It's essentially mochi butter cake with corn in it! I made mochi butter cake for a party recently, and I was contemplating doing this exact thing!

I thought it was too risky for a work event, but I'm glad it turned out amazing.

Agreed! Just because a book is written in the style of a grandfather telling a story doesn't mean only "for children". I think that's a foolish thing to assert. (In fact, Tolkien literally said the book was not specifically written for children.)

To me, it was the most accessible book he wrote about Middle Earth, and it's the one I've reread the most. Even though it's still a bit rambling, it's a more succinct story than the others: fewer pages describing the prairies and grasslands etc.

*were