Assorted Favour Jellies

First of all I would like to thank one of my good blogger friend Tracy for contributing two of her new creations to this blog. She is someone who loves all kinds of dessert and she is very innovative in creating her very own dessert using whatever ingredients she can find in her kitchen pantry. Like from those Assorted Agar Agar you can see she actually takes the time to boil the Dried Longan with Peng Da Hai to make the Ching Teng Favour. I can said, when comes to dessert Tracy really gives me a lot of wonderful ideas. Thank Pal for all the ideas and support.

The word agar comes from the Malay word agar-agar (meaning jelly). Agar is usually sold as packaged strips of washed and dried seaweed, or in powdered form. Raw agar is white and semi-translucent. For making jelly, it is boiled in water at until the solids dissolve, after which sweeteners, flavoring, coloring, and pieces of fruit may be added. The agar-agar may then be poured into molds or incorporated into other desserts, such as a jelly layer on a cake.



Japanese konnyaku jelly is made by mixing konnyaku flour with water and limewater. Without additives for color, konnyaku is pale white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konnyaku has almost no calories but is very high in fiber. Thus, it is often used as a diet food.

This Dried Fruits Konnyaku Jelly is something that is interesting from her. Because usually we add can mixed fruits or fresh fruit in it, I had never eaten this type of jellies with dried fruits added. So I am actually very keen on trying out the Sour Plum Favour type. So I am going to look for a suitable Sour Plum from Umeya to test this out. According to her, you just need to cut the dried fruits into smaller pieces then put into the jelly mould and cook the konnyaku according to packet instruction and pour into the mould set it in the fridge when cool over night or for a few hours to let the favour developed.

Ginger Milk Custard

Those who like to have a bowl of dessert after meal might had already known this simple homemade dessert. It's a very famous HK sytle dessert which is pretty easy to make. You only require simple ingredients like Fresh Milk, Ginger Juice & Sugar.


Since today I had an early dinner, I decided to whip up a one person share portion for this dessert. You can make it into small tea cup size or small soup bowl that suits your own liking.

Ingredients:(serve 1 or 2)
140ml Full/Low Fat Fresh Milk
1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Grated Ginger Juice
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar

Methods:
1. Bring the milk to the boil, reduce to low heat, add in sugar and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
2. Set aside for a while(about 2-3 minutes).
3. Pour the milk between 2 cups for about 10 times.
4. Put ginger juice into bowl or tea cups then pour in the milk from about 8" height over the bowl.
5. Do not jiggle the content until it set(about 5 to 10 minutes, depend on it's size).

Notes:
a) Bring the milk to the boil first before reducing to low heat. This makes it more thickened and easier to set.

Pandan Butter Cake

Saw this interesting cake from one of my blogger's friend Angie's "My Kitchen:My Laboratory" blog. I was captured by that lovely jade green of her Pandan Butter Cake.


This cake is so different from our usual Asian Pandan Cake which require Coconut Milk/Cream as one of the Main Ingredients. In her recipe, she replace the coconut milk with plain unsweetened yogurts which make it much healthier. So I suggest for those who likes pandan cake but afraid of the coconut milk content, you should give this recipe a try.

It's really something different from an afternoon tea-break. The colour of my cake is slightly darker than her because it add in a bit more pandan essence colouring to make it more greener. :)

Yam Paste With Pumpkin & Ginkgo Nuts

Or Nee(Yam Paste With Gingko Nuts) is a must dessert for Teochew People during the Chinese New Year. So this year I decided to make some of this to share with my friends who came over for New Year gathering.


I cook and mashed the yam then stir-fry it with oil and top with Mashed Pumpkin, grated water chestnut, sugar ginkgo nuts and drizzle with some coconut cream.

Ingredients:
500g Skinned Yam, cubed
50-60g Caster Sugar
30ml Vegetable/Fried Shallot Oil

Methods:
1. Steam yam for 30 minutes or until soften before mashing.
2. Heat oil in a wok, then add mashed yam and sugar.
3. Stir well and cook over low heat until not sticky.

Topping:
20-25 Vacuum Pack Gingko Nuts
1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
2 Water Chestnuts, grated
100g - 150g Skinned Pumpkin, cubes
1 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Cream

Methods:
1. Wash and pat dry the gingko nuts then marinate it with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar for about 10 minutes.
2. Steam the pumpkin cubes over medium heat for about 15 - 20 minutes until soft then mash it using a fork and set aside.
3. Scoop cooked yam paste into a bowl or plate with depth then arrange the sugar gingko nut around it and place the mashed pumpkin in the middle and top with grated water chestnut.
4. Steam it for 15 minutes then drizzle the coconut cream on top and steam for another 5 minutes on medium heat.
5. Serve either hot or warm.

Notes:
a) If you prefer sweet taste then add more sugar or else you can reduce the sugar amount.
b) You can either used those vacuum pack gingko nuts found in leading supermarket or you can used those dried type one.
c) You can omit the pumpkin and water chestnut if you don't prefer them.