Mochi ice cream

A ball of ice cream wrapped in soft glutinous rice dough — a Japanese-American hand-held dessert.

Mochi ice cream is a small ball of ice cream wrapped in a thin, soft mochi dough made from glutinous rice. It is a hand-held dessert: the wrapper is elastic and slightly chewy, and inside is cold, creamy ice cream. Unlike the other types on zmrzka, it is not a separate kind of ice cream mix — the filling can be cream ice cream, gelato, sorbet or frozen yogurt. The art lies in the dough, and in keeping both the dough and the ice cream soft after freezing.

When shaping, the dough is dusted with cornflour (cornstarch) or potato starch so it does not stick to your hands or the worktop.

Origin and history

Its forerunner is the Japanese dessert daifuku — mochi rice dough with a sweet filling. The Japanese company Lotte launched an ice cream version, Yukimi Daifuku, in 1981. In the US, Frances Hashimoto of the Mikawaya company started producing mochi ice cream in 1993 and launched it in Hawaii a year later. These details come from the English Wikipedia.

Typical composition

zmrzka has no target composition ranges for mochi ice cream — they depend on the filling you choose. We were unable to find the ratio of flour, water and sugar in the dough in a verified source, so we give only the composition of the main ingredient.

The dough is made with shiratamako or mochiko — flour from glutinous rice (mochigome). Ordinary rice flour will not do; the dough will not be elastic. Glutinous rice contains almost only amylopectin and hardly any amylose, which is why it becomes sticky and stretchy when cooked. It contains no gluten — the name “glutinous” refers only to its texture.

What the law says

No specific definition applies to mochi ice cream as a whole. The filling follows the rules for frozen desserts according to its composition.

How to make it at home

1. Ice cream. Make it from any recipe and let it harden well. A softer ice cream with a higher PAC (for example with dextrose) combines better with the dough when eaten.
2. Portions. Use a scoop to make small balls of the same size, place them on a tray lined with baking paper and freeze for 1–2 hours until completely hard.
3. Dough. Mix the glutinous rice flour with sugar and water into a smooth paste. Cook it on the hob while stirring constantly, or in short bursts in the microwave, until it is glossy, translucent and stretchy.
4. Cooling. Turn the dough out onto a board dusted with starch and let it cool, 30–60 minutes.
5. Wrapping. Roll the dough out thinly, cut out circles, place a ball of ice cream on each, draw the edges together and seal. Work quickly, in small batches — keep the other balls in the freezer.
6. Final freezing. Freeze the finished mochi for at least 1–2 hours.

Sugar in the dough helps it stay soft even in the freezer — but we have no verified source for the exact amount.

You can make the ice cream for the filling in a compressor ice cream maker, a freezer-bowl machine, a Ninja CREAMi or with the no-machine method.

The most common mistakes

• Hard dough from the freezer — the dough was too thick or had too little sugar.
• Tears when wrapping — the dough is too thin, or it has already cooled and set.
• Ice cream melts while wrapping — the balls were not frozen enough, or you are wrapping too many at once. Work in a cool kitchen.
• Thick, rubbery wrapper — too much dough; the wrapper should be thin.
• Wrong flour — ordinary rice flour or wheat flour will not make an elastic dough.
• Sticks to everything — too little starch on the board and your hands.

How to recognise good mochi ice cream

• The wrapper is thin, even and soft, and after brief softening it is easy to bite into.
• The dough is neither hard nor rubbery, with only a light dusting of starch on the surface.
• The ratio of wrapper to ice cream is balanced — there is more ice cream than dough.
• The filling is smooth, without ice crystals.

How long it takes at home

Total: about 1.5 hours of active work, 1.5–2 days in all. If your ice cream is already made, you can make mochi in 3–4 hours.