Pomegranate Raspberry Swirl Mochi Ice Cream

I have a very good friend who absolutely adores mochi ice cream.

Once in a while she’ll treat herself to some store-bought ice cream treats, but only on a whim.

So, when I saw this recipe for “easy” homemade mochi ice cream balls, my insides filled with flutters.

Soft mochi—smooth and pillowy and cotton ball-light—needn’t be messed with. But if you had to—let’s say it’s August (yes) and a billion degrees outside (yes) and you wish your big toe could be submerged in an ice bath at all times (yes, yes, yes)—you could combine it with ice cream. And not just combine it with ice cream, but wrap it around the scoops to make a handheld and highly adorable dessert.

You see, I love surprising loved ones and friends with treats.
Sweet or savory, food is my love language.

I couldn’t wait to deliver this time.

I studied the recipe tips, dreamed of pink frozen balls of bliss stacked high in my freezer, and took absolute delight in the idea of sweet creamy goodness falling from my hands to hers.

I followed the directions precisely – a rarity for me.

And I think I’m going to go back to “never following a recipe.”
It simply did not work.

Instead of mochi rice “dough” to wrap my rock solid ice creams balls, I ended up with a glutinous glob of mess. The rice flour just never set.

I believe the issue to be the flour I chose to use. After careful research, I determined white rice flour to be equivalent to the “glutinous rice flour” sold at the Asian food market.
Well, that must have been where I went wrong.