Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Generously grease an 8-inch (20-cm) baking pan or line it completely with parchment paper. This cake tends to stick to the bottom, being that it's made with glutinous rice flour and not a lot of oil, unlike butter mochi which is more generous with butter (but it's still sticky, oh the irony!).

Step 2

The best way to whip up this batter is to literally whip everything in a blender, adding all the wet ingredients to the bottom first. Blend until you get a smooth, homogenous, runny but thick batter.

Step 3

Pour all of the batter into the pan and bake for at least 60 minutes, until the top has browned and an inserted toothpick or bamboo skewer comes out clean. A little bit of sticky residue is OK. You can remove the cake from the oven and allow it to set inside the hot pan.

Step 4

Flip the cooled cake out of the pan and dust with the optional confectioners' sugar or sweet potato powder, or both. A sheet of gold flake makes this beautiful mochi cake a bit bougie :)