Mochi Recipe: How to Make a Japanese Dessert with Rice Flour at Home

Desserts and baked goods made from glutinous rice flour are very popular in East Asian countries. These can range from simple sweet rice balls or sausages to more complex creations. The most famous Japanese rice dessert is mochi. Mochi are most often simply sweet rice cakes. Filled mochi, called daifuku, can contain a wide variety of fillings, from bean paste to strawberry.

Step-by-step recipe

Step 1:

Pour milk into a bowl, add sugar, glutinous rice flour, and starch. Mix thoroughly with a whisk.

Step 2:

Cover the bowl tightly with cling film, poke holes in it with a toothpick and microwave for 4-5 minutes.

Step 3:

Add butter to the hot mixture and stir with a spatula.

Step 4:

Knead the dough in a food processor, then by hand and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 5:

In a clean bowl, beat the heavy cream and sugar until thick.

Step 6:

Stretch the dough and cut it into equal pieces.

Step 7:

Roll the pieces into circles.

Step 8:

Place a circle of dough over the cup to form a depression.

Step 9:

Partially fill the cavity with buttercream in a spiral pattern to form a vortex.

Step 10:

Place chocolate cookie crumbs in the center, cover the filling with cream, seal the cake on all sides and turn it out into a paper cup.

Step 11:

If desired, you can make half of the mochi with a filling of butter cream and finely diced strawberries.

Cooking tips

Dust the surface and dough pieces with flour to prevent sticking. Use gloves.

If you don't have a food processor, you can knead the dough from start to finish with a spatula and your hands—this will take longer. The dough should be smooth and very elastic.

You can use almost any filling to suit your taste.