Sakura ice cream with monaka

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Try out Nina Matsunaga's delicious Japanese dessert of sakura ice cream with anko. Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom, which is used to make a perfumed syrup to form the base of this floral ice cream. Anko is a sweet paste made from red adzuki beans, used in many Japanese desserts. Here Nina uses it to make monaka; sweet wafer shells made from mochi and filled with anko. The monaka shells and salted cherry blossom can be found in Japanese supermarkets or online.

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Sakura syrup

  • 18 salted cherry blossom, also known as sakura shiozuke, briefly rinsed to remove some of the salt
  • 240g of water
  • 230g of sugar

Sakura ice cream

  • 600g of double cream
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
  • 100g of sugar

Anko

Equipment

  • Ice cream maker
  • Thermometer

Method

1

To make the ice cream, begin by making a cherry blossom syrup. Place the sugar, water and briefly rinsed cherry blossom in a pan and bring to a simmer. Stir to dissolve the sugar then take off the heat and leave to steep for 15 minutes

  • 18 salted cherry blossom, also known as sakura shiozuke, briefly rinsed to remove some of the salt
  • 240g of water
  • 230g of sugar
2

When it has finished steeping, add the double cream to the mixture and slowly bring it to a boil

 

  • 600g of double cream
3

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla seeds and sugar until thick and pale

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
  • 100g of sugar
4

Once the liquid has boiled, slowly pour it over the egg mixture whilst constantly whisking. Return the mixture to the pan and cook to 81ºC whilst continuously stirring. Once it reaches the correct temperature, immediately take it off the heat and cool over an ice bath. Once completely cooled, churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions, then reserve in the freezer until needed

5

To make the anko, place the adzuki beans in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Drain, recover with fresh water and bring to a boil again. Once the water is boiling, turn down to a simmer and cook for around 45 minutes

6

Test if they are done by squashing a bean between your fingers – it should give with little resistance. If the beans are still too firm then continue to simmer (older beans can take up to 1.5–2 hours to cook). Once they're ready, drain and add back to the pan without water. Place the pan over a medium-low heat, add half the sugar and stir until you can't see the individual grains anymore, then add the rest of the sugar and continue to stir until the beans break down into a paste

  • 180g of caster sugar
7

Add the salt and cook the paste a little more until it thickens. Pass through a ricer or a fine sieve to make a smooth paste, then leave to cool

8

To serve, fill the monaka shells with a spoonful of the anko and serve with a bowl of the ice cream on the side

  • 6–8 monaka wafer shells
First published in 2021

Born in Germany to Japanese parents, Nina Matsunaga and her partner James Ratcliffe now run The Black Bull in Sedbergh, a beautiful pub on the edge of the Lake District, where she cooks local ingredients full of international influences.

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