Coconut Sweet-Rice Cupcakes (I promise you’ll like these even if you hate coconut)
March 17, 2011 § 10 Comments
I am loving the hell outta three things right now.
1. Jeff Bridges (Tron – 1982, The Big Lebowski – 1998, True Grit – 2010)
2. Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour
3. Echo Lake Dog Park
I am not loving:
1. Red Meat (self-inflicted torture, I gave this up for Lent)
I was recently reminded that I had originally promised “other adventures” other than culinary, so here is a somewhat-humorous video of Bogart (my dog) getting in trouble at the afore-mentioned dog park. I can’t remember why I got so tiger-mom on him this time, but I assure you it must have been a good reason. I especially love the end of the video…hahaha 😉 (c) intellectual property of d&d master shiny shoes sehoon
On to my next current addiction…mochi-cupcakes. Sorry for the influx of mochi-inspired sweets…I promise this will be the last for a while… The recipe I tried for the blueberry mochi cupcakes was indeed delicious, so I was so curious to try out different mochiko-recipes. I diddled around and found a Sweet-Rice Flour Coconut Cake, which sounded like it could be promising. I made some modifications, and ended up with something really phenomenal, even better (daresay) than the blueberry recipe. The original recipe called for FIVE eggs (that’s kinda crazy) and 2.5 cups of sugar (even my sweet-tooth can’t handle that jazz), so I reduced an egg and half a cup of sugar and it was perfect. Also, I am a big fan of using cupcake pans because I think it’s less messy and easier to enjoy, one cupcake serving at a time. And you get more of the amazing crunchy-edge-to-moist-inside ratio. hehe
Now the dilemma about the coconut milk…
I have never bought unsweetened coconut milk for cooking purposes. I didn’t think this would be an issue until I got to the grocery store and noticed that there is a different type of coconut milk, oil, cream, basically anything that you can think of using coconut, in SEVERAL different aisles. I took a wild guess and chose the coconut cans in the Thai-aisle, which I think was the right choice. Even there, they had at least 6-7 different brands of the SAME THING, so I chose two different ones that I’ve posted below that were relatively similar. I tasted both and noticed many differences in texture and flavor, so I got a little worried that the combination of both would make for a weird-tasting cake. But the mixture turned out to be awesome so I would probably get these two different ones again! The Chaokoh-brand was much thicker and creamier, whereas the Mount Tai-brand was more watery and a little more fresh-tasting.
I’m not the biggest fan of coconut-flavored things, but I have to say, the coconut flavor was almost completely masked/subtle in this cake. It was just another layer of depth and that “hmm…what is that flavor?”-something-special. I am a FAN!
Here is the recipe:
Sweet Rice-Flour and Coconut Cupcakes
- 1 box of mochiko flour (1 lb)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 (14-oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk (not low-fat)
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
Whisk together mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together coconut milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla in another bowl. Add coconut mixture to flour mixture, whisking until batter is combined.
Pour batter into buttered cupcake pans, makes 24 cupcakes. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden and the sides begin to pull slightly from the pan. Cool, and then enjoy!
Mochi keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days.
my golden hour 
this sounds phenomenal. i will definitely try!! and i love the bogart video.
thank you so much suejeanne! please let me know how it goes!
haha “I can’t remember why I got so tiger-mom on him” – don’t stop with the mochi recipes! If you can get Samonim’s pat mochi muffin recipe & try it out, I’d be most grateful!!
lol thanks margo! im going to ask her…and then make it…in a few months. 🙂
I guess finding useful, reliable inoramotifn on the internet isn’t hopeless after all.
I LOVE COCONUT. also I LOVE DOG.
did you use cupcake liners? (suggested by your photo) and should i fill the batter 2/3 up like regular cupcakes or does it not rise like that?
Hi Lina! I did not use cupcake liners, I just buttered my cupcake tin. I am not sure if cupcake liners would work well here, since I think the batter and cake would stick too much to it, but if you try it out let me know how it turns out! I would fill it 2/3, up to 3/4 of the cupcake tin. It doesn’t rise as much as cupcakes, but because of the baking powder, it will rise a little so leave some room. Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
omigosh steph. they turned out so yummy. my FG ladies devoured them. bravo steph. keep these recipes coming!
I’m so glad to hear that they turned out well!! Thanks for trying it!