Matcha and White Chocolate Ice Cream

Matcha and White Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:
3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
2 large egg yolks
3.5 oz white chocolate (finely chopped)
1 tablespoons matcha powder (sifted)

Directions:
1. In a small sauce pan bring the cream, milk, sugar and salt to a simmer over low heat, stirring constantly.
2. While whisking eggs, pour about 1/4 cup of the hot cream mixture in a thin, steady stream in the bowl of eggs. (This should temper the eggs.)
3. Pour the tempered eggs in saucepan with the hot cream mixture, in a thin, steady stream while whisking the hot cream.
4. Cook over low heat, constantly stirring, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. (Do not let this mixture boil.)
5. Pour this mixture through a strainer.
6. Melt a little more than half of the chocolate in a double boiler.
7. Sift the matcha into the chocolate and mix well with a whisk.
8. Add the white chocolate to the cream and mix well.
9. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator.
10. Mix in the remaining chocolate chunks.
11. Freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream machine.

Tsubushian

Tsubushian or "red bean paste" (also known an an or anko) is sweet dark red paste made from azuki beans. It is used in many Japanese sweets such as daifuku and taiyaki. You can replace the sugar with your favorite sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, etc.

Ingredients:
1 14 oz can azuki beans
1 cup sugar

Directions:
1. Rinse the beans.
2. Place the beans and sugar into a pot and cover with at least an inch of water.
3. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
4. Simmer until the beans are soft and falling apart and there is little water left. Add more water if required.
5. Mash the beans with a potato masher. Add water to bring the paste to the right consistency if required. (You could also use a food processor to bring the beans to a paste.)
6. (optional) The paste can be strained through a sieve to remove the bean husks and make the paste smoother. If this step is done the paste becomes Koshian rather than Tsubushian.

Ichigo Daifuku

Ingredients:
1 cup shiratamako (a kind of Japanese rice flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
* katakuriko (Japanese potato starch)
* strawberries (washed and hulled)
2 cups tsubushian

Directions:
1. Mix the water, shiratamako and sugar in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and heat it for 1 minute in a microwave and mix. Repeat 5 times.
3. Spread the mixture (called mochi) out on katakuriko to cool.
4. Cover the strawberries in tsubushian and form balls.
5. Wrap the strwberry and tsubushian balls in the shiratamako mixture.

Strawberry Tart

Sweet Tart Dough

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s book “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick plus 1 tbsp (9 tbsp) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 large egg yolk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190C) degrees.
2. Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.
3. Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.
4. Stir in the yolk and pulse again until the dough forms clumps and curds.
5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients.
6. Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze crust at least 30 minutes before baking.
7. Bake blind for 25 minutes, remove the weight and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool.

Pastry Cream

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s book “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Method

1. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.
2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk.
3. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, contstantly and thoroughly bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
4. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky.
5. Scrape the cream into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.
6. The pastry cream can be kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Black Sesame Ice Lollies

Black Sesame Ice Lollies

Ingredients:

100g black sesame
30g white sesame
500ml milk
50g honey
70g sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp cornstarch
100ml whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

1) Stir-fried black and white sesame in a wok until fragrant. Using a grinder, grind the sesame until fine.
2) Add milk, honey, sugar and ground sesame in a pot, cook in low heat until sugar is dissolved.
3) Whisk egg yolks and cornstarch, then add in to the sesame mixture.
4) Continue to cook in low heat until the mixture is thickened, turn off heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
5) In a separate bowl, whip the cream with vanilla essence, then add in to the sesame mixture.
6) Pour the mixture into ice lollies molds. Freeze for 3-4 hours, serve.