- Hi, I'm Rie.
Today, I have one of my best friend, Cuppy!
- It's me, the good advice cupcake!
- Cuppy, do you wanna introduce yourself
a little bit? - Sure.
Well, my name is Cuppy and as you can see,
I'm a talkin' friggin' cupcake!
I'm also a world-famous advice giver over on Instagram.
- So, me and Cuppy have been a friend quite a bit of a time,
but it's a bit difficult to make a friend when you
become an adult. - Oh, it's so hard.
Being an adult can be very lonely.
I mean, I love hangin' out with my cat,
but it'd be nice to have another pastry
to connect with on a more serious level.
- So, I have an idea.
- I'm thedessertsnob and you're a dessert.
So, I'm going to make you a friend today.
- (gasps) Yay! - Yay!
So Cuppy, today I'm making you one of my
favorite Japanese dessert, but I'm not gonna tell you.
- Ooh, how mysterious.
- So first, I want to scoop ice cream.
Do you have any favorite ice cream flavor, Cuppy?
- Well, I see that's strawberry,
so that's definitely one of my favorites
'cause it's pink, just like me.
- [Rie] I knew it, that's why I chose strawberry.
- Oh, I love so many different flavors, though.
I don't even think there's a flavor that I don't like.
Um, except pistachio.
I don't wanna talk about why.
- So, for this dessert, you can use
any kind of ice cream flavor.
I chose strawberry because I saw you like pink, but you can
make matcha, you can make chocolate, anything you want.
I am going to put in the freezer until I use it next.
First, I'm going to use Shiratamako,
which is glutinous flour.
200 grams, put it in the pot.
100 grams of Japanese sugar.
Japanese sugar is a little bit finer than the regular sugar.
I like it because it melts faster.
A cup of water.
Turn on the heat, medium, give a nice stir.
Cook it until it's become very sticky.
So Cuppy, we met in Japan,
right? - Yes, we did.
- Yeah, you were exchange student.
Do you keep in touch with other Japanese friend
you made in Japan? - I do!
I still keep in touch with Dongo.
We send each other funny baking memes almost every day!
- Cuppy, do you cook a lot at home?
- I do a little but I have to admit,
I am really guilty of ordering a lotta take out.
- (laughs) That's totally fine.
When you become adult, there is
a lot of things you have to take care of.
You don't always have time to cook, right?
- Yeah, it can be really hard.
- Look at this dough. - Oh my gosh.
It's so sticky!
(laughing)
- I'm going to transfer to this flat surface
and I'm going to set this aside.
So, next step.
I'm going to use cornstarch and sprinkle on the surface.
Put this mochi.
So Cuppy, what do you think make a good friend?
What kind of friend do you want to have?
- I'd really love a friend who's super sweet.
Super sweet and round and squishy.
(laughing)
- Super sweet like you. - Oh, thank you.
- I think I want to have a friend who has a same
sense of humor, you know? - For sure.
Someone who totally gets you. - Yeah, exactly.
Have you had a difficult time to make a friend
who doesn't speak same language as you?
- Well, lucky for me, I happen to be
absolutely fluent in the language of friendship.
- That's a really nice way of saying.
I was an exchange student and I had a difficult time
to learn English, I'm still having a struggle,
but I feel like having a patient friend is also important.
They can, you know, try and understand you.
And I feel like that makes great friendship, too.
- Oh, absolutely.
A real friend will really take the time
to get to know you, even if there are
difficulties within your language barriers.
- Okay, so now I'm cutting mochi.
Mochi is very sticky so make sure to put
a lot of cornstarch underneath it so it doesn't stick.
And if it does stick, use spatula
or like I'm using, even, a spoon, just take it out.
- So Rie? - Mmhm?
- How do you go about making friends as an adult?
- I feel like nowadays, I make friends at workplace.
- Yeah, same. - Yeah.
- Like, you can find so many great people at work.
- Mmhm, look at us, we ended up working
at same company. - I know!
I'm so glad BuzzFeed is an
equal opportunity employer for pastries!
- When I moved to New York, I didn't have a lot of friend,
but I have a little group of friend
and they invite me to party
and if you make good food, they remember you.
So, I start bringing my homemade food to a party.
So, cooking is a way of communication for me
and to make friends. - That's so great!
And I, for one, know that eating
delicious food is another great way
of making friends. - That's true!
The food bring us together. - It does.
(chuckling)
- All right.
'Kay, so next is the fun part.
You're gonna just wrap mochi, take ice cream,
kinda twist the end and flip it.
Mochi is very sticky so if you
kind of pinch it, it will close by itself.
- It's like a little dumpling. - Yes, exactly!
Cuppy, do you have any good advice
for keeping a friendship for a long time?
- My best advice, I think, is just to
always communicate with your friend
and come to understandings with them.
Realize that sometimes they'll need their own space
and other times, they'll need you to be there for them.
- You have a good advice, as you advertise. (laughs)
- (laughs) Thank you.
- This is almost ready but it's still a little bit soft,
so I'm going to put it in the freezer about 15 minutes.
Here you go, Cuppy.
Here's your new friend, Mochi.
- (gasps) Thank you so much!
She's beautiful. - Yay!
She's smooth on the outside, she's very sweet inside
and she's a little bit sticky,
so you guys are gonna be a friend forever.
- We'll stick together forever.
Do you wanna taste it? - (gasps) Rie!
No! - Just kidding.
- (gasps) Hi there, friend.
It's so nice to finally meet you!
- I'm, I'm alive? - Don't worry.
I'll explain everything to you.
- Bye, Cuppy and Mochi.
I hope to see you soon. - Bye!
Thank you so much. - Ja ne!
- Thank you so much for watching.
Tell me what kind of friend I should make Cuppy next time.
(gentle upbeat music)