Mochi ice cream is a confection made from Japanese mochi (pounded sticky rice) with an ice cream filling. It seems very difficult and inconvenient to make, right? But after you have read this post, there will be no more difficulties for you to make your own mochi ice cream.
What is Mochi?
Japanese cuisine has many different sweet and savory versions of the sweet rice cake known as mochi. During the Japanese New Year, there is a tradition called Mochitsuki, which is the more laborious process of steaming the sweet glutinous rice and then pounding it to make mochi (small glutinous rice cakes). This video demonstrating the Mochitsuki process was fantastic.
By steaming or microwaving the glutinous rice flour, these tiny rice cakes can be made using a simpler version of the mochi recipe.
Ingredients in Mochi:
- Glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour- Shiratamako can also be used; I just used Mochiko). Regular flour will not work for this recipe!
- Water
- Sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Cornstarch (or potato starch) – to help with the stickiness of the dough.
Why We Love to Make Our Own Mochi Ice Cream:
- EASY! It may sound intimidating, but I’m here to tell you this recipe is so EASY! Pick up your preferred ice cream, order sweet rice flour (Amazon will deliver it to your door for $7), and the remaining five ingredients are common pantry items. Additionally, it takes 25 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to cook.
- Customize it. I love how this recipe can be altered in so many different ways (see below for flavor suggestions). I added peanut butter to my most recent batch of dough and it was amazing.
Know Before You Go:
Mochi is very sticky! To help with the stickiness, you should have tapioca flour, potato starch, or cornstarch on hand. You’ll also want to have some water in a cup to dip your spatula in and be ready to soak everything in water when you are finished. Cleanup will be facilitated by this.
Dough Cutter: Choose a cookie or biscuit cutter that is about an inch bigger than the ice cream scoop. It is essential to have a circle of dough that is just large enough to encircle the ice cream but not so large that there are air pockets or extra dough hanging off. Even the lid from my cornstarch container got used because it was a perfect size. If there is any leftover dough, make sure to cut it away before adding the ice cream because once frozen, it will taste chewy and hard.
Cooking the mochi dough: I have found the microwave to be fast, easy, and effective. Traditional mochi, however, is steamed. Instead, steam the dough for 15 minutes, stir it, and then steam it for an additional 5 minutes, or until the dough develops a faint sheen.
How to Make Mochi:
1. Freeze ice cream balls: Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Ice cream balls should be quickly scooped with a small ice cream scoop and placed on the parchment paper. In order for the ice cream to sit flat on your cookie sheet, make sure to pack it tightly in the scooper and to leave it with a flat edge. Freeze for 1 hour.
2. Make mochi: In a bowl that can be used in the microwave, mix the flour, sugar, and powdered sugar. Add water and stir well, until smooth. Mochi dough should be microwaved for one minute while being covered with plastic wrap. To avoid sticking, wet your spatula and fold the mixture several times with it. For another minute, cover and microwave the food. After another fold, microwave the dough for another 30 seconds. If not, microwave the mochi for another 30 seconds. The mochi should appear slightly shiny.
4. Roll mochi dough into rectangles: On the counter, spread some cornstarch and a piece of parchment paper. The mochi dough should be scraped out of the bowl and onto the parchment paper using a rubber spatula. Sprinkle cornstarch over the dough ball’s surface. Roll the mochi dough into a sizable rectangle that is ¼ inch thick using a rolling pin. Continue cornstarch the top if the dough begins to stick while rolling. Place the cookie sheet with the parchment paper and rolled-out dough on it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. Fill mochi with ice cream: Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter to cut circles out of the dough after taking it out of the refrigerator. To pinch the dough around the ice cream, your circles must be large enough. I like to use a dry pastry brush to gently brush the cornstarch off the top of one circle of dough when I pick it up. Working with one scoop of ice cream at a time, (keep the rest in the freezer so they don’t melt), place one ice cream scoop in the center of the mochi and gently press the dough around the ice cream. Pinch the edges of the mochi to seal it. Place mochi on a piece of plastic wrap bringing the corners of the plastic wrap to the center and twisting it tightly at the top.
6. Freeze: Place mochi back in the freezer with the rolled plastic wrap side down. Use the remaining ice cream and dough as needed. Before eating, freeze mochi ice cream for at least an hour. For up to three months after it has been frozen, keep it wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer-safe bag or container. Before eating, give the dough a little time to thaw.
Recipe Variations:
- Vary the ice cream flavors: any flavor ice cream or sorbet will work!
- Swap the filling: instead of ice cream, you could fill the center with Nutella, chocolate, fresh-cut strawberries, peanut butter, or traditional red bean paste (anko).
- Flavor the dough:
- After the dough has steamed in the microwave, immediately add 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter.
- Add 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder to the chocolate before cooking.
- 1 teaspoon of matcha (green tea powder) should be added.
- Vanilla: Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract to the dough before baking.
- Coconut: Add 1 Tablespoon of coconut milk to the dough before cooking
