Mochi Cats, by Kim-Joy
-
Easy
"One of my two cats is called Mochi, so to make a mochi cat was a de-fur-nite must! The wonderfully chewy skin paired with the smooth ice cream is a texture combination that leaves you coming back to the freezer to have more and more.
This one is trickier purely because of the use of ice cream, so you need to work fast and to decorate! But making the mochi skin is surprisingly simple, so if you want to make these easier, then fill these with a more solid filling, such as sweet red or black bean paste, cookie dough, thick pastry cream, fresh fruit, etc. There are many options for different fillings. You can even eat these plain, without any filling!"
Bake Me A Cat by Kim-Joy (Quadrille, £16.99), Photography by Ellis Parrinder
Read our Q&A with Kim-Joy and discover her top tips, learnt while perfecting thee recipes.
Or see her recipe for Purrfect Doughnuts, and Roarsome Vi-cat-oria Sponge Cake
Ingredients for homemade mochi
- 10 small portions of ice cream of your choice (each portion about 1 tbsp)
- Flaked almonds, around 2 per cat
- 160g glutinous rice flour, plus extra for sprinkling (or use cornflour for sprinkling)
- 65g caster or granulated sugar
- 220ml water
- Gel food dye colours of your choice mixed with a tiny amount of water
How to make mochi cats
- First, create 10 small and roughly oblong scoops of ice cream, about 1 Tbsp each, then place on a sheet of baking paper and return to the freezer. Use a sharp knife to cut the almonds so that they are a little pointier.
- Next, make the mochi skin. Add the glutinous rice flour, sugar and water to a microwaveable bowl and whisk by hand until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and whisk. It will still be very liquid at this point so won’t be too difficult to mix. Cover again and heat for another 30 seconds. It will be thicker/lumpier now; whisk again and return to the microwave. Keep heating in 30-second bursts and whisking or stirring after each. When the mixture becomes thick, switch to stirring with a spatula, otherwise it will just clump inside the whisk. After a total of about 4–5 minutes, the dough should look slightly translucent and be very sticky and thickened.
- Sprinkle a very generous amount of glutinous rice flour or cornflour onto a work surface, then scoop the mochi on top (careful! It will be very hot). Sprinkle more rice flour on top. Carefully roll out to about 5mm [.in] thick while checking that it isn’t sticking to your surface (if so, use more flour). Leave to cool for about 15–30 minutes.
- Once cool, cut out a circle using a 7.5-cm [3-in] cutter. Brush off the excess rice flour on top, then place a scoop of ice cream in the centre. Lift the edges of the dough to encase the ice cream, then press together at the top to seal. You need to work quickly to avoid the ice cream melting. Very quickly press in the prepared nuts for the ears. Once done, immediately wrap in plastic wrap (to help it keep its shape) and place in the freezer to firm up. Don’t worry if a little ice cream seeps out, this will harden when chilled in the freezer. Repeat to make all the mochi ice creams.
- Tip: The ice cream will want to melt fast when near your warm hands, so you can wear gloves to help prevent the heat transferring. It also helps to work near the freezer.
- Once the mochi ice creams have firmed up, paint the backs of the mochi with gel food dye colours of your choice, mixed with a little water. Then paint on a little face to bring the mochi cats to life.
- Place in an airtight container and keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks until ready to snack on.
