This snack slash appetizer slash dessert cake is dense and chewy, with a crackly cheese crust, and pops of sweet corn kernels running throughout. Mild chile flakes, like gochugaru or Aleppo pepper, add fragrance more than heat. If you don’t have either, use freshly ground black pepper instead.

Mochi cake isn’t a cake in the same way as a fluffy angel’s food or a buttery pound cake—because there’s no worrying about precise leavening, measuring, whipping, or folding. I think of it more as a pudding thickened by glutinous sweet rice flour.

This means there’s a lot of room to groove. Check out my off-script guide to mochi cake, then riff to your heart's content. Don’t know where to find glutinous sweet rice flour? Check your local Asian grocery or online.