Ingredients [x7]:
3/4 cup Shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) [Glutinous rice flower, 5 + ¼ cups]
3/4 cup water [Water, 5 + ¼ cups]
¼ cup sugar [Sugar, 1 +¾ cup]
½ cup potato starch or corn starch [Potato or corn starch, 3 +½ cups]
2 cups Ice cream of your choice [14 cups] (strawberry, chocolate, green tea, and sesame all go well)
Make it:
- At least a few hours before preparing the mochi, line a muffin tin with aluminum muffin liners. Using a cookie dough scoop (smaller than an ice cream scoop) scoop out balls of ice cream one at a time into each muffin liner (about 2 Tbsp of ice cream per liner). Freeze immediately so they don’t start to melt!
- Once the ice cream balls are frozen solid, start making your mochi dough by whisking the shiratamako and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add water and stir well to combine.
- Two options: steaming or microwaving. If using a microwave: cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Take it out and stir it a few times with a wet spatula. Cover again and microwave for 1 more minute. Stir again, cover, and cook for a final 30 seconds. The color should change from white to almost translucent. If steaming: cover the steamer lid with a towel so that condensation doesn’t drip into the mochi mixture. Place the bowl in a steamer basket and cook for 15 minutes. Half-way through cooking, stir with a wet spatula, then cover again to finish cooking.
- Lay out a piece of parchment paper and cover it generously with potato or corn starch. Transfer the cooked mochi on top. Sprinkle more potato starch on top of the mochi so it doesn’t stick.
- Once the mochi has cooled down slightly, use a rolling pin (or your hands) to spread the mixture into a thin layer on the parchment paper. Transfer it to a baking sheet and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
- Take out the mochi, and use a circular cookie or dumpling cutter to cut out 12 circles. Use a pastry brush to gently dust off excess potato starch (or add more potato starch if it’s too sticky, then dust off the extra).
- Place a piece of plastic wrap on the table, and then transfer a mochi circle on top. Take out one ice cream ball from the freezer and drop it on top of the mochi layer. Pinch together the four corners of the mochi circle to wrap the ball of ice cream. If the mochi gets sticky, use more potato starch.
- Quickly cover with the plastic wrap and twist to close. Place each mochi ice cream ball back into the muffin tin in the freezer. Only work on one mochi ice cream at a time so it doesn’t melt!
- Keep your assembled mochi ice creams in the freezer for a few hours. When ready to serve, let thaw at room temperature for a few minutes to soften.