Butter Mochi

Instructions

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1. 1 Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Generously grease a 9-by13-inch ceramic baking dish or aluminum baking pan with butter to evenly coat; set aside.
2. 2 In a small saucepan, combine 113 g (4 ounces; 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter with coconut milk and vanilla paste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted completely and mixture is deeply fragrant, 9 minutes. Set aside to cool until lukewarm while you prepare the rest of the batter.
3. 3 In a large mixing bowl, whisk sweet rice flour, sugar, nonfat dry milk powder, baking powder, and salt to combine.
4. 4 In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs and yolk to combine. Pour evaporated milk into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup and add water until you have 2 cups liquid. Add lemon juice to evaporated milk mixture and quickly whisk to combine. Add the lemon juice and evaporated milk mixture to eggs and whisk to evenly combine and no streaks remain.
5. 5 Add the coconut milk mixture and egg mixture to dry ingredients and, using a flexible spatula, scrape sides and bottom of bowl to fold batter until no dry clumps of flour remain. Scrape batter into prepared baking dish. Bake until butter mochi is golden brown, firm, and bouncy when lightly pressed, about 1 hour.
6. 6 Turn oven off. Using a fork, pierce one end of the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Working from side to side and avoiding edges of butter mochi, as they will already be darker brown, gently rub butter onto top until all butter has completely melted. Return baking dish to oven and let butter mochi sit until it develops a darker golden brown crust, about 15 minutes.
7. 7 For the Optional Topping: In a small bowl, stir sugar, cinnamon, and salt to combine; set aside.
8. 8 Remove mochi from oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely, at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours. Using a sharp knife, portion butter mochi into 24 pieces and sprinkle with optional topping, if desired.