The sun is slowly out here in Vancouver, and the weather is getting hotter, sunnier, and nicer! As for me, the spring season means time to explore and experiment with “spring desserts” 😊. Recently, I have been exploring several “cooking” and food-related classes in Masterclass (Yes! I finally subscribed to the Masterclass course; I technically can’t write much yet about it since I am a new subscriber to the course, but……). One of the Masterclass courses that intrigued me and I am currently taking is “The Art of Home Cooking” by Alice Walters. So far, my experience with the course is quite good. Alice Walters gives you practical tips and tricks in home cooking. However, more importantly, she taught me a great perspective and philosophy on how to approach home cooking by embracing natural, fresh, wholesome, and sustainable foods—which inspires me to learn more about this philosophy, and I hope to apply that to my learning curve in cooking. In short, I learned from her course that cooking—especially home cooking—does not need to involve extraordinary techniques, expensive materials, or even “trendy” food ingredients or materials out there. Alice taught us to embrace and appreciate what nature has provided us and try to turn this gift into a delicious and beautiful food to nourish our bodies and share this food to connect with family and friends. I love the way Alice shows how she cared about the quality, the source, and the people who have worked hard behind the scenes to provide us with beautiful food ingredients—the farmers, the planet, and all.
As I went through her course, I started to examine what I have been cooking and eating daily. Well, I figured I need some work over here, but I promise to take it slowly – no stress and no pressure! But first, let’s eat some dessert :p
COCONUT-FLAVOURED TOFU AND RICOTTA CHEESE DESSERTS WITH PANDAN SYRUP
Ingredients
150 g of Coconut Flavoured Tofu Desserts (I use Sunrise Brand)
1-2 tbsp Ricotta Cheese
Trail mix with Dark Chocolate, chopped
Palm Sugar Pandan Simple Syrup
- Palm Sugar Pandan Simple Syrup Ingredients
- 120 g Palm Sugar
- 3 Pandan Leaves (Cut into small pieces)
- 120 g of water
- You can “spice things up” using a pinch of cinnamon, ginger, or lemon zest if you like *optional
- Salt
- In my opinion, the key to a good taste in this syrup is the palm sugar that you will be using in the recipe. Though I am still searching for my favorite kind of palm sugar, I currently use palm sugar produced in Thailand to cook my daily food.
- Place the water and pandan leaves in a small pot and heat it over medium heat. Bring water to boil. Add the palm sugar and other “spices” (optional) to the mixture.
- Let the mixture simmer and reduce until the syrup is thickened (or you can add a thickener like corn starch if you don’t want the syrup to be too sweet or too concentrated—, but this will make the texture of your syrup a bit “gelling-like”).
- Remove the pandan leaves and spices residue from the mixture using a strainer.
- Leave the syrup at room temperature and serve it with the coconut tofu desserts, ricotta cheese, and the trail mix!
