Hey friends, I’m back in SoCal but still on island time this week. I hate going through the vacation withdrawal period… It’s going to take me at least a week, maybe two, to get myself back to real life and stop my mind from wandering. And then maybe a month to finally get all the vacation photos uploaded and organized. Luckily, I’ve made these Guava Coconut Mochi before vacation. So now we can just pretend we’re on a beach somewhere eating guava coconut mochi and sipping on fresh coconut water. Yes?
I was born and lived half my life in the tropics so it makes perfect sense that I’m acutely obsessed with guava and all things tropical. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to eat really good fresh guava in Maui. The ones I did get were so sour. ☹ But guava tea, guava jam, guava butter, guava cookies, guava in everything were all good substitution. I brought them back home with me and we will have a very strict ration of these things around here. ????
For a long time, I have been trying to make guava dessert without success, until I discovered guava paste! I found them in a little Peruvian/Argentinian/Italian restaurant with a tiny grocery stand attached, not too far from my house. I never knew such thing existed, and it has opened so many possibilities. 🙂 And this guava coconut mochi is only the beginning! These cute little mochi are chewy and bursting with guava flavor. As a bonus, these treats are gluten free since they are made with sweet rice flour. So indulge and enjoy my friends. Happy Tuesday!
📖 Recipe card
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 5 oz. guava paste
- 1 oz. unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup Mochiko (sweet rice flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- small pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Extra butter or nonstick spray for pan
Instructions
- Chop up the guava paste and add to a small nonstick sauce pan with the coconut milk. Melt over medium heat, stirring constantly and breaking up the paste with a spatula until smooth.
- Take sauce pan off the heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 – 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spray a mini cupcake pan with nonstick cooking spray or brush with some melted butter. Mop up excess and set aside.
- In a small bowl, add mochiko, salt and baking powder, whisk to combine thoroughly.
- In a medium bowl, add the cooled guava paste mixture, egg and vanilla, beat with a whisk to combine.
- Add the mochiko mixture to the liquid mixture and whisk until combined, but don’t overmix.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon into each cupcake cavity of the prepared pan, the batter will be enough to fill 24.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 13 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before removing the coconut mochi from the pan.
- Use a butter knife to loosen the coconut mochi from the side of the cupcake cavity and lift it out.
Notes
2. Store in an air tight container, and consume within two days.
This is the exact brand of guava paste I used for this recipe: Predilecta Guava Paste
Hello. I have a guava tree and want to know how would you substitute or alter your recipe with actual guava fruit? Thanks!
Hi Sheila, yes you definitely can. I would use the guava pulp from a really really ripe guava, get rid of the seeds, puree it in a food processor or blender. My neighbor has a guava tree and I was trying to modify this recipe using real guava. I haven’t finalized the recipe yet but so far I’ve replaced the guava paste with 1/2 cup of guava puree and 2/3 cup of sugar, if you like less sweet maybe use 1/2 cup of sugar. I would also increase the Mochiko to about 3/4 cup, I used 2/3 cup as the original recipe and the batter was a bit too wet. This is not quite a perfect recipe yet since I’m still testing but I hope this gives you something to work with. Make sure to use really ripe guava to get the strong guava fragrance.
Can I make it the same way we do the Hawaiian butter mochi in a baking pan?
Yes, I think it should work. I also suggest doubling the recipe if you’re going to bake it in a pan since this recipe is a small batch. You can probably bake it in an 8″ or 9″ square pan if doubled.
Would the bake time also double if you baked it in a 9″ square pan?
Yes, the bake time should be longer. I expect it would be about double, maybe between 20-30 minutes. I would check around 20 minutes to see where it’s at and continue baking if it needs more time.
Is it possible to make these in regular cupcake size? If so, would I just double the ingredients, and would the baking time and degrees change? Thanks!
Hi Jill, you can double the ingredients, and I would actually add an extra 1/4 cup of coconut milk on top of that. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F and bake for longer until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I’m going to guess baking time around 20-25 minutes. Because the larger cupcake will need to bake longer, lower temperature prevents it from burning and I’m thinking extra liquid to keep it more moist. I’d love to hear if it works out for you. Keep me updated if you can!
Hi Trang,
I just bought guava puree and came across your recipe. Will that be okay to use instead of guava paste?
Thanks!
Oooo where did you get guava puree?? I want some myself. It will certainly work, though you may need to adjust the ingredient a little bit because the guava paste is not watery compared to guava puree. So maybe use a little bit less puree or a little more mochiko. Look at the consistency of the batter, it should be like cupcake batter, if it’s too thin or watery, add a little more mochiko. Let me know if it works out for you.
I’d never heard of mochi until I found your blog. These look so dainty and lovely and the tropical flavours are lovely.
Hi, would it work the same if I just use GF flour?
Hi Bella, no it would not be the same. GF flour will not have the same bounciness and chewiness that glutinous rice has.
These little cakes were delicious the second time around when I increased the cooking time to 23 minutes. I also added a 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut.
Thanks Sophia for your feedback! Adding unsweetened coconut is genius 🙂