Step 1

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add sugar and shiratamako and whisk together. Add in water and whisk until smooth and shiratamako is completely dissolved.

Step 2

Cover surface of bowl with plastic wrap. Microwave at full power for about 1 minute. The mixture should look like it's starting to clump and cook in certain sections. Stir with a spatula to evenly mix. Place plastic wrap back on and cook in microwave for 1 minute. Now the entire mixture should have turned solid, like wet dough. Stir until dough becomes one clump. Place plastic wrap over the bowl again. Cook for about 30 more seconds in the microwave or until dough loses its white color, becoming slightly transculent.

Step 3

Lay a large sheet of parchment paper down on your working surface. Add 3 tbsp of cornstarch to a mesh strainer and use that to sprinkle and lightly dust the surface of your parchment paper. Dust your rolling pin. Place your mochi dough onto the middle of your cornstarch dusted parchment paper. Add more cornstarch to the top of the dough. Begin to roll out your dough. If any part of the dough starts to stick to your rolling pin, add a little more cornsarch to that section of the dough. Roll dough out as thinly as possible, about 1/8 inch thin. Place dough into the fridge for 15 minutes to set.

Step 4

Using a 3.5 inch cookie cutter, cut circles into your dough. Place finished circles into a pile, but wih a sheet of plastic wrap in between each one. You want each sheet of plastic wrap to be big enough to wrap the finished mochi in. When you have finished cutting out all the circles you can with the dough, re-roll dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. You should be able to get 12-13 circles.

Step 5

To wrap the ice cream in the mochi, you will need to work quickly. It's best to read through this step before proceeding. If you are using previously scooped frozen balls, take them out one by one. If you are using several flavors of ice cream, only remove one container of ice cream at a time and scoop only one ball at a time using the same packing/leveling of a 1.5 tbsp cookie scooper as discussed in the notes section. First, to prepare the dough, dust off any excess cornstarch from both sides of the dough. Gently pull on the dough a little to stretch it out a little more. Place your ice cream ball directly in the center of your mochi wrapper. Be careful that none of the ice cream touches the sides of the mochi wrapper. If it does, your mochi wrapper will lose it's stickiness and will be unable to seal. Working quickly, first lift both ends of your wrapper up and over the mochi, meeting in the center, and pinching the center closed. Then gather dough up from one open side and pinch it closed at the center. Then gather from the other side and meet in the center and pinch. Repeat. You should need to gather dough two times from each side, for a total of five pinches at the center. You want to alternate each side because if you seal only one side shut first, the ice cream will leak out the other side. Once the dough is sealed at the center, wrap the plastic wrap around and twist. Then layer the ice cream mochi ball with pinched ends facing down, inside a muffin pan cavity. This will help it keep it's shape. Place immediately into freezer before moving on to next one.

Step 6

When finished, let mochi ice cream sit in freezer for several hours. When ready to eat, let them thaw for about 1 minute (maybe less depending on the temperature of your house) to allow the mochi dough to soften, before eating.