Mochi: Make Your Own at Home, written by Sabrina Fauda-Rôle, features a fun collection of homemade mochi filled with 22 exciting flavors alongside step-by-step guides and vibrant photography. A few flavors include Caramelised Walnut, Lemon, Peanut Butter Jelly, Coconut Mango, and Praline Coffee. I will also be sharing her recipe for Speculoos Mochi following the review.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Smith Street Books in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Take care when eating mochi, especially with young children and those with swallowing difficulties. It is incredibly chewy and can pose a choking risk.
Sabrina Fauda-Rôle
Sabrina Fauda-Rôle is an author and food stylist currently based in France.
Her work has been featured in many publications and cookbooks including One Pot Vegetarian, Cookie Shots, One-Pot Vegan, and Toast.
This book was first published in French by Hachette Livre (Marabout).
Mochi: Make Your Own at Home
Sabrina begins Mochi with a brief introduction and tutorial before jumping right into the fillings. There are also a few fun facts and tips scattered across the pages.
The contents page has a visual list of the included Mochi recipes with page number for easy reference. With the exception of the Dango recipe, all the mochi in the book are daifuku-style (filled).
The photography is provided by David Japy with illustrations by Valentine Ferrandi. Every single recipe is paired with a vibrant, full-page photo of the finished treat. The illustrations are particularly helpful in demonstrating how to cook and fill the dough.
Measurements are listed in grams and ounces. Titles are written in English. Each recipe has a note on yield, prep time, and rest time.
Speculoos Mochi
We have enjoyed all of the recipes attempted so far, but the Speculoos Mochi were my personal favorite.
These little treats have a cinnamon-scented mochi dough filled with a creamy and rich speculoos mascarpone center. They were especially delicious paired with hot Salted Caramel Black Tea.
Before forming the dough, make sure the filling is completely chilled. This will keep the mixture from seeping everywhere once it touches the warm mochi. I used a small cookie scoop to form the dollops of filling.
You can either prepare the mochi dough in the microwave or on the stove. I went with the microwave.
After blending together the ingredients, the mixture is covered and microwaved for one minute. Mix briefly, then microwave for another minute. Repeat and microwave for 30 more seconds. My current microwave is older and I ended up having to do a final 30 seconds to get the right texture (for a total cooking time of 3 minutes).
To make the dough on the stove top, mix the ingredients over medium heat while stirring consistently until the dough is sticky but not too runny, about 3 minutes.
Once everything is prepped, work fast with plenty of cornstarch or potato starch to protect your hands from the heat and keep the mochi from sticking.
The Speculoos Mochi are best the day they are assembled, but can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before eating for a more creamy texture in the center.
Notable Ingredients
Glutinous Rice Flour is made by grinding glutinous (sticky) rice into a powder. It is called glutinous rice based on the sticky texture when cooked and is actually gluten-free.
For this recipe I used Mochiko, a Japanese glutinous rice flour made from sweet sticky rice. I have been able to find Mochiko in the international or gluten-free section of larger grocery stores and in markets with Japanese ingredients.
For those in Northern Virginia, I usually get it at Wegmans or Lotte Plaza Market in Chantilly. It is also available on Amazon: Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour.
Speculoos Spread (Cookie Butter) is a spread made from ground Belgian Speculoos cookies. It has a warming combination of spices similar to gingerbread. With its popularity, you can now find cookie butter in the peanut butter/honey section of many grocery stores in the United States.
More Mochi
I also made the Chocolate Hazelnut Mochi, Dango, Honey Rose Almond Mochi, and Vanilla Mochi.
The Chocolate Hazelnut Spread is the very first recipe in the book and definitely the easiest. Simply fill the prepared mochi dough with chilled rounds of a chocolate hazelnut spread. It was the biggest hit with my daughter.
The Dango recipe pairs skewered mochi with a delicious sweet and savory soy sauce glaze. It was so fun and came together in minutes.
I made the Honey Rose Almond Mochi while my aunt was visiting for an easy, yet beautiful dessert. This pink-hued mochi has a floral almond butter honey filling with a hint of rose water.
The Vanilla Mochi also incorporates mascarpone to create a creamy filling sweetened with vanilla sugar. To add a more striking contrast, the mochi dough is dyed with black food coloring.
Mochi is a fun pick for those interested in making mochi in home with a variety of flavors. There are a couple of more traditional options such as Dango, Anko, and Strawberry alongside more unique fillings such as Passionfruit, Orange Blossom Apricot, and Blueberry Lemon.
Most of the ingredients such as glutinous rice flour are becoming more readily available in larger American grocery stores. A few items that make require further searching include flavored honey, rose water, orange blossom water, vanilla sugar, tahini, adzuki beans, chestnut cream, agar-agar, matcha, praline paste, and black sesame seeds.
Speculoos Mochi Recipe
Excerpt from Mochi: Make Your Own at Home
Speculoos Mochi
Ingredients
Speculoos Filling:
- 90 grams (3 ounces) mascarpone
- 90 grams (3 ounces) speculoos spread
- 1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)
Mochi:
- 150 grams (5 1/2 ounces) glutinous rice flour
- 120 grams (4 1/2 ounces) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 200 milliliters (7 fluid ounces) cold water
- Cornflour (cornstarch) or potato starch for rolling
Instructions
To make the Speculoos Filling:
- Mix the mascarpone with the speculoos spread in a small bowl until well combined.
- Spread a sheet of baking paper on a small plate and form 12 small dollops of the mixture.
- Freeze for 30 minutes.
- Take the plate out and sprinkle it lightly with cornflour.
- Form the small mounds into balls and put them back in the freezer.
To make the mochi dough:
- In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the glutinous rice flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Gradually add the cold water, stirring constantly so as not to create lumps.
- Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and place it in the microwave for 1 minute at maximum power.
- Stir lightly with a spatula.
- Cover and cook in the microwave for another 1 minute.
- Stir again, cover and return to the microwave for 30 seconds. (Note: in my microwave, I had to add one more 30 seconds to get the mochi dough to the right consistency- so 3 minutes in all.)
- Sprinkle a work surface with cornflour.
- Place the still-hot dough on the work surface and sprinkle it with a thin layer of cornflour.
- 2 Options: Form the dough into a sausage of about 30 centimeters (12 inches) in length then cut the dough into 40 gram (1 1/2 ounce) pieces. OR: Slide the dough between your thumb and forefinger (dust your hands well with cornflour), then pinch strongly and detach the piece of dough to form a small ball of about 40 grams (1 1/2 ounces).
- With hands dusted with the cornflour, lightly squash the dough ball between your hands to form a 6-7 centimeter (2 1/2-2 3/4 inch) disc.
- Place a very cold ball of the speculoos filling on the disc of mochi dough. Quickly gather the edges on top of the ball by pinching them together to seal.
- Quickly roll the resulting ball between your hands to even it out and place it on a plate, seam side down.
- Repeat to form the remaining mochi, then place them in the fridge to let them cool.
- Take the mochi out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before eating to let them come to room temperature.
kim
This looks really delicious. The cinnamon and marscapone go together so perfectly.
Elisa
Love this Speculoos Mochi recipe, never tried this homemade so will try to make it soon. We love mochi in my family, grew up eating this. Thanks for sharing 🙂