Cherry Blossom Rice Cake 桜餅

Steaming the Rice

1. Wash and soak the rice in 2 cups of water (not listed in the ingredients list) overnight. *3
2. Also if you are going to make Anko from scratch, make anko paste the night before too. *4
3. After the rice is soaked overnight, drain the rice and pulse the rice a few times in a food processor.
4. Steam the rice for 30 minutes over medium heat. *5

While the rice is being steamed prepare the sakura flower, leaves, pink coloured water, and syrup

1. Soak the sakura flower and leaves in a bowl of water for 30 minutes. *6
2. Scoop the flower onto a paper towel and tap dry with paper towel and set aside.
3. Divide the anko (red bean paste) into 6 balls (20g each) and set aside.
4. Place the water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring it to boil to dissolve the sugar. Add the beetroot juice and stir. Transfer the sugar water to a large bowl and set aside.
5. Make the sugar syrup for shaping by putting all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to simmer. When the gelatine has dissolved, turn the heat off.

Assembling the Sakura mochi

1. Add the steamed rice to the large bowl with pink colored sugary water. Stir the rice with a wooden spatula to let the rice absorb the pink coloured sugar water.
2. Divide the rice into six equal portions.
3. Brush some plastic wrap sheet with the sugar syrup and place 1/6 of steamed rice and flatten the rice with a spatula.
4. Place a red bean paste ball in the centre. Wrap it with cling wrap to shape it and cover the red bean paste ball with rice.
5. Remove the plastic wrap and wrap with a sakura leaf with the vein side out (so it's visible on the outside)
6. Repeat the same for the rest. Three wrapping with sakura leaves and three decorated with the sakura flowers on top.