Matcha Mochi Muffins

Quite literally a combination of muffin and mochi, these cakes are chewy and dense like a mochi on the inside but crispy and puffy like a cupcake. These were very popular, though at first glance most people have no idea what they're supposed to be- and introducing them as matcha mochi muffins is kind of a tongue twister.

These are very aromatic because of the evaporated milk and matcha, and their bouncy, chewy texture makes them really unique. I like having a few sweetened canned red beans in each one, but you can skip them just as well. Other possible flavours to try in the future include black sesame-peanut, coconut pandan, and taro. You can try substituting some or all of the evaporated milk with coconut milk, or using coconut oil instead of butter. 

Matcha Mochi Muffins
From My Buttery Fingers
Makes 12-16

220 g. Mochiko or Thai glutinous rice flour
1 Tsp. Baking powder
5 g. Matcha powder
Pinch of salt
2 Eggs
155 g. Sugar
85 g. Butter, melted
190 g. Evaporated milk
Sweetened red beans or red bean paste, optional

Preheat oven to 180℃. Grease a cupcake pan, or line with paper cups.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and matcha powder.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add the butter and evaporated milk and mix well. Lastly, mix in the dry ingredients. Pour into pan.

If desired, put a spoonful of red beans or bean paste into each. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Halaya Ube Ice Cream

It's hard to imagine a simple ice cream recipe that comes out better than this one- it's creamy, soft and delicately flavoured, contains no eggs and takes hardly any time to prepare. It's even beautifully lavender-coloured. It goes perfectly with the mango ice cream I made earlier, but I imagine that it would also pair well with a bright green pandan ice cream or a red bean ice cream. Frozen, grated ube isn't hard to find in Asian supermarket's freezer aisles, though if I could find them fresh I'd like to try that at least once.

The halaya ube jam on its own.

The halaya ube jam is quite thin- but this makes it ideal for the ice cream batter, and easy to spread on bread or pancakes. It's incredibly delicious and worth a try if you haven't had ube before- it's nothing like the common orange sweet potatoes, with a delicate aromatic flavour that's hard to describe. Try it!

With the mango-cardamom ice cream- complimentary colours!

Halaya Ube Ice Cream
From Adora's Box

For the Halaya Ube:
1 410 g. Can evaporated milk
3/4 C. Sugar
2 Pandan leaves (optional) or 1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Lb. Grated ube/purple sweet potatoes (one frozen package)
1 TBSP Butter
Red and blue food colouring to enhance purple-ness (if desired!)

Cook together for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Let cool. 

(You can halve this recipe to just make the ice cream, or use the rest as a spread, in buns, et cetera.)

For the Ice Cream:

1/2 Above halaya ube recipe
1 C. Sweetened condensed milk, or 1 can
300 ml Heavy/whipping cream
1 C. Milk, preferably whole
Pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly and refrigerate at least 6 hours. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.

Coconut Cinnamon Evaporated Milk Buns

I should write a list of resolutions for baking. First and foremost would be checking on things more often so they don't burn. These buns barely escaped that fate with a deep brown tan.

Still, these babies came out successful. I made them mostly to use up the leftover evaporated milk from the gelato I made earlier. I also used cinnamon and coconut to make them a little more interesting. They flooded my house with the sugary, vaguely buttery smell of a Chinese bakery, though they're more toothsome than Asian-style bread. They've got a nice coconutty flavour and richness from the shredded coconut I added to the dough, softness from the evaporated milk, a slight caramel flavour without too much sweetness from the coconut sugar, and a hint of cinnamon to round it off. I sprinkled the top with coarse sugar to give it some crunch and additional flavour.

These are the kinds of sweet buns that can hold their own with some whole wheat flour substituted in- I'd also be interested as to how they'd taste with coconut milk instead of evaporated milk. I'd also like to try making the leftovers into a bread pudding or french toast, since it's firm enough that it won't fall apart when soaked with liquid.

Coconut Cinnamon Evaporated Milk Buns
Adapted from Roxana's Home Baking

For the Buns:
4 C. (490 g.) Bread flour
1/4 C. Lukewarm water
2 Tsp. Active dry yeast
2 Eggs, room temperature
50 g. Soft butter or margarine
1 Tsp. Salt
3/4 C. Evaporated milk
1/4 C. (50 g.) Coconut sugar, or brown sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Sachet vanilla sugar, or 2 Tsp. homemade
1/2 C. Shredded unsweetened coconut
Additional evaporated milk, raw cane sugar/coarse sugar, cinnamon and flaked coconut, to top

Mix 1/4 C. of the flour, the water, and the yeast to form a sponge. Let sit covered until spongey in appearance, about 30 minutes.

Mix the remaining flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and vanilla sugar. In a separate small bowl, mix 1/4 C. of the evaporated milk with the coconut and let sit.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the sponge. Mix it in using the dough hook attachment of a mixer on low speed, or use a silicone spatula by hand. Add 1/4 C. of the remaining evaporated milk and one egg. Once incorporated, add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining evaporated milk and egg. Add the last of the flour mixture, followed by the coconut mixture and the butter/margarine. Knead 5 minutes on medium speed, or 15 minutes by hand, until elastic and smooth.

Let rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled, 1-2 hours depending on the ambient temperature. Once doubled, punch down and form 12 equally sized balls. Let rise covered on a greased or parchment-lined baking tray (I used brioche molds greased with coconut oil) until almost doubled, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200℃. Brush the buns with evaporated milk. Sprinkle with flaked coconut, sugar and cinnamon.

Lower the oven temperature to 190℃. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Honey and Green Walnut Gelato

Recently I bought a jar of green walnut jam at my local Starsky- more like green walnuts in syrup, but still. I'd never tasted green walnuts, since I don't have access to a tree, so it piqued my curiosity. 

This is the brand I used- mind you, it wasn't empty before.

Green walnuts are simply unripe walnuts, and can be preserved in syrup, pickled, or even made into liqueurs such as nocino and liqueur de noix. The whole immature walnut is used, fleshy outside and all, cut into pieces if it's big. I'd love to try preserving my own, but I somehow suspect that the walnut trees in my neighbourhood are the more strongly flavoured black walnuts, so I'll have to do further research as to whether it's a good idea to use them (furthermore, I'd have to find a tree in a secluded enough place that nobody is questioning me picking the unripe nuts...).

'Till then, this jam made a lovely introduction to their flavour. They've got none of the taste you'd expect from walnuts, nor the texture- they seem more like giant raisins, only with a more floral, subtly nutty taste and some sourness from the syrup (which contains citric acid). The note of acidity helps keep the sweetness from becoming too cloying as well. It's kind of odd, but they kind of remind me of a sweet version of capers in that they make an interesting, hard to describe addition in terms of both texture and flavour. Seriously, I have no idea how else to explain these things. You've got to try them for yourself.

Anyways, I wanted to do something with the jam that'd take full advantage of its uniqueness and also allow me to stretch it a bit further (it ain't cheap!). I've been meaning to try making gelato for quite some time- the idea of a frozen desert that has a smooth texture without requiring eggs or vast quantities of cream is and was very appealing. I can't say this is a purist's recipe, given the powdered and evaporated milk, but it gives a very impressive result in terms of smooth, non-icy texture and rich taste. The ease of preparation and lack of a need to buy a new box of eggs is also a plus. I still kind of consider eggs and cream luxury products, since if I'm going to get them I'll only get the organic, free-range, top-notch ones, and those can get pricey. I've already gone through nearly two dozen eggs and a litre of cream (really) so I had to temper my ice-cream-making enthusiasm with something else.

I used a manuka honey from New Zealand that has a flavour just as unique as the green walnuts- it's kind of musty, but in a good way, and almost smokey along with the floral aroma. Honey goes with green walnuts just as well as it does with ripe ones, with the sweetness contrasting the tanginess of the green walnut jam and the subtler flavours complimenting one another. You can use any nice, light honey, but I wouldn't recommend anything too strong as it would compete too much with the green walnuts.

This is definitely not going to be the last gelato I make along this formula, since it works so beautifully. I'll want to make my own evaporated milk for next time, though... But that's an experiment for another day. 

Honey and Green Walnut Gelato
Adapted from Kochtopf

200 g. Whole milk
50 g. Evaporated milk
50 g. Powdered whole milk
1 TBSP Cornstarch
110 g. Light honey, preferably manuka
210 g. Whipping cream (35%)
150 g. Green walnut jam

Whisk together all but the whipping cream and green walnut jam. Pass through a strainer into a small saucepan, pushing through any clumps with a spatula to crush them. Bring to a rolling boil, then cook for about 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Take off the heat and keep stirring for another minute.

Pour into a cool bowl and refrigerate overnight. The next day, whip the cream and fold half of it into the cooked mixture. Fold in the other half. Spoon the mixture into an ice cream maker and operate according to the manufacturer's instructions.

In a freezer-safe tupperware container, spoon in about 1/3 of the gelato. Drizzle on 1/3 of the green walnut jam. Repeat this until all the gelato and jam is used. Put in the freezer immediately to firm up, and leave at least 6 hours (preferably overnight) before consuming.