Peaches and Cream Butter Mochi

From the recipe author: For those of you who aren’t familiar with butter mochi, you can think of it as a chewy, slightly sticky, and almost custardy glutinous rice cake. It’s usually packed with coconutty flavor, but this time around it is replaced with the iconic summer flavor of peaches and cream. In Hawai‘i, you’ll find this dish at nearly every gathering and each family has its own recipe. What I love about it is how it evolves over the course of twenty-four hours. Best enjoyed on the first day, this buttery-custardy mochi cake’s crust will take on a different texture the next day—think softer and almost melty.

To make the peach milk

1. Place all ingredients but the milk in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until simmering, then reduce to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes or until the peaches are tender and shiny.
2. Let cool to room temperature. Once cool, transfer to a blender jar and blend with 1 1/4 cups whole milk until smooth.
3. If using soon, leave out while you continue the recipe. Otherwise, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the walnut crumble

1. In a bowl, combine the unsalted butter, walnuts, all-purpose flour, light brown sugar, kosher salt, and ground cinnamon. Use a pastry blender to cut the ingredients together. They should form small pea-sized clumps. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the mochi

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan with butter or oil. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and peach milk.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together the mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and kosher salt.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until well combined.
4. Add the melted butter and heavy cream and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Use a toothpick to help pop the bubbles if necessary.
6. Bake for 20 minutes and quickly remove from the oven when done. Top with peaches by fanning out a few slices and arranging them in clusters evenly spaced out over the top of the loosely set mochi. Sprinkle the nutty crumble around the slices onto the surface of the mochi.
7. Promptly return mochi back to the oven and bake for another 40-50 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown and the mochi is completely set.
8. Set the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing into rectangles using a plastic knife to minimize sticking. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days (see notes).

Farm Team Tips

Slicing the mochi into four columns and five rows to make twenty 2 1/4" by 2 1/2" pieces works well for this recipe. If your knife seems to be sticking, grease it with some unsalted butter or neutral oil for cleaner cut.

Because it calls for fresh peaches, this mochi has a slightly shorter storing time of two days instead of the usual three, so feel free to halve the recipe for about 10 pieces per batch. If halving the recipe, use an 8" square pan and check for doneness around 40 minutes into the second bake.

You can absolutely make everything the same day for this recipe, or you can break it up into two days starting with the peach milk and walnut crumble the first day, then bake it all off with the mochi the second day.