 1.5 cup sugar
- 1 generous tbsp baking powder
- 4 eggs (if you only 3 eggs or want to use up to 5 eggs that works okay too but 4 seems to be the best ratio)
Optional ingredients:
- dried fruits (eg. longan, raisins, etc.)
- rice wine (enough to cover and rehydrate fruits)
- can of cooked red beans (again can be purchased at the Asian grocery store, be sure to get one that has the beans in it and not completely mashed - Shirakiku Anko Red Bean Ogura)
Procedure
- If using dried fruits, add enough rice wine to cover and rehydrate dried fruits
- While fruits are rehydrating, mix together mochiko, milk, oil, sugar, baking powder and eggs thoroughly
- Line a baking pan (I use a rectangular baking pan, approx. 9" X 13") with aluminum foil & brush lightly with oil
- Fill baking pan with batter
- If including dried fruits or cooked red beans, use spoon to drop dollops on top of batter, then use finger or butter knife to stir/distribute throughout batter (you can make swirls with the pattern if desired)
- Bake for 25-30 minutes @ 390 - 400F (until when pierced with toothpick comes out clean)