Cherry Mochi Cakes - Cute and Gluten-free

fresh california cherry mochi mini-cupcakes

Remember the Blueberry Mochi Cake I made recently? It has been well received by my co-workers, friends and family...and it is such a thrill when I get comments from people who made it for their family (and they liked it!)

Now that it is Summer Fruit time (whoo hoo!), my thoughts are all about the cherry. Two years ago, my friend Charlotte forwarded me the Martha Stewart Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea Cakes recipe. It is just so pretty!

But I tend to shy away from nut recipes (because a co-worker can't have nuts or seeds), so I thought...what if I make it with mochi cake!? The result, if I do say so myself, is YUM!

Cherry Pitting with a chopstick! I tried my best to keep the stem attached.

Since I wasn’t sure how this would all work out (read: it could be another baking disaster of mine), I didn’t want to risk wasting my very first batch of beautiful California sweet cherries! So, I made 16 mini cupcakes with fresh cherries, and poured the rest of the batter into a 9 x 13 pan and added frozen Trader Joe’s Sweet Cherries (about ¾ of the bag)

Make this easy-to-make, gluten-free recipe! Since it is made with mochiko flour (sweet rice flour), the texture is slightly chewy!

Cherry or Blueberry Mochi Cake
Adapted from JustJenn who adapted it from Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee

Mix together: 2 sticks melted butter and 2 cups sugar. Mix in 1 can evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk).

Whisk in 4 eggs. Add 1 box of Mochiko (Sweet rice flour. You can get Koda Farms Mochiko at an Asian grocery store, Surfas in Los Angeles, or health food stores because it is gluten-free. I buy it at Japanese grocery stores for $1.28 - $1.50 a box). Add 2 tsp. baking powder and 2 tsp. vanilla and mix until smooth. Done! How easy is that?!?

You can add frozen blueberries to the mix or layer them into the batter. Or, as I did for this one, add fresh and/or frozen cherries. I covered some and just popped the cherry in other...both ended up the same; I would do the easy method!

I made 16 mini cupcakes and baked them for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees…until they were a bit golden on top. The remaining batter went into a 9 x 13 pyrex glass pan for 60 minutes (check at 50 minutes).

For the mini cupcakes, I sprayed the tray with Baker’s Joy. However, if you were going for totally gluten-free, please just brush with melted butter.

Cherry Mochi Cake - Give it a try!