Custard Mochi (Daifuku) is a sweet and chewy Japanese dessert! Made with custard wrapped in glutinous rice cake, it is a treat you won’t be able to resist. While it’s traditionally eaten around the Japanese New Year, the sweet treat can be enjoyed at any time of the year!
Mochi is a sweet and sticky confection made with glutinous rice cake that’s stuffed with a sweet filling. It’s absolutely irresistible. There’s a reason this Japanese dessert has taken the world by storm in the past few years. In the US, you can even find ice cream mochi at many mainstream stores like Trader Joe’s and Walmart.
I love the frozen confection as much as the next person, but there’s honestly nothing better than fresh mochi filled with red bean paste or in this case custard. Unfortunately, the latter is much harder to find where I live. I tried the real thing when I visited Japan over three years ago, and I decided it was about time I learn how to make it on my own!
Traditionally, in Japan, the glutinous rice is steamed and pounded until it’s smooth and elastic before it’s shaped into mochi. Today, we’ll be making things easy on ourselves and taking out those steps (it’s not as authentic when you aren’t in Japan anyway, right?)
Mochi may look intimidating to make, that’s certainly how I felt at first, but it’s actually a lot easier than you think. The great thing about this mochi recipe is that the rice cake can be made in the microwave in four minutes. See? SO easy! Honestly, the hardest part about this recipe is trying to resist eating all of the mochi in one sitting.
How to Make Custard Mochi (Daifuku)
1. Add the milk to a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat to boiling.
2. Slowly whisk in the flour, eggs, and sugar. Heat on low heat until bubbling and thick.
3. Pour the custard through a sieve to remove any clumps. Let custard cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Scoop custard into frosting bag and pipe onto a cookie sheet into 8 dollops.
5. Freeze for one hour.
6. Whisk together the mochi ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap.
7. Microwave for 1 minute, remove plastic then stir. It will not be smooth after stirring it.
8. Replace the plastic wrap and continue microwaving in one-minute intervals until mochi is no longer white. It will have more of a translucent quality and will feel gummy. This usually takes 3-4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, enough to handle with your hands.
9. Place the mochi on a cutting board generously coated in potato starch. Sprinkle potato starch on top of the mochi. Shape the mochi into a half-inch thick disk.
10. Divide the mochi into eight pieces. Coat your hands with potato starch and roll each piece into a ball, and then flatten into a disk. Place a dollop of custard in the middle. Use your fingers to pinch the mochi closed around the custard.
What is mochi filled with?
There are a variety of fillings you can put in mochi including red bean paste (anko), white bean paste (shiroan), ice cream, custard, strawberries, and even cookie dough!
You’ll also love these Japanese recipes:
- Fluffy Japanese Pancakes
- Japanese Milk Bread
- Steamed Japanese Pork Buns (Nikuman)
- Pork Tonkatsu
- Easy Homemade Ramen
If you make this recipe, let me know what you think! I’d love it if you could add a star rating ★ and a comment below. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, too!
Shop the Recipe
Custard Mochi (Daifuku) is a sweet and chewy Japanese dessert! Made with custard wrapped in glutinous rice cake, it is a treat you won't be able to resist. While it's traditionally eaten around the Japanese New Year, the sweet treat can be enjoyed at any time of the year!
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- dash of salt
- 1 cup Mochiko sweet rice flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- dash of salt
- 3/4 cup water
- yellow food coloring
- potato or cornstarch
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Add the milk to a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat to boiling.
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Slowly whisk in the flour, eggs, and sugar. Heat on low heat until bubbling and thick, about 5-10 minutes.
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Pour the custard through a mesh sieve to remove any clumps. Let custard cool.
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Scoop custard into frosting bag and pipe onto a cookie sheet into 8 dollops. Freeze for one hour.
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Add sweet rice flour, sugar, salt, water, and a few drops of food coloring to a microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap.
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Microwave for 1 minute, remove plastic then stir. It will not be smooth after stirring it.
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Replace the plastic wrap and continue microwaving for 1 minute intervals until mochi has a translucent quality and feels gummy. This usually takes 3-4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, enough to handle with your hands.
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Place the mochi on a cutting board generously coated in potato starch. Sprinkle potato starch on top of the mochi. Shape the mochi into a half inch thick disk.
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Divide the mochi into eight pieces. Coat your hands with potato starch and roll each piece into a ball, and then flatten into a disk. Place a ball of frozen custard in the center. Use your fingers to pinch the Mochi closed around the custard.
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Mochi can be kept at room temperature for several hours, stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or two weeks in the freezer.
- I highly recommend eating the mochi while it's fresh, but it can be stored in the refrigerator for two days or in the freezer for two weeks.
- If the mochi tends to get dry while you're working with it, you can place it in the microwave for a couple of seconds until it's easier to work with.
22 Comments
FOODHEAL
November 10, 2020 at 11:08 pmI love discovering new foods and this is one of them. It looks sweet and soft to melt in the mouth.
veenaazmanov
November 11, 2020 at 8:29 pmVery interesting Japanese dish. Soft and gooey from the inside. Delicious dessert for the family. Presentation perfect.
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:55 pmIt’s a wonderful dish with the best texture! Thank you!
Paula Montenegro
November 12, 2020 at 11:57 amOMG I’ve been wanting to make mochi for a long time and this is the recipe to try! I love the step by step photos, very clear and great for making it from scratch. Thanks for sharing! This is going straight to my Make Now! board.
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:55 pmThank you! I’m glad you like the photos. You’ll have to let me know what you think when you make it! 🙂
Kushigalu
November 14, 2020 at 2:24 amThis Japanese dessert is something new to me. Sounds amazingly delicious. I would love to try this for holiday.
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:55 pmYou’ll have to give it a try! It’s really good!
Ramona
November 15, 2020 at 1:09 pmWOW, this custard mochi looks amazing! my daughter has been convincing me to make this with her and I can’t wait to show her this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:54 pmIt’s so good and easy to make! She’ll love this recipe!
Marisa F. Stewart
November 15, 2020 at 2:01 pmWe love trying new foods and cuisines and Hubby was stationed in Japan and introduced me to quite a few dishes. He never did make any desserts so this custard would be such a nice addition for our Japanese dinner night. I really like that it doesn’t seem overly sweet. After a nice meal we like something light.
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:54 pmI love that mochi isn’t super sweet. It has just the right amount of sweetness for enjoying after dinner!
Amanda
November 15, 2020 at 6:28 pmThis was my first time making mochi, and it came out so good! That custard is so decadent, and I was surprised how simple it was. It was a fun process — definitely worth trying!
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:53 pmI’m so glad it turned out good for you! Isn’t it amazing how easy it is to make?!
Chandice Probst
November 15, 2020 at 9:26 pmOh my goodness we love traditional mochi with ice cream but this is even better! I love custard so this is perfect thank you!
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:53 pmI love mochi with ice cream too! The custard filling is so yummy!
Laura Arteaga
November 15, 2020 at 11:00 pmI’ve tried Mochi many times but never even though of making them myself! This recipe explains every step and it looks quite easy so we will definitely be trying it soon! Thank you so much 🙂
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:53 pmYou’ll have to let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂
Connie
November 15, 2020 at 11:24 pmYes! Love mochis. I would sometimes buy them at Trader Joes but I love making things from scratch. Glad to have bumped into this recipe. I can’t wait to make this from home!
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:53 pmI love Trader Joe’s mochi, but homemade is so good! And it’s surprisingly easy to make!
Debra
November 16, 2020 at 8:05 amWhat a decadent treat! I was surprised how easy these were to make….and super tasty too.
Ashley
November 16, 2020 at 2:52 pmI’m so glad you liked them! 🙂
Kate
November 20, 2020 at 2:39 pmWhat a great dessert!! I am glad I stepped out of my boundaries and tried something new.