
The differentiation points between recipes are the type of agar-agar and the relative percentage of each mixing element, determining the firmness and clarity levels of your lovely droplet. To the joy of home cooks, the basics of making a raindrop cake are quite simple: you just need mineral water, agar-agar, and sugar. From dry petals which open and create 3D patterns in the center of the raindrop cake, to puffy and jiggling drops laid on tangerine halves, reflecting and enhancing the bright orange light, this is the most Instagrammable dessert. The results of playing with this gelatin dessert bring refined, innovative, and eccentric beauty to the culinary world. The fame it gained abroad seems to have added fuel to the fire of mizu shingen mochi in its country of origin, as the spread of the English nickname “raindrop cake” ( reindoroppu ke-ki by the Japanese spelling) seems to point out. The unique, transparent look of the Japanese raindrop cake gives creative chefs and amateurs alike plenty to play with, making this delicacy an exciting form of jelly art. Defining the taste is also a challenge and the most common attempt to explain it is “water-like.” Like a droplet of dew, it may not be satiating, but what a dreamy experience! It slightly depends on the recipe, but in general, raindrop cakes are less thick than jelly and melt in the mouth quite quickly. Yet, the most alluring features of this sweet are no doubt its texture and surreal appearance. The roasted, peanut-y flavor on one hand and the sweet, intense taste of the syrup on the other hand, combined with the refreshing quality of the Japanese raindrop cake, makes for a killer summertime dessert. This round-shaped gelatin dessert was originally served with kinako (roasted soybean powder) and kuromitsu (black sugar syrup) on a takeaway boat plate. What is a Japanese Raindrop Cake (Mizu Shingen Mochi)? Its wobbly, see-through texture still sparks people’s imaginations thanks to all the dazzling variations on the dessert that still circulate the internet.

The calorie-free peace of heaven sold out and went viral. took off only two years later, when Chef Darren Wong brought it from Japan to debut at the Brooklyn Smorgarsburg. (Spoiler alert: One of them is more like shingen mochi than the other.Mizu shingen mochi, the so-called Japanese raindrop cake, took Japan by storm in 2014, but its path to celebrity in the U.S. The most upvoted post thus far is simply a comparison of the recipes of cake and Jell-O. "This is called clear jello Huffpost," wrote one offended Facebook user. Most of the comments on the video, which currently has more than 3 million views, are remarking on its consistency and arguing that the cake is a lie. Japanese foodies hailed its gorgeous Zen aesthetic and its nearly calorie-free, vegan makeup.īut when HuffPo shared its video (embedded at the top of this page) announcing the food's upcoming arrival in New York this weekend, Americans were less than impressed. The raindrop cake originally made quite a splash (pun possibly intended) when it debuted in Japan in 2014. So … wouldn't a recipe involving a jelly-like substance make this not-actually-a-rice-cake kind of like Jell-O? No, no, my friend, clearly it's a jelly cake. The raindrop cake, or mizu shingen mochi, is supposedly a variant of rice cake, originally made with pristine water from the Japanese Alps and solidified using granulated sugar, agar (a jelly like substance), and soybean powder. You might be thinking, "That's clearly a lump of Jell-O." But not so fast. īut what exactly is it? A mound of mizu shingen mochi.

The transparent, wobbly confection reportedly dissolves into a pool of liquid and melts away if not eaten promptly. This is the question a confused internet has been asking ever since a viral video from the Huffington Post introduced the concept of "raindrop cake" to confused US viewers on Thursday.Īnd no, this isn't an April Fools' prank. Is cake a form of Jell-O? Is Jell-O a form of cake?
