Anmitsu is one of my dad’s favorite desserts. It is a Japanese dessert, translating to “sweet bean paste with syrup”, essentially. Amnitsu is usually eaten with red bean paste, which is a very common component/ingredient in Japanese desserts, and either a dark or light sugar syrup. There is also typically fruit, mochi/dango, clear cubes of kanten jelly, and sometimes there is even ice cream, just to round out the dessert with a lot of fun and different textures! I felt like this is a great basis for a dessert, which is why I wanted to take a stab at it. Mostly because back in April of 2023, I *barely* missed out on eating sakura mochi ice cream when I visited Japan, and I wanted to make some myself as a way to make up for not being able to eat it then. Early April in Japan is Hanami, when the cherry blossoms bloom to signify new beginnings. Around that time of year, cherry blossom desserts are very popularly eaten to celebrate it. However, I came to Japan in mid-April, so I was literally just missing out on everything. That sakura(cherry blossom)-mochi soft swerve was probably the item that I was saddest to miss out on, but luckily, it made a good starting point to a new dessert! So this entire dessert basically came together around that ice cream, as well as the idea of anmitsu. To challenge myself, I wanted this to be 100% vegan and gluten-free. The main challenge was the ice cream, but I have successfully made vegan tofu ice cream in the past, so I figured, why not use that ice cream base, and mix it with sakura powder? The end result was pretty much what I wanted it to be. I will admit that the challenge ironically shifted from that to the mochi bits that I folded into my first batch – they came out rock-hard, because I added insufficient sugar to the mochi, so when they froze, rather than be soft and chewy, they almost broke my tooth. Luckily, I revised the recipe and tried that again, and I was much happier with the end-result. Outside of the ice cream, the other components came together pretty easily, since they were all naturally vegan and gluten-free to begin with!

For the components, we have a sakura-mochi ice cream, a sakura gelee, sakura dango skewer, and shiro-an(white bean paste). The ice cream is 100% vegan, and contains tofu, which adds a rich, creamy texture, and a milder flavor compared to let’s say, coconut milk. My secret to making vegan ice cream is emulsifying tofu, a neutral oil like canola oil, and xanthan gum. It creates essentially a rich, neutral-flavored sauce that is similar to heavy cream in texture, and perfect to make into either a savory cream sauce for vegan cooking, or a vegan ice cream base! I added sakura powder and vanilla bean paste into the ice cream itself, which then has frozen mochi bits folded into it. You can churn the ice cream using an ice cream maker, but if you don’t own one, I have a workaround that I listed in the ice cream recipe itself! The gelee is made with actual salted cherry blossoms and agar. Traditionally, kanten, which is a seaweed derivative similar to agar, is used for anmitsu jelly, but I went with the agar option, since kanten jelly is quite firm, and I wanted something a little softer and silkier in texture. That and when the agar jelly mixes with the ice cream, it basically forms like a loose syrup that acts like the anmitsu syrup! On top of the mochi in the ice cream, we also have a two-tone dango skewer as a cute little garnish. And with all of that, for our sweet bean paste, we have shiro-an. We went with shiro-an instead of anko(red bean paste) simply to match the two-tone white and pink aesthetic that the entire dessert had! You can 100% use red bean paste instead, but despite what the name may suggest, red bean paste has a more burgundy going into purple color to it, while the shiro-an, being a tan-white color, just fit the bright pink vibe we had going on already!

For the mochi bits:
1/2 cup mochiko
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
a pinch of salt
cooking spray
potato starch

In a bowl, mix together the mochiko, sugar, water, and salt. Line a microwave-safe container with cooking spray and transfer the mochiko batter into the container. Cover with plastic wrap and poke holes in the top. Microwave the mochi for 1 minute, then for another 2 minutes. Pour the mochi out onto a potato starch-lined surface and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Store in an airtight container and transfer to the freezer.

For the vegan sakura ice cream:
1/2 cup soy milk
2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum*
12oz soft tofu, water drained
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tsp sakura powder

In a pot, mix together the soy milk, sugar, canola oil, salt, and xanthan gum. Heat up the liquid on low, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened slightly. Allow it to cool down to room temperature. In a blender, puree the soy milk with the soft tofu, vanilla bean paste, and sakura powder. Pass everything through a sieve to remove any lumps.

If you do not own an ice cream maker, freeze the mixture solid, about 4 hours in the freezer, then puree it using a food processor. Then re-freeze it for another hour before attempting to serve.

If you do own an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream base to the maker’s instructions, then freeze the ice cream for an hour before attempting to serve.

In both cases, prior to transferring the ice cream to the freezer, fold the mochi bits through the ice cream.

For the sakura gelee:
1/2 cup water
1 tsp agar agar
1 tsp granulated sugar
a pinch of red beet powder
3 salted cherry blossoms

In a pot, heat up the water, agar, and sugar until they are dissolved into the water. First in the beet powder first, then add in the cherry blossoms, removing their stems so that the petals can scatter through the gelee. Pour into a silicone bar mold and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Cut into smaller cubes, and store refrigerated in an airtight container.

For the sakura dango skewers:
1/4 cup mochiko
1 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
.5oz blended silken tofu
1/2 tsp cherry blossom powder

In a bowl, mix together the mochiko, cold water, salt, and tofu to form a dough. Divide the dough in half, and mix the cherry blossom powder into one of those halves to form a pink dough. Divide up the two batches of dough into 8 balls of each color. Boil the dango in water over medium heat in a covered pot for 5 minutes, or until they begin to float. Transfer to iced water. Before plating, skewer two dango, one of each color, together on a stick.

For plating:
Shiro-an(white bean paste)

Start with a scoop of the ice cream first, then garnish the sides with the gelee. Place a scoop of the shiro-an on top and garnish with the dango skewer to finish.