Yakult Ice Cream Mochi

Mochi seems to be the current trend going around right now and who can say no to sweet, chewy, stretchy textures. I know I can't...especially ones filled with ice cream. My favourite go to is Lotte's mochi ice cream at the grocery store but that can get sorta expensive so I decided to try making my own. From absolute scratch...including the ice cream. Now, I didn't want to go for a basic flavour that I can easily find in stores, so I took on the challenge to do a flavour I also love to consume, and that is Yakult.

Over the past few weeks, I have tried different recipes to see which would get the most flavour out of it, and after a whole lot of testing, I came to two different types of textures, and flavours and decided to roll with that.

One is more of a sorbet/slush, which has a strong flavour, but texture wise, it's very icy. The other recipe is more of an ice cream base, but the flavour is not as strong, since the dairy that is required to make an ice cream, overpowers the flavour of Yakult. I think the two together complimented each other, so I decided to swirl the icy sorbet into the other creamy base. And that will be the filling for the mochi.

Yakult Ice Cream Mochi

Yield: 10 pieces

Ingredients

Yakult Sorbet

Sugar 70g

Water 225g

Yakult 230g

Yakult Ice Cream

35% cream 171g

Yakult(1) 110g

Sugar 50g

Salt 1g

Yolks 63g

Yakult(2) 150g

Mochi

115g Mochiko sweet rice flour

180g water

53g sugar

Potato starch/cornstarch, for dusting

Directions

1. Making the Yakult sorbet: Combine the water and sugar in a pot. Heat on low heat to melt all the sugar, and once all melted, turn to high heat and boil for 10 minutes. After boiling, cool it down completely, then add Yakult into mix. Store in fridge overnight and churn the next day.

2. Making the Yakult ice cream: Combine the cream, Yakult(1) and half of the sugar in a pot. In a bowl, place the rest of the sugar, salt, and yolks and whisk until combined. Heat the cream until it slightly boils, and temper into yolk mixture. Place the mixture back into the pot and cook it to 82C, or until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Once it is done, set aside with plastic wrap directly touching the surface to cool down. Store in fridge overnight and churn the next day. When ready to churn, add Yakult(2) before doing so.

3. Once both mixtures have been churned, lightly swirl the sorbet into the ice cream. Make sure not to over mix, as you want a distinct separation of the two textures. Store back in the freezer.

4. Once both ice creams have been stored in the freezer over night, scoop little balls and keep them in cupcake liners. Place them back in the freezer to keep shape. Remember to work fast.

5. Making the mochi: In a bowl, mix Mochiko rice flour and sugar together. Add water and whisk until there are no more lumps. Lightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave on high heat for 1 minute. Give it a good mix with a rubber spatula, and continue to microwave 45 seconds. Stir again and cook for another 30 seconds to finish. At this point, the mochi should almost be translucent.

6. Dust your work surface with potato starch/cornstarch and transfer your mochi. Dust more starch onto the mochi and begin to roll it out. Be aware, the mochi is still very hot so work carefully. Once it has been rolled out very thin, place onto a tray and into the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.

7. Start cutting with a round cookie cutter and cut as many as you can. You should be able to get 10 full pieces.

8. Place the rounds on individual plastic wraps, to keep them from sticking to each other, and it will be easier to handle with the ice cream. The plastic wrap is essential for the closing of the mochi later.

9. Brush off any excess starch on the mochi. Place a ball of ice cream into the mochi wrapper, and using the plastic wrap, twist to close it. Store back in the freezer immediately. When you are ready to eat them, let them sit out for about a minute or so to let the mochi soften a little bit.

#baking #mochi #icecream #yakult