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Cherry Blossom Rice Cake 桜餅
5 from 12 votes

Cherry Blossom Rice Cake 桜餅

Cherry Blossom Rice Cake (Sakura Mochi) is a traditional Japanese sweet made by steaming glutinous rice ground slightly then shaped and sweetened. These rice cakes are tinted with beetroot juice for a delicate pink hue and wrapped with salted cherry blossom leaves. They are typically filled or accompanied by red bean paste, combining chewy, slightly sticky rice with a sweet, earthy filling and floral wrapping.

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 5 mins
Servings: 6 mochi
Calories: 173 kcal
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Japanese

Ingredients

mochi
  • 1 cup glutinous rice *1
  • ½ cup water or 100ml
  • ¼ cup sugar or 50g
  • 1 tsp beetroot 2, juice
Sugar syrup for shaping mochi
  • ½ tsp gelatin Or 1/2 gelatine leaf 1.2 x 1.2 inch (3cm x 3cm, leaf form
  • ¼ cup water
  • ⅛ cup sugar
Assembling Sakura Mochi
  • 3 sakura flower buds salted
  • 3 sakura leaves salted

Instructions

Steaming the Rice
    Cup of Yum
  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.

Notes

  • Use 1 US cup (about 200g) glutinous rice and soak overnight for best texture.
  • Beetroot juice or natural red coloring provides the signature sakura pink color.
  • Salted cherry blossom flowers and leaves must be soaked in water for 30 minutes before use to reduce saltiness.
  • Anko (red bean paste) should be prepared or purchased ahead; divide into 20g balls for assembly.
  • Steaming the rice for about 30 minutes ensures soft but sticky texture needed for mochi.
  • The sugar syrup with gelatin helps maintain shape when molding the mochi cakes.

Nutrition Information

Calories 173kcal (9%) Carbohydrates 40g (13%) Protein 3g (6%) Fat 1g (2%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Sodium 5mg (0%) Potassium 26mg (1%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 12g (24%) Calcium 4mg (0%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6 mochi

Amount Per Serving

Calories 173

% Daily Value*

Calories 173kcal 9%
Carbohydrates 40g 13%
Protein 3g 6%
Fat 1g 2%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Sodium 5mg 0%
Potassium 26mg 1%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 12g 24%
Calcium 4mg 0%
Iron 1mg 6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.