Microwave Mochi Ice Cream

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The Japanese dessert-counter classic, made at home with a 3-minute microwave mochi dough instead of a steamer. Pre-scoop and deep-freeze the ice cream balls first, dust your hands generously with toasted cornstarch, and wrap fast — the dough is chewy and pliable for only a few minutes. Makes eight pillowy pieces with a barely-set ice cream center.

Ingredients

• 1 pint premium ice cream (vanilla, matcha, strawberry, or mango)

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour (Mochiko or shiratamako), 140 g
• 6 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp neutral oil
• 2 drop gel food coloring (optional)

• 1/2 cup cornstarch or potato starch

Instructions

1. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with plastic wrap, pressing a square into each of 8 cups (or line a small sheet pan with parchment). Working quickly with a small ice cream scoop, scoop 8 balls of ice cream, about 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 inches) each, into the lined cups. Cover and freeze at least 3 hours, ideally overnight, until rock hard.
2. Toast the starch: spread the cornstarch in a dry skillet over medium-low heat and stir constantly for 3 to 4 minutes, until it smells faintly nutty but has taken on no color. Cool, then dump onto a large cutting board or clean countertop, reserving a few tablespoons in a small bowl for your hands.
3. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, whisk the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Add the water and whisk until completely smooth, with no lumps — it should look like thin pancake batter. Whisk in the food coloring now if using.
4. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Uncover and stir hard with a sturdy silicone spatula; the edges will be set and the center still liquid. Re-cover and microwave 1 minute more, stir again, then microwave in 30-second bursts (usually 1 more, up to 2) until the dough is thick, glossy, translucent with no white raw spots, and pulls away from the bowl in one stretchy mass.
5. Stir in the oil and beat the hot dough against the side of the bowl for 30 seconds to make it smooth and elastic. Scrape it out onto the bed of toasted starch, dust the top generously, and pat with starch-coated hands into a rough rectangle. Let it rest 2 to 3 minutes — just until you can handle it, but do not let it cool completely.
6. Dust a rolling pin with starch and roll the dough to a scant 1/8 inch thick, about a 12-inch square, dusting under and over as needed. Cut out 8 rounds with a 3 1/2-inch cutter or a drinking glass. Brush excess starch off the tops with a dry pastry brush.
7. Take 2 ice cream balls out of the freezer at a time, leaving the rest frozen. Set a mochi round starch-side-down in your starch-dusted palm, place an ice cream ball in the center, and pull the edges up over the ball, pinching and pleating the seam closed. Twist off any thick knot of dough, then set the mochi seam-side-down back into the plastic-lined muffin cup. This should take under 20 seconds per piece.
8. Repeat with the remaining ice cream and dough, returning finished mochi to the freezer every 2 to 3 pieces if the kitchen is warm. Freeze the finished mochi at least 2 hours to firm up.
9. Before serving, brush off excess starch and let the mochi sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes — the shell should be soft and chewy and the center scoopable, not rock solid.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Frozen Chocolate–Caramel Peanut Nougat Bars

Blueberry Peach Buckle with Almond Streusel

Creole Cream Cheese Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem