Chocolate Butter Mochi Cake

Inspired by our travels to Maui, this chocolate butter mochi cake features a chewy brownie topped with peanut butter frosting and a generous amount of rainbow sprinkles. 

Looking for a gluten-free brownie alternative? Or maybe you’re searching for a super moist and chewy chocolate cake?

Try this easy to make chocolate butter mochi cake!

Tin Roof Chocolate Birthday Bibingka

This fun and festive chocolate butter mochi cake was inspired by the Birthday Cake Bibingka dessert sold at Tin Roof in Maui.

It consists of chocolate mochi cake topped with peanut butter frosting and a whole lot of rainbow sprinkles!

I fell in love with this chocolate treat during my babymoon vacation in Maui last October 2019. I’ve been thinking about these since then!

What is bibingka?

Bibingka (pronounced bee-bing-kah) refers to a wide range of Filipino foods made with rice flour and coconut milk.

There are many variations of bibingka, ranging from bibingka with salted egg to bibingka made with cassava.

Bibingka is most popularly eaten during the holiday season around Christmastime. It is often translated into “sweet coconut rice cake.”

You can find “bibingka mix” at Filipino and Asian supermarkets.

It’s a mixture of rice flour, sugar, and baking powder. It is similar to a pancake mix or an all-purpose baking mix like Bisquik.

The mixture of ingredients serves as the base for many desserts, baked goods, steamed goods, and other sweet treats.

Gluten Free Brownie Alternative

Is butter mochi a cake or a brownie? It’s a little bit of both.

This gluten-free brownie alternative uses glutinous sweet rice flour instead of all-purpose flour.

The lack of gluten creates a soft, chewy, and spongy cake like texture.

Chocolate Bibingka Ingredients

Mochiko

Mochiko is the Koda Farms brand of sweet rice flour. Other brands label the same product as glutinous sweet rice flour.

If you opt for a different brand, be sure to use SWEET rice flour, not regular rice flour.

Sweet rice flour is made from glutinous rice or sticky rice. Its high starch content gives mochi butter cake that iconic chewy texture.

Whereas, regular rice flour is made from medium or long-grain rice.

Cocoa Powder and Chocolate Chips

Unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate chips gives these butter mochi cake its chocolate flavor.

I recommend the unsweetened cocoa powder from Trader Joe’s. Recipe calls for semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips.

Butter

The unsalted butter is melted along with the chocolate chips. After slightly cooling, the liquid chocolate butter mixture is added to batter.

You could substitute margarine or other butter alternatives. But, this recipe tastes best with real deal butter!

Evaporated Milk

Evaporated milk is shelf stable milk that has been cooked to remove much of its water content. It is sometimes called “unsweetened condensed milk.”

Evaporated milk is slightly sweeter and thicker than regular milk. Whole milk or 2% milk may be used in place of canned evaporated milk.

Coconut Milk

Use full-fat canned unsweetened coconut milk. Check the label to ensure coconut is the first ingredient.

Do not use light coconut milk. Do not use the refrigerated coconut milk sold in cartons. These lighter coconut milks will not produce the same creamy results.

However, if you’d like your butter mochi even creamier… use canned coconut cream. (Stay away from cream of coconut which is a different product loaded with sugar.)

How to mix chocolate butter mochi cake

All you need are a couple bowls and good old fashioned whisk and spatula to mix this chocolate butter mochi cake batter together.

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients: sweet rice flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients (coconut milk, evaporated milk, and eggs). Pour into mixing bowl filled with dry ingredients.
3. Melt together chocolate chips and butter in the microwave until smooth. Cool slightly. Then pour into mixing bowl with remaining batter ingredients.
4. Once batter is thoroughly mixed together, pour in prepared baking pan. Bake for about an hour until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean!

Butter Mochi Cake Puffs Up During Baking

Do not be alarmed. The chocolate butter mochi cake will puff up and rise during baking.

This is normal. Once you take it out of the oven, the cake will settle and fall. Once again, totally normal.

Don’t worry if the chocolate mochi cake cracks on top. You will be covering it with peanut butter frosting!

Peanut Butter Frosting

The frosting is a simple mixture of butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar.

For best results, use a self-stable homogenous smooth peanut butter like Jif or Skippy.

Natural peanut butters that require stirring before use may separate in this recipe.

I use the same peanut butter frosting for these Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

Rainbow Sprinkles

Choose your favorite rainbow sprinkles to make these chocolate butter mochi cake bites super fun and festive.

Go the traditional route with these rainbow jimmes like the one photographed above.

Opt for these pastel rainbow sprinkles made without artificial coloring for a more subtle looking cake. Rainbow nonpereil sprinkles also work.

Can you make this butter mochi in a different size baking pan?

Yes! Bake the recipe in one 8-inch square baking pan or one 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Bake batter in standard aluminum/metals baking pans or glass baking dishes.

The 8-inch square pan will create a thicker chocolate butter mochi cake, while the larger 9×13-inch dish will result in a thinner cake. Regardless of the pan size, the butter mochi will be chewy.

The 8-inch square pan will create a thicker chocolate butter mochi cake, while the larger 9×13-inch dish will result in a thinner cake. Regardless of the pan size, the butter mochi will be chewy.

Making a large batch for a party

Double the recipe to make a large batch of thick mochi cakes. A doubled version will use one 1-pound (16 oz) box of mochiko flour, one 12-oz can evaporated milk, and one 14-oz can coconut milk.