Cute Streak

Uber-cute, portion-controlled lunch. bacon and stir-fried Taiwanese bitter greens. looks great. feels hungry. 

Organic tart frozen yogurt on a giant bed of shaved ice. strawberries, kiwi, mandarin oranges, and mochi bits. BLUSH - Original Shaved Ice (Choice of four toppings included).

Cute may not be the right word, but it was free and delicious. RED RIBBON BAKESHOP - Pandan Macapuno Chiffon Cake.

Filipino Pantry Leche Flan

I can never really guarantee I can cook much if company stops, but there are a few pantry baking items I keep to ensure I could whip out a nice dessert or two. Marie Ange's almost flourless chocolate cake, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies or Stephen's blondies... but my favorite decadent pantry staple is a nice leche flan.

1/3 c sugar
1/4 c water
2/3 can sweetened condensed milk (non-fat okay)
6 egg yolks
1 can evaporated milk (non-fat okay)
1 t vanilla extract

Prep.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a small saucepan, caramelize the sugar till golden brown. Pour sugary syrup mixture into the bottom of a small baking dish
3. Whisk the custard in this order: condensed milk, yolks, evaporated milk, vanilla
4. Pour the custard into the baking dish, passing through a strainer to collect any solids
5. Place small custard dish into 9 x 13 baking tray to prepare the water bath for the flan. Fill water bath with hot water to surround the custard half-way the height of the flan.
6. Bake for 1 hour. It'll be jiggly when removed. Remove the flan baking dish from the water bath. Cool on counter for an hour. Then chill the dessert in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
7. To serve, run a knife around the edges of the flan and turn over the flan onto a serving plate. Garnish with berries serve it plain. I love serving it as a base for shaved-ice desserts or spreading flan cubes on challah/brioche toast.

Notes: Eerik and Kristin held a baking olympiad recently and I had to withdraw my flan entry. I tried to improvise and replace two yolks with an egg white... not changing temp and baking time too much, it totally turned the flan into scrambled eggs.

out in the burbs

After church, a carload of some of us young ladies headed out to dinner and dessert...

The first stop was Big Fresh Cafe in Framingham. It's an organic place that focuses on local products - for eating organic and fresh, the menu is priced pretty reasonably. I had the Stir Fry Big Fresh Special, "Organic tofu in a delicious satay sauce, served on brown rice with teriyaki vegetables & collard greens." The presentation was pretty and I added a bit of Bragg Liquid Aminos as a seemingly lower-sodium soy sauce alternative. (I don't know the specs for sure, yet.)



But apparently I didn't get the memo that dinner was really supposed to be a snack, since everyone was saving room for ice cream at North End Treats.

We were surprised to find out that the store had much more than ice cream. Frozen yogurt with mix-ins, Richardson's ice cream, and gelati made up the frozen treat section. Sandwiches, pizzas, and pastries using recipes from Bova's 24-hour Bakery in the North End are sold here, too. Lois had an amazing hazelnut gelato, Evelyn had her first cannoli with chocolate chip-dipped ends, and Pam and I shared an amazing peanut butter cup bar.

Vegan Coconut Gelatain

I needed something to do with my hands while listening/watching the vice presidential debate last night. What to do? Make Vegan Coconut Gelatin. What makes this gelatin vegan? Well, apparently the real jiggly-making substance is made from *******. My gelatin is made from seaweed - my family has always called it agar-agar (Malay word for jelly). It's not as "jiggly" as Jell-O, but it's still soft and is just slightly sweet. We'd eat it in multi-layered colors or piled high with canned fruit cocktail.

There are plenty of recipes online, but I took my inspiration by tweaking a recipe in my copy of The Spice Merchant's Daughter by Christina Arokiasamy.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups boiling water
1/3 c agave syrup (Available at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods - or substitute 1/2 cup sugar)
1 can (14 oz) Light Coconut Milk (I used Trader Joe's)
1 ts vanilla extract
***
21 grams of powdered Agar-Agar (I used three 7 gram pouches - it's a scant 1/4 cup)
1/4 cups hot water
***
(Optional) food coloring

Assembly Required

Step 1. Bring water to a gentle boil, add in agave, coconut milk, and vanilla. Return to a boil and take off heat.

Step 2. Dissolve agar-agar in the 1/4 cup of hot water making a smooth paste.

Step 3. Slowly whisk your hot coconut milk mixture into the dissolved agar-agar paste.

Step 4. Pour into a large 13" x 9" Pyrex, bundt, or other molds you have on hand. Let the mixture cool on a counter. As it cools, it will start to set.

Step 5. Cover the cooled agar-agar in its mold and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Cube them into little parallelepipeds(?). Serve with fresh fruit, canned fruit cocktail, or use it as a base in a shaved-ice dessert.