Black Sesame Ice Cream Mochi

Making ice cream mochi has been on my to-do list for ages, ever since I got back from Hong Kong last year and really missed the readily available ones there. Mochi is the word for pounded glutinous rice, and ice cream is wrapped in a thin dough made of this which is deliciously sticky and a bit gooey. I used to eat them a lot when I was kid, in a variety of flavours but I haven't yet found a reasonably priced version here. I was put off by all of the recipes making the dough in a microwave, as I don't have one, but the craving for mochi became too much and I ploughed on with a trusty saucepan.

It was quite hard work. The flour was added to the water and as it needs a bit of cooking, a lot of vigorous stirring and unladylike swearing ensued to make sure it didn't stick to the pan like shit to a blanket. The dough was then flopped out to a well floured surface to squidge it into a vaguely uniform thin sheet; I cursed the boiling hot dough scalding my fingers and left it to cool to later wrap the ice cream up into.

I left an unholy mess behind. Of the mochi? I managed to make a grand total of 6 misshapen balls, delicious filled with black sesame ice cream. It is entirely possible I need more practise. And possibly to buy a microwave.

The black sesame ice cream worked a treat though, and came out a dramatic grey-black colour which I loved but some were put off by it.


Black Sesame Ice Cream

200ml whipping cream
350ml semi skimmed milk
2 egg yolks
80gr sugar
7 tbsp black sesame seeds (rather a random amount but I added incrementally till I got the right flavour)
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until they become creamy. Toast the black sesame seeds and grind finely. Add to the milk, then add the cream and heat till it comes to just under boiling and take off the heat. Add the vanilla and leave to infuse for half an hour. Add a few spoonfuls of the milk mixture to the eggs and stir well. Keep adding until all is incorporated, and then put back on a low heat, stirring and heating until it has thickened - do not let it boil. It should resemble custard. Strain the sesame seeds out and put the mixture in the fridge to cool thoroughly before churning into ice cream in your maker.

Mochi Ice Cream

70gr glutinous rice flour (you can buy this in Chinatown)
40gr sugar
1 tsp vanilla
100ml water
Ice cream
Loads of cornstarch

Using an ice cream scoop (or a melon scoop for smaller), make balls of ice cream and freeze them well.

If you have a microwave, place the dough ingredients into a bowl, mix well and cover. Nuke for 2 mins on medium, then stir and cook for one more. Mix well, it should turn shiny and smooth. Alternatively, place all of the above in a non-stick saucepan and prepare to stir like hell, heating it well and cooking for about 5 minutes.

Use plenty of cornflour on your work surface and flop your dough out onto it. It should be pliable but not too sloppy. Using your fingers, carefully push the dough out to make a thin sheet. Cut circles out of it with a pint glass and freeze the circles for half an hour. Wrap the ice cream balls in the mochi dough and freeze again.

Then clean your kitchen...