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1
Rinse the preserved sakura leaves and blossoms and soak in clean water to remove the saltiness.
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2
Drain the blossoms well which you are going to add to the mochi dough.
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3
Separate the flowers from the stems.
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4
Shape the anko into small balls.
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5
To make regular-sized ones, take 20 to 25 g of anko for each, and take 8 g for small-sized ones.
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6
The sakura mochi pictured on top has homemade sakura-an.You could also use the store-bought variety.
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7
After removing the saltiness from the sakura leaves, chop finely and add to the anko.
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8
You can enjoy the nice sakura flavour in the adzuki bean paste easily in this way.
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9
Put the shiratamako, joshinko, sugar and trehalose in a bowl.
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10
Add the food colouring dissolved in water.
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11
Mix well with chopsticks.
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12
Cover the bowl with cling film loosely and microwave for 1 and half minutes.
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13
Remove the bowl from the microwave and mix well with a heat-proof plastic spatula.
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14
Microwave for another 30 seconds and mix again.
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15
Microwave for another 30 seconds and mix again.
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16
If necessary, microwave for another 30 seconds...until the mixture is elastic and shiny.
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17
It will form a dough.
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18
Put the mochi dough onto a work surface dusted with mochitoriko flour.
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19
Divide the dough into 5 portions and then divide each into 3 portions.
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20
Dust your fingers and shape the portioned dough into a flat round with your fingers (make the centre thicker).
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21
Wrap the adzuki bean paste with a piece of dough and it is done.
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22
Make them pretty.
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23
This is one of 15 sakura mochi.
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24
They're so small.
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25
Try your best not to eat them all before serving them to other people.
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26
This is a regular sized one (a 1/5 portion).
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27
I added chopped sakura leaves to the aduki bean paste.
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28
Here are 'Sakura Strawberry Daifuku'.
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29
These are particularly popular with girls.
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30
Look how pretty they are!
