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The Original Sushi Bundt Cake, or rosca de sushi, is made by layering seasoned Calrose rice, creamy crab tampico, cucumber, and avocado in a bundt pan. Once flipped, it is topped with crushed nori, shichimi togarashi, sliced serranos, Japanese mayo, and sriracha, and served cold with a citrus tamari sauce.
Table of Contents
How the Viral Sushi Bundt Cake Started
I grew up in Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, where this dish was a party staple. Its original name is rosca de sushi, which translates literally to sushi bundt cake. When I first shared my version online, I had no idea it would become a sensation, reaching well over 30 million views across platforms. It is easy to see why. You get all the fresh, savory flavor of your favorite sushi roll without any hand-rolling skills, and one cake feeds a crowd.
Prep the Ingredients
Everything you need to know before you start – You can assemble the full sushi cake up to 2 hours before serving. The closer to serving the better. Cover it tightly and keep it chilled in the fridge. Here is the breakdown of how far ahead you can make each component.
Seasoned Calrose Rice: Prepare this 1 to 2 days ahead. The grains need at least 3 hours to chill and develop the tacky, starchy texture required for everything to stick together.
Crab Tampico: Mix this creamy, spicy filling up to 24 hours in advance. The serrano heat infuses better when the flavors have time to marry in the fridge.
Citrus Tamari Sauce: This can be made up to 24 hours before serving. The cilantro and scallions steep in the citrus to create a bright, complex finish.
Sliced Avocado and Cucumber: Prepare these right before assembling. Freshly sliced avocado provides a buttery, vibrant green layer that will brown if exposed to air for too long. The cucumber will start releasing water if sliced too soon.
How to Make a Sushi Cake
This is the short version so you know what you are signing up for. Full measurements and details are in the recipe card below.
Make the rice first. Rinse the Calrose rice until the water runs clear, cook it, and fold in the rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and sesame seeds. Then it goes in the fridge for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Cold rice is tacky rice, and tacky rice is the only thing holding this cake together.
Mix the crab tampico. Crab, Japanese mayo, sriracha, sesame oil, serranos, rice vinegar, and the white and light green parts of the scallions all go in one bowl. Stir until everything is evenly coated.
Whisk the citrus tamari sauce. Orange juice, lemon juice, cilantro, and the green scallion tops, with tamari stirred in to taste.
Layer and press. Spray the bundt pan well, press in half the rice, then layer the cucumber, crab tampico, and avocado. Press the rest of the rice on top until it sits flush with the rim. Set your serving plate upside down over the pan, flip the whole thing, and tap the top until the cake releases.
Top and serve. Crushed nori, shichimi togarashi, sliced serranos, and a drizzle of Japanese mayo and sriracha if you want it. The citrus tamari sauce goes on top or on the side, dealer’s choice.
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Ingredient Swaps
- Crab Meat: You have three options. Buy real lump crab from the seafood counter, already picked and ready to go, just run your fingers through it to check for stray shell. Steam and crack your own crab legs, which is what I do when I have the time. Snow or Dungeness clusters need about 5 to 7 minutes in a covered steamer, and the meat pulls out clean if you snip a ring around the shell above the joint and snap it. Or use imitation crab, which is what the traditional rosca de sushi calls for anyway.
- Calrose Rice: Use short-grain varieties like sushi rice to ensure everything sticks. Do not swap this for long-grain rice, it doesn’t have the starch needed to hold together.
- Japanese Mayo: Whisk regular mayo with a splash of rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar to replicate that rich, slightly sweet Kewpie flavor.
- Serranos: Jalapeños work perfectly if you want a similar flavor with a bit less heat. You can also omit these completely.
- Tamari: You can use soy sauce instead but it is a little saltier.
- Shichimi togarashi: Red chili flakes and toasted sesame seeds give you the same kick.
Required Equipment
Bundt Cake Pan: You can’t make this recipe without one. The perfect size for the amount of ingredients in this recipe is the 6-cup. I’m using a Nordic bundt cake pan that I found on Amazon. If you want to change the size, you have to make sure you adjust the ingredient amounts. You want the last layer of rice to lie flat so that when you flip it, everything stays nice and stuck together and it doesn’t completely flatten or fall apart.
Rice Cooker (Optional But Strongly Recommended): Using a rice cooker ensures the Calrose rice absorbs the exact amount of water needed to achieve the highly starchy, tacky texture required for the cake structure.
Storage & Food Safety
Room Temperature Limit: Cooked rice and seafood must not be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90°F, this limit drops to 1 hour.
Refrigeration: Store leftover sushi bundt cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator at 40°F or below.
Shelf Life: Due to the combination of cooked rice (highly susceptible to Bacillus cereus bacteria) and seafood, consume leftovers within 1 to 2 days.
Do Not Freeze: Freezing will permanently ruin the texture of the Calrose rice, avocado, and cucumber.
Chef Nadia’s Tips
- Clean Slices: Use a very sharp, thin blade and wipe it with a damp cloth between every single cut. Sushi rice is sticky and this helps.
- Rice Preparation: Rinse your dry rice in a fine-mesh strainer until the water runs completely clear. Removing the surface starch prevents the cake from becoming gummy.
- Wet Your Hands: If you’re having trouble with the rice sticking to your hands, just wet your hands a little bit. The moisture barrier stops the grains from clinging to you so you get that perfectly smooth and compressed layer.
What to Serve with Sushi Bundt Cake
Start with a crisp cucumbertini for a refreshing, botanical kick. These pork and shrimp wonton cups are great as an appetizer or a side to your main, whichever you prefer. If you’re looking for some other side ideas, a bowl of hot miso soup, some charred snap peas, a crisp ginger dressing salad or the famous din tai fung cucumber salad are all great choices. Finish the meal with a fresh melon dessert marinated in grand marnier and topped with silky vanilla ice cream.
Sushi Bundt Cake Variations
Salmon Sushi Bundt Cake: The raw fish version. Buttery sushi-grade salmon slices line the pan, with a spicy hand-chopped salmon mixture in place of the crab tampico. Crisp Persian cucumber, creamy avocado, and the citrus tamari sauce served on the side.
Crab Tampico Sushi Bundt Cake: This version starts with the original and turns up the volume. Creamy crab tampico inside, spicy raw salmon piped on top in dollops, and a slice of serrano on each one.
Baked Sushi Cake: The only one that goes under the broiler. Black sesame rice, toasted nori, avocado, and English cucumber layered in a springform pan, topped with creamy spicy scallops and broiled until lightly caramelized.
Mini Sushi Bundt Cakes: Individual rings of sesame-seasoned rice layered with spicy sushi-grade salmon, cucumber, and avocado. Great for when you don’t want to deal with cutting and serving slices, because everyone gets their own.
Shrimp Sushi Bundt Cake: The fully cooked one. Gochujang-spiced shrimp and creamy avocado layered with sesame rice, finished with a savory-sweet unagi glaze and toasted panko for crunch.
Spicy Tuna Pressed Sushi: The sheet pan member of the family, inspired by oshizushi, Japanese pressed sushi. Spicy gochujang tuna, cucumber, and avocado pressed under seasoned rice, then flipped and sliced into clean squares for a crowd.
Frequently Asked Questions
The seasoned rice can be made a day or two ahead and it’s actually better if you do. The crab tampico and sauce can be made a day in advance, but the cake itself should be assembled close to serving. You can make the entire cake about two hours ahead, at most. Be careful with the avocado because if it’s out too long it will brown and the cucumbers can begin to release water.
You need a 6-cup pan for this exact amount of ingredients. It is the perfect amount to fill the pan so when you flip it your sushi bundt will land on the plate. If you are going to use a different size make sure you adjust the ingredient amount.
Make sure you let your rice cool for at least three hours. This step is important because when the rice cools it gets tacky enough to hold its shape. It also makes it so that it slides out of the mold in one clean piece instead of crumbling. A thorough, even coating of cooking oil spray is also a must. When you are ready to serve, simply place your plate over the top and carefully flip it over and lightly tap it till the top releases.
You need a short-grain rice like Calrose or sushi rice for this. The high starch content is the only thing that makes the grains sticky enough to hold together. If you use a regular long-grain rice like Jasmine or Basmati, the grains will stay separate and the cake will just crumble into a pile of loose rice.
Yes. I crack my own snow crab legs when I have the time, but canned lump crab works well. Imitation is actually what the traditional rosca de sushi uses, so no shame in it. I just prefer the flavor of the real thing.
Equipment
- rice cooker, (optional)
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 1/2 cups calrose rice
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted
Citrus Tamari Sauce
- 1/2 orange, juiced
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 3 scallions, chopped greens only (save the white for later)
- tamari, to taste
Crab Tampico
- 2 cups cooked crab meat, real or imitation
- 1/4 cup Japanese mayo
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 serranos, finely chopped
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 3 scallions, chopped whites from earlier
Sushi Bundt Cake
- cooking oil spray
- 1 english cucumber, thinly sliced
- 2 avocados, sliced
- toasted nori, crushed
- shichimi togarashi, to taste
- serranos, sliced
- Japanese mayo, for drizzling (optional)
- Sriracha, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- Make the Rice: Rinse your rice and cook it according to package instructions (preferably in rice cooker). Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Fold into the cooked rice with sesame seeds. Chill for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight).1 1/2 cups calrose rice, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 pinch salt, 3 tbsp black sesame seeds
- Citrus Tamari Sauce: Mix the orange juice, lemon juice, cilantro, and green scallion tops in a small bowl. Stir in tamari to taste.1/2 orange, 1/2 lemon, 2 tbsp cilantro, 3 scallions, tamari
- Crab Tampico: Combine the crab meat, Japanese mayo, sriracha, sesame oil, chopped Serranos, rice vinegar, and the white and light green parts of the scallions in a mixing bowl. Stir until the ingredients are evenly incorporated.2 cups cooked crab meat, 1/4 cup Japanese mayo, 1 tbsp sriracha, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 serranos, 2 tsp rice vinegar, 3 scallions
- Sushi Bundt Cake: Coat a bundt pan thoroughly with cooking oil spray. Press half of the seasoned rice into the bottom of the pan. Layer the sliced cucumber, crab tampico mixture, and sliced avocados over the rice. Press the remaining rice firmly on top to secure the layers. Place your serving plate upside down on top of the bundt cake pan and carefully flip all of it over so the cake is now upright. Tap lightly on the top of the pan until the cake releases.cooking oil spray, 1 english cucumber, 2 avocados
- Top and Serve: Top with crushed nori, shichimi togarashi, sliced serranos, and a healthy drizzle of Japanese mayo and sriracha, if desired. The citrus tamari sauce can be served on the side or spooned on top.shichimi togarashi, toasted nori, serranos
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Your blog is a hidden gem.
Good evening Nadia,
This is one of my favorite recipe of yours! What type of crab meat you buy? Canned or fresh? Thank you in advance for your response.
I crack my own snow crab legs, but you can use the canned ones as well!
Hi, thank you for this wonderful recipe! I see that you suggest cooking the sushi the night before. Do you refrigerate it?
Yes I do! I’m glad you like it 🙂
Hi could I use black rice? Also, does rice need to be on the bottom. I’d really like to incorporate mangos!
HI! To be honest I have never tried it, I don’t think it is as sticky as sushi rice but I could be wrong. The rice does need to be on the bottom as it is what would hold the bundt. You can definitely incorporate mangoes! Hope this helps 🙂
Hi on this recipe at the end you give instructions for dressing with Orange lemon and cilantro does that go on the side to dip or does it go with entire Bundt?
Hi Danielle, You can do whatever you like with it. I like to cut it up and let everyone choose. I put mine directly on my piece but some people like to dip it. Hope that helps. Let me know how it turns out!
Omg first time making this so easy absolutely tasty will make again
Hi Chacha, This looks amazing! Thank you so much for sharing a pic too! I love seeing how the recipe turns out. I’m so happy that you loved it 🫶
Hi, I agree. It is super easy to make. I made the bundt cake for or Christmas lunch but use soja and ginger as a dipping sauce . The youngsters just loved it 😍
Hey Carol, This turned out awesome! I’m so glad that you guys loved it! Thank you so much for the review.
Quick question…
Is there any place in this recipe that Nori could be included?
I want to make this for a cooking class at our church…I like when I don’t have to cook a lot in a cooking class…lol… My son-in-law is Samoan and he loves Nori. I was thinking on top of the protein. I have never seen them get soggy. What do you think.
Hey Rickine,
Nori is actually in the recipe already ☺️ You crush it up and add it as a topping at the end. You could even give him his own bowl of crushed nori to add as much extra and he wants. You could try adding it on top of the protein, I’ve never tried it that way so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. I feel like the flavors stand out better sprinkled on top though.