Let rice bowls sit and cool on your counter until you can hold the bottoms.Strain through a fine mesh sieve into two rice bowls.Once the agar and sugar appear to be dissolved, turn off the water and continue to whisk for another minute.Keep mixture at a low boil while you whisk aggressively to ensure all of the agar and sugar dissolves into the water.After soaking, add the sugar (if using) and heat the saucepan on medium high, whisking as it comes to a boil.Let the agar soak in the water for at least one hour. After weighing the agar, rip the bar into small pieces and place into a small saucepan with the mineral water.~2 tbsp kinako (roasted soybean powder).Prepare to consume the “cake” on the spot after releasing it from the mold, as the entire concoction will melt within minutes.

Be warned, however! Though it's a simple enough process (no raindrop mold necessary, just use a rice bowl!), the result is a fleeting one. Now a viral sensation that has reached as far as Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg, you can now make the Raindrop Cake easily at home with the right ingredients from our Baking: “Amai” Care Package. Because of its brilliant clarity and shape, the dessert was nicknamed “Raindrop Cake.” Mizu, or water in Japanese, and vegan agar agar are the main ingredients – immediately apparent with one bite as it rushes into your mouth just like a sip of water from a glass. The result of Kinseiken’s creativity was a jiggly, clear mound topped off with kinako (roasted soybean powder) and kuromitsu (a Japanese syrup). The company, already well-known for its sweet rice cake, shingen mochi, wished to highlight the region’s tasty mineral water. Mizu Shingen Mochi, otherwise known as Raindrop Cake, took the internet by storm in 2014 when it was launched by local confectionary shop Kinseiken. What started as a novel confectionery out of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, is now well-recognized around the world.

Raindrop shape mineral