Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:1 (9-by-13-inch) cake
- 12tablespoons/170 grams salted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1cup/173 grams semisweet chocolate chips
- 2cups/403 grams granulated sugar
- 3large eggs
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1(12-ounce/354-milliliter) can evaporated milk
- 1(13.5-ounce/399-milliliter) can unsweetened coconut milk
- 3cups/454 grams mochiko (sweet rice flour), like Blue Star brand
- 1tablespoon baking powder
- ¼cup/24 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1cup/250 grams creamy peanut butter
- 1cup/201 grams Demerara or turbinado sugar
- ¼cup/48 grams Pop Rocks candy, from 5 (.33-ounce/9.5-gram) packages, any flavor, for finishing (optional)
- 4ounces/113 grams rainbow sprinkles, for finishing
For the Butter Mochi
For the Frosting
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the butter mochi: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter.
- Step 2
In a microwave-safe large bowl, melt the 12 tablespoons butter and chocolate chips by microwaving on high in 30-second increments, stirring and repeating as needed, until just melted.
- Step 3
Add the granulated sugar to the melted chocolate and stir until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and milks.
- Step 4
In a large bowl, stir together the mochiko, baking powder and cocoa powder until evenly distributed. Fold the liquid chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring until thoroughly mixed. When the batter is totally smooth, pour it into the prepared baking pan.
- Step 5
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool slightly.
- Step 6
As the cake cools, make the frosting: In a bowl with an electric mixer, whip together the peanut butter and Demerara sugar until the mixture has the texture of frosting.
- Step 7
While the cake is still slightly warm, spread the frosting evenly over the top. Let cool to room temperature. Just before serving, sprinkle with Pop Rocks, if using, and shower sprinkles over the top, then cut into squares and serve.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Beth
Made this with my kids, and it was a big hit, in spite of the many substitutions we ended up making. An extra egg was added by mistake; we had no evaporated milk, so we subbed half milk/half cream; we used bittersweet chocolate instead of semisweet; we reduced sugar by half-cup; we were out of peanut butter, so we made a fudge topping—sweetened condensed coconut milk and super-dark chocolate. Also, alas, no pop rocks. Still delicious and so much fun to eat!
Greg Horesovsky
I made this yesterday for a surprise for my adult daughter’s birthday. It was fantastic and so much fun to eat. The butter mochi is pillowy with a marshmallow texture, but tastes like an incredible brownie. But the real star is the topping. Though it took me almost an hour to get the Demerara sugar to break down in the peanut butter in my stand mixer, it’s slightly sandy texture was a terrific contrast to the mochi. DO NOT skip the pop rocks! Such an unexpected surprise!
Caitlin T
This was amazing. Note to chefs: you are making mochi; not a cake, not brownies…mochi. If you have never had mochi, please read what it is before making this recipe. When you make the frosting, it will be a weird texture with the sugar, but it is important to put it on when the mochi is still warm. It integrates with the mochi perfectly upon cooling.
Caitlin T
This was amazing. Note to chefs, you are making mochi. Not a cake, not brownies…mochi. If you have never had mochi, please read what it is before trying this recipe. Also, the peanut butter frosting will seam weird and grainy, but it is important to put it on when the mochi is warm and it integrates wonderfully upon cooling.
Anika
I love mochi and this cake was no exception! Cannot wait to make this again! A note on the pop rocks: they can be left out. They add that layer of artificial sweetener and I am not sure I want this in a cake that’s otherwise made from scratch.
Claire
This was great – made it vegan by swapping the 3 eggs for 4oz silken tofu (which I put in a blender), using only 4 tbsp of vegan butter, and swapping the can of evaporated milk for an extra can of coconut milk.
Ellen
Fun and delicious. I mixed the frosting for a minute or two, then frosted the cake warm. I loved the Pop Rocks, which added a little citrus-y hit. This feeds a crowd!
natalie
Of all the things I have tried to bake on this app, this is hands down THE best one. Came out perfectly at 55 minutes. I used coconut sugar instead of Demerara, and it still had the intended crunchy effect. Couldn’t find pop rocks, but I’ll be making it again with. The recipe yields a ton of mochi cake, so make sure you have people to share with!!
Aaron
Made this for a coworker's birthday and it was delicious, but the large sugar crystals in the frosting were unanimously voted as not a great sensation. No matter how long I beat the frosting they refused to dissolve. I made it a second time with just creamy peanut butter on top and it was much more well received and a much more pleasant eating experience.
Sk8dva
I only had all-natural peanut butter, and it was not going to combine into a frosting consistency ever! I added about a half a cup of milk a little at a time, and that did the trick!
Cranky baker
Sift the cocoa powder. Start your frosting the second the pan goes in the oven. After 25 minutes I still had peanut butter mixed with large sanding sugar vibes. Maybe it would have been good? But by that point the cake was cooled and I gave up. Made a chocolate ganache for the topping. O stars for the frosting and the too terse directions-I don't think of sandy peanut butter as "frosting texture." If frosting is going to take 60+ minutes please mention that. Actual Mochi was quite nice.
Sarah
I’m confused by the reviews because this tastes exactly like regular cake. We didn’t make any substitutions, we followed the recipe exactly. It wasn’t pillowy or marshmallow-like in texture. It was indistinguishable from any chocolate cake we’ve ever made. It’s a nice gluten-free option for celiacs, but otherwise not worth the speciality ingredients. I’ll put pop rocks on a regular chocolate cake next time.
Socialchef
Good recipe, but a little disappointed that the coconut flavor wasn’t more pronounced. I might use all coconut milk (instead of evaporated milk) next.
Marissa
Such a fun and delicious cake! Baked this in Denver using high altitude adjustments. I was worried about the icing from some comments. I whipped the icing for about 40 minutes in my stand mixer and it was still crunchy but honestly tasted great on the cake nonetheless. Couldn’t find pop rocks so had to leave those out.
Lilian
By default I reduce the sugar in dessert recipes and find them plenty sweet. With this one, I would do the full sugar. I also will take the time to melt the turbinado sugar into the peanut butter. It was a little too crunchy. Otherwise, we loved this.
BMoajit
I followed the instructions, I’m a professional chef, and I was strangely disappointed. There is so much sugar but it’s not sweet enough, the pop rocks didn’t pop- I used natural peanut butter but recipe should have specified which. I thought the cake in the 9X13 was actually too thick. Dare I say, this needs a revision. Love the idea though.
Claire
This was great – made it vegan by swapping the 3 eggs for 4oz silken tofu (which I put in a blender), using only 4 tbsp of vegan butter, and swapping the can of evaporated milk for an extra can of coconut milk.
kamaile
A Vitamix was the clincher to transform the turbinado sugar into “smooth” frosting. My hand mixer was useless. The Pop Rocks sensation is super fun; The brand X ones available at our local grocery store changed the flavor profile dramatically from classic chocolate-peanut butter to the lawlessness of a 7-11 suicide Big Gulp. We served them on the side as an optional add-on. This mochi was a multi-generational ohana birthday party crowd pleaser. Chee-hoo!
Mary
did not have peanut butter (and didn't want to buy- we aren't big on peanut butter as it is a pretty strong flavor) or the correct sugar for the frosting. made an almond butter frosting instead with coconut sugar bc I was even out of brown sugar. I want to try a fudge frosting next time. cake is amazing- a mix of chocolate cake, brownies, and mochi. excellent choice for a cake hater and to introduce someone to the texture of mochi.
CB
Fantastic butter mochi / brownie recipe! I have tried a few mochi recipes and this is by far my favourite - the right amount of marshmallow bite. Great with or without the icing.
Rosie B
This is my second time making this it is terrific
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