Cream Style Corn Custard

1 litre coconut milk
1 tin cream style corn
2 pandan leaves
1 tsp salt
180g custard flour
240g sugar

Method
Take some of the coconut milk to blend with the custard flour to form a paste free of lumps.

Boil the remainder of the coconut milk with pandan leaves, salt and sugar for 15 minutes.

Slowly add the custard paste into the boiling coconut milk and stir over fire continuously till it forms a cream. Add in the cream style corn and stir thoroughly over fire.

Pour into a tray or moulds to cool before placing in the refrigerator. Chill and serve cold.

Fresh Fruits For Dessert

There is nothing better than fruit for dessert. There is no preparation needed and you don't have to spend much money on fruits either. Moreover, fruits are very nutritious and keep us healthy!

For family meals and even special occasions you can easily place a bowl of juicy fruits on the table and let your guests choose what they like. Use a mixture of fruits, bearing in mind colour, taste and texture. Do not go overboard -- try not to use more than 4 or 5 different fruits at a time. We have such a wide variety of fruits to choose from -- try papaya, watermelon, mango, starfruit, honeydew melon, pineapple, dragon fruit, rambutans, bananas, guavas, grapes, apples, pears and oranges.

Choose fruits which are not too soft and if using fruits which have a tendency to turn brown once cut (such as bananas, apple and pears) dip them in lemon or lime juice.

When buying fruit choose them with great care. Blemished fruit goes bad quickly and it is a waste of money for you will have to throw them away. In our country, the best local fruit available are the ones which are seasonal.

Pineapple is probably the best dessert fruit. It is available all year round and are quite cheap too. To serve pineapple just cut into thick rings or slices. Sprinkle salt if you like or dip in some rojak sauce. Never serve it with jelly as it destroys the setting properties of the jelly.

Bananas and papayas are available all year round too but these get ripe very fast so you have to be careful when you select your fruit. Squeeze some lime juice or calamansi juice over cut papaya to enhance its taste.

Apart from serving fruits fresh, we can also grill them. Give this recipe below a try the next time you have a barbeque!

Exotic Fruit Parcels
1 papaya
1 mango
1 starfruit
1 tbsp grenadine (pomergranate syrup)
3 tbsp orange juice
natural yogurt, to serve

Method
Cut the papaya in half, scoop out the seeds and discard them. Peel the papaya and cut the flesh into thick slices.

Prepare the mango by cutting it lengthways in half either side of the central stone.
Score each mango half in a criss-cross pattern. Push each mango half inside out to separate the cubes and cut them away from the peel.

Using a sharp knife, thickly slice the starfruit.

Place all of the fruit in a bowl and mix them together. Mix the grenadine and orange juice together and pour over the fruit. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the fruit among 4 double thickness squares of kitchen foil and gather up the edges to form a parcel that encloses the fruit.

Place the foil parcel on a rack set over warm coals and barbeque (grill) the fruit for 15-20 minutes.

Serve the fruit in the parcel, with the low-fat natural yogurt. - Quick & Easy Pudding (Parragon)

Spiced Honey Bingka

125g butter
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
180g self-raising flour , sifted
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup evaporated milk
white grated coconut + a pinch of salt

Method
Cream butter and honey together until light and fluffly. Gradually beat in eggs.

Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternately with evaporated milk. Pour mixture into a greased loafpan and steam for 30 minutes.

Cool and cut into slices. Serve with fresh white grated coconut.

Sticky Rice with Coconut Cream & Mango

500g glutinous rice (pulut rice), unmixed if possible
2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp coconut cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 pandan leaves

Sankaya:
3 eggs
1 cup coconut cream
1 cup brown sugar

Method
Soak rice for 3 to 4 hours and rinse. Steam rice wrapped in gauze in chinese steamer until cooked (approx 1 hour).

Bring coconut milk to boil with pandan leaves. Add sugar and salt.

As soon as coconut milk is boiled, take off heat. Add cooked rice and stir. Replace lid and leave to stand for 10 minutes and stir again. Bring cream to boil slowly, add pinch of salt and sugar.

Now, make the sankaya: Beat coconut, eggs and sugar until smooth. Steam in chinese steamer until set (about 1 hour). Leave to cool.

Slice sankaya thinly, put on top of sticky rice. Decorate with thinly sliced mangoes and pour on coconut cream before serving.

Tako

Bottom Layer
30g green pea flour
90g castor sugar
300ml water
6-8 pieces water chestnuts (skinned and cubed)

Top Layer
15g rice flour
10g sugar
170ml coconut milk
90ml water
1/2 tsp rose essence
a pinch of salt

chopped red cherries
pandan leaves (cut to form into little cups)

Method
To prepare bottom layer:
Boil green pea flour, castor sugar and water until mixture thickens. Add water chestnut cubes and half fill pandan cups.

To prepare top layer: Boil rice flour, sugar,salt, coconut milk and water until mixture thickens. Add rose essence.

Fill pandan cups and decorate with chopped cherries. Refrigerate the tako before serving. - Malaysian Favourites (Preston)

Thapthim Krop (Mock Pomegranate Seeds)

1 cup diced water-chestnuts
1 cup cornflour
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup scented water
1/2 cup shredded jack-fruit
A few drops of red colouring
Crushed ice

Method
Put the diced water-chestnuts in a bowl. Sprinkle with a few drops of red colouring. Mix well. Add the cornflour and shake until the diced water-chestnuts are well-coated.

Heat some water in a saucepan. Bring to boil and pour the coated water-chestnuts into the boiling water. Spoon them out as they float. Leave them in cold water for a few minutes to cool. Drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the scented water over a low heat. Bring to boil and remove from heat to cool.

Serve the thapthim krop (mock pomegranate seeds) with syrup, coconut milk and crushed ice. Top with shredded jack-fruit. - NST

Cooling Agar-Agar Recipes (Part 1)

Agar-agar is a very popular dessert. It may be in dry strands which have to be presoaked before use or bought processed in powder form. Usually, most of us would simply follow the instructions on the packet of agar-agar powder and by adjusting the amount of water we then get either a firmer or softer jelly. Likewise, by adjusting the amount of sugar we can get the sweetness we prefer. Variations to the basic recipe make agar-agar more interesting! How about trying these recipes ?

Magic Mirror Agar-Agar
2 ^3/4 cups presoaked agar agar strands
6 cups water
1 ^1/4 cups sugar
6 pandan leaves washed
colouring
30g cincau jelly (leong fan) cut into cubes

Method
In a pan, combine one cup agar-agar, two cups water and three pandan leaves. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly till agar-agar dissolves. Add 1/3 cup sugar and stir till dissolved. Strain into three trays. Add a different colour to each tray. Leave to set.

Meanwhile, prepare remaining agar-agar, water, pandan leaves and sugar similarly but leave the cooked mixture uncoloured. Strain into a large tray. Allow to cool and thicken but not to set.

Cut the coloured agar agar into small cubes. Stir this and the cut cincau jelly (leong fan) into the thickened agar-agar. Chill in refrigerator till set. Cut and serve.




Agar-Agar Santan
30g agar-agar powder
120ml water
750ml hot water
300g sugar
3 pandan leaves, knotted
180ml thick coconut milk
1/4 tsp food colouring

Method
Combine agar-agar powder with 120ml water. Stir to dissolve, then pour into the hot water. Add sugar and pandan leaves and bring to a boil for 10 - 15 minutes over medium heat. Stir occasionally while cooking.

Divide agar-agar into three portions. Add colouring to the two-thirds portion and pour into wet moulds.

Bring the remaining one-thirds liquid to a gentle simmer, then add thick coconut milk. When it begins to boil, remove from the heat at once.

Test the doneness of the coloured portion. It should be about set. Gently pour spoonfuls of coconut milk agar-agar mixture over the coloured jelly (take care not to break through the surface of the coloured jelly). Leave to set completely. Chill in the refrigerator before turning out. Should the coloured jelly set before the coconut milk agar is being added, you can scratch the surface with a fork before pouring in the topping. - Amy Beh



Almond Jelly Lychee Dessert
1 cup presoaked agar-agar strands
4 cups water
1 cup condensed milk
almond essence
1 tin lychee

Method
Boil one cup softened agar-agar in four cups water until dissolved. Strain the mixture. Add one cup condensed milk and a few drops of almond essence. Stir well.

Pour into a 2-pint mould. Leave in refrigerator to set. Unmould into deep dish and pour one tin chilled lychees around almond jelly.




Egg Agar-Agar
45g agar-agar strands
675g grated coconut (white part only)
1 ^1/2 tbsp instant coffee
2 tbsp hot water
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
45ml water
675g sugar
1 tin evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1.7 litres water

Method
Squeeze coconut for thick milk. Stir instant coffee powder with 2tbsp hot water till dissolved. Mix coconut milk, coffee and beaten egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.

Soak agar-agar in cold water, squeeze dry and boil in 1.7 litres water until dissolved.

Add sugar and continue to boil until sugar dissolves. Strain the mixture into another saucepan and boil again.

Remove from heat and add evaporated milk. Mix well and pour into the egg mixture with salt and vanilla. Stir well. Pour mixture into wet moulds and chill until set. - Hannah Abisheganaden




Layer Agar-Agar with Gula Melaka & Milk
30g agar-agar powder, dissolve in 1/2 cup of water
1 litre water
300g palm sugar, grated
50g granulated sugar
2 pandan leaves , knotted
150ml water
250ml Marigold Evaporated Creamer
2 tbsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Method
Combine palm sugar, sugar, pandan leaves and 150ml water. Cook until sugar dissolves. Remove pandan leaves and sieve mixture. Put aside.

Put together one litre of water with agar-agar mixture and cook over medium fire, all the while stirring until mixture thickens.

Divide mixture into two portions. In one portion, add in Marigold Evaporated Creamer, sugar and salt. In the other portion, add in palm sugar mixture.

Wet 20 small agar-agar moulds. Spoon white agar-agar mixture into moulds, 0.5cm in thickness and once it starts to set, layer it with the palm sugar agar agar mixture. Repeat layers until it fills up to the rim of the mould. Chill in the refrigerator before serving. - Marigold

Cooling Agar-Agar Recipes (Part 2)

Coconut Jelly
(A)
1 litre young coconut water (air kelapa muda)
18g agar-agar powder
125g castor sugar
2 pandan leaves, shredded and knotted

(B)
100ml UHT milk
A few drops green food colouring
Young coconut flesh, scraped from the young coconut

Method
Bring (A) to a low simmering boil until sugar and agar-agar powder dissolve. Add in (B), mix, and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes.

Remove mixture from the heat and leave aside for 5-6 minutes. Pour coconut jelly mixture into a wet tray and add in coconut flesh. Put aside to set then chill in the refrigerator before cutting into slices. - Amy Beh




Cendol Jelly
25g agar-agar strips, soaked for 10-15 minutes
200g soft brown sugar
1 litre water
500ml thick coconut milk (from 2 grated white coconuts)
2 pandan leaves, shredded and knotted
350g cendol, well drained

Method
Put water, sugar and pandan leaves in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Add dissolved agar-agar and boil for 12 -15 minutes, stirring frequently until sugar and agar-agar have dissolved completely. Discard pandan leaves.

Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Pour the jelly mixture straight into a 23cm square tin. Add the cendol and stir lightly to mix. Leave aside to cool completely. Chill the jelly well in the refrigerator before cutting into serving pieces. - Amy Beh




Durian Jelly
(A)
50ml UHT milk
50ml evaporated milk
1 tbsp custard powder

(B)
100g durian flesh (Use durians that are sweet and soft.)
110ml coconut milk

(C)
140g castor sugar
11g agar-agar powder
1/4 tsp salt
200ml water
150ml UHT milk

Method
Mix (A) in a small bowl. In a blender, puree durian flesh together with coconut milk until smooth. Combine (A) and pureed durian and set aside.

Put water, milk, sugar, salt and agar agar powder in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes over a medium-low heat, stirring frequently until it comes to a gentle boil.

Pour in combined (A) and (B) mixture. Bring to a low simmering boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour durian agar-agar mixture into wet individual moulds or into durian casings.Leave to set at room temperature then refrigerate to chill before serving. - Amy Beh




Beatrice Fruit Delight
2 packets agar-agar strands
2.5 litres water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 tbsp cornflour
4 eggs
1 can fruit cocktail
1 tbsp coffee powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
150g sugar

Method
Soak agar agar strands with the water for 15 minutes.Leave to boil until dissolved. Strain the mixture and divide into two portions.

To one portion, add sugar, coffee and cocoa powder.Pour this into a mould. Cool slightly before adding drained fruit cocktail. Leave to set.

With the second portion, combine cornflour, eggs, the syrup of the fruit cocktail and add to the agar agar. Keep stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk.

With a fork, pierce lightly the set first layer and pour the second layer on. Chill to set. Serve with more fruit cocktail. - Beatrice




Soya Bean Milk Jelly
(A)
2 litres soya bean milk (unsweetened)
300 ml water

(B)
3 tsp agar agar powder ( dissolved in a little water )
280g sugar
1/2 tin evaporated milk
200 ml longan syrup

Method
Boil (A). Then add agar agar and sugar. Leave to boil for a short while until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add evaporated milk and longan syrup. Pour into wet individual moulds. Leave to set at room temperature and then refrigerate to chill .

Serve with some longans and additional syrup.