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

Adapted generously from The Food of Paradise by Rachel Laudan

• 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.