“Pokemon Go” fan Sandi Wong took a break from trying to catch ’em all to develop this recipe for a brownie and mochi poke ball treat. Her inspiration was her doughnut-hole pan, which forms half-sphere shapes. You will need three doughnut-hole pans, available at Williams-Sonoma, to make this full recipe, or you’ll have to work in three batches.
>> Brownie layer:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2-1/4 (15-3/4 ounces) cups sugar
- 1-1/4 cups (3-3/4 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1-1/2 cups (6-3/4 ounces) flour
>> Mochi layers:
- 1 (16-ounce) box mochiko
- 2 cups (14 ounces) sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- Water to fill coconut milk can (about 1-1/2 cups)
- A few drops of red gel paste food coloring
- Katakuriko (potato starch), for dusting
- Melted chocolate and candy eyeballs, to decorate
To make brownies: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan with baking parchment.
Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and stir to combine. Return mixture to heat briefly, to dissolve sugar; remove from heat. Stir in cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Cool 5 minutes.
Whisk in eggs, stirring until smooth, then add flour, and stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging. Cool 10 minutes, leaving oven on.
While brownies are still warm, lift out of pan, using parchment paper. Place on cutting board and cut into circles of same diameter as your doughnut-hole pan (I used a small biscuit cutter). Makes about 34 circles.
To make mochi layers: Spray 3 doughnut-hole pans with cooking oil spray. In large bowl (preferably with pouring spout), whisk together mochiko, sugar and baking powder. Add coconut milk and water; whisk until smooth. Pour half the batter into separate bowl and add red gel paste.
Pour both colors of batter into doughnut-hole pans, filling each well to the top. You should be able to fill 34 wells with each color. Lay a sheet of parchment over each pan, pressing slightly so parchment touches batter (this keeps mochi from forming a crust). Bake 18-20 minutes, then cool 5 minutes.
Remove mochi from pans with chopsticks.
Place a white mochi piece onto each brownie disc. Use a pastry brush to lightly dust mochi with katakuriko so it won’t be sticky. Turn it over and place a red mochi on the other side of the brownie; dust with katakuriko. Return poke balls to doughnut-hole pans and let cool.
Use some melted chocolate to stick a candy eyeball into the side of each brownie piece as a button.
Note: The brownie and mochi pieces won’t stick together, so serve each ball in a cupcake liner, to keep the pieces together.
Nutritional information unavailable.
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