Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee Butter Mochi

This creme brulee butter mochi has a crackly burnt sugar top and a rich vanilla bean flavor! Even if you don’t own a kitchen torch, you can still enjoy this easy vanilla butter mochi. Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.

I’m back with another butter mochi variation! Did you think I was done? That no further variations could be made? I do have quite a collection already. But this creme brulee version is one that’s been on my mind for ages, and it did not disappoint. The crunchy bruleed sugar top is a great contrast to the soft and chewy butter mochi. Even without the crackly top, in fact, this butter mochi is super luxurious with the addition of heavy cream and flecks of vanilla bean. So don’t be deterred, and give this a try!

How to Make Butter Mochi

Butter mochi is a Hawaiian snack cake made from mochiko, a type of Japanese glutinous rice flour. It also happens to be one of the easiest desserts to bake. All you do is mix everything together and bake! No special techniques or equipment required. Of course, for the creme brulee version, you will need a kitchen torch. However, even if you skip the brulee part, you can still easily make the butter mochi cake!

How to Brown Sugar for Creme Brulee Butter Mochi

This creme brulee butter mochi achieves its crackly top with the usual brulee tools: white sugar and a kitchen torch. Simply sprinkle the sugar evenly across the top surface of fully baked butter mochi. Use your kitchen torch to brown the sugar. That’s it!

I’ve seen some other creme brulee baked goods use a caramelized melted sugar as a dipping sauce, but I find that using a kitchen torch is actually less work. Some other recipes also use brown sugar, which would be fine, but because the baked butter mochi already has a somewhat brown crust, I think the white sugar helps you see when its been browned better.

Adding Vanilla Bean Flavor to Butter Mochi

This butter mochi has a super strong and rich vanilla flavor with visible vanilla bean specks. To achieve this, I used vanilla bean paste – a whole tablespoon! I buy mine from Trader Joe’s, which is quite a good deal. Of course, you could also use an actual vanilla bean, if you wish. I just find vanilla beans to be very expensive and a little bit more work.

And if you don’t want to get vanilla bean paste, you could also substitute extract. You just won’t get those pretty vanilla specks.

Butter Mochi FAQs

Is Butter Mochi Gluten Free?

Yes, butter mochi is made entirely from rice flour and is gluten free.

How to Store Butter Mochi?

You can store this butter mochi in an airtight container at room temperature. Depending on the humidity where you live, the sugar top may lose its crispiness. Butter mochi can also be frozen, but again, I would expect the brulee top not to survive the freezing and thawing process.

Substitutions for Mochiko? For Sugar?

Sorry, there is no appropriate substitute for mochiko in this recipe. Other glutinous rice flours absorb liquid differently and will result in vastly different textures. You can find mochiko at Japanese markets and even many regular grocery stores in America. If you live outside America, I can’t say for sure where you can find mochiko. However, I have always been able to see it on Amazon.

Inevitably, every time I post a dessert recipe on Instagram, someone will ask me how to make the recipe without sugar. This is (clearly) not a sugar-less baking blog, so I really don’t know about any sugar substitutes. Feel free to experiment and let me know!

More Butter Mochi Variations

Looking for more butter mochi variations? Check these out:

• Classic Hawaiian Butter Mochi
• Chocolate Butter Mochi
• Matcha Butter Mochi
• Ube Butter Mochi
• Black Sesame Butter Mochi