There are many different styles of Sakura Mochi. This Western Japan recipe is from Wikipedia:
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup red bean paste
Red food coloring (optional)
8 sakura leaves pickled in salted water
Preparation
Wash pickled sakura leaves and dry.
Boil water in a pan.
Mix glutinous flour in the water.
Cover the pan with a lid and leave it for 5 minutes.
Place a wet cloth in a steamer and put the dough on the cloth.Steam the dough for about 20 minutes over medium heat. Remove the steamed dough to a bowl. Mash the dough slightly with a wooden pestle, mixing sugar into the dough.
Dissolve a little bit of red food color in some water. Add some of the red water in the dough and mix well.
Divide the pink mochi into 8 balls. Flatten each mochi ball by hand and place red bean paste filling on the dough.
Wrap the filling with mochi and round by hand. Wrap each mochi with a sakura leaf.
