How To Make Handmade Mochi Ice Cream At Home (Vanilla, Matcha, & Chocolate)

Mochi Ice Cream is a sweet dessert made from mochi, a Japanese sticky rice cake, that is filled with ice cream. When you first see mochi ice cream, you may think that it looks just like daifuku, another traditional Japanese confection. It is small and round, so you cannot see what is inside until you take a bite.

There are many different kinds of mochi in Japan, but the mochi used for making mochi ice cream has a soft and chewy texture. It is also not too sweet. When you take a bite of mochi ice cream, you can enjoy both textures of chewy mochi and ice cream. The sweetness of the ice cream also matches perfectly with the chewiness of the mochi! (Think fruit daifuku!)

How did mochi ice cream come to be in Japan? Lotte, a Japanese confectionery company, started to sell it as “Yukimi Daifuku” in 1981. “Yukimi daifuku” can be translated as “snow viewing Daifuku.” Lotte named its original mochi ice cream like this because they wanted to give their product a warm image, similar to that of daifuku. In fact, Japanese people often have a warm image of daifuku, as it actually makes a popular summer dessert. Lotte saw an opportunity to increase sales of ice cream during the winter months, by making an ice cream product that looked similar to daifuku. Thus, mochi ice cream was born.

Nowadays in Japan, you can find mochi ice cream in almost every supermarket or convenience store year-round. There are sometimes limited versions for special flavors, depending on the season. When Lotte first started selling mochi ice cream, they only sold it from September to May because they wanted to sell it as “winter ice cream.” The idea was originally for mochi ice cream to be eaten in a warm room when it was snowing and cold outside.

However, mochi ice cream can easily be made at home too. Even if you've never made mochi before, you can actually make it at home with only a few simple ingredients and also using a microwave.

We are introducing three different variations of Mochi Ice Cream in this recipe; Vanilla, Matcha, and Chocolate. With Vanilla, you can enjoy the simple flavor of “original” mochi with vanilla ice cream. The Matcha flavor is perfect for Matcha lovers, as both the mochi and ice cream are matcha-flavored. The Chocolate flavor is recommended for those who are new to mochi or mochi ice cream. It is also a popular flavor among children in Japan.

You can store this Mochi Ice Cream wrapped in plastic wrap and a container with a lid in the freezer for up to 3 months. As it can be stored for a long time, it is perfect for unannounced guests. Enjoy it before it melts!