Honey Lollipops

I made this for a tea party. It is messy to make, but very cute to stir one in a cup of hot tea for a little extra sweetness.

Ingredients

Cooking spray for the ice cube tray
Honey - 1/2 cup
Light corn syrup - 1/3 cup 
Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 TBSP

Wooden honey wands 6 inches each, or lollipop sticks - 25

Steps

1. Prepare an ice bath with ice cubes and water in a metal bowl or pan or something your saucepan will fit into.

2. Spray the silicone ice cube tray with cooking spray.
3. In a medium saucepan stir together the honey, corn syrup, sugar, and water. Stir together until well incorporated. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium so that the mixture stays at a rolling boil that is steady and not too vigorous.

5. Cook to 302°F, which is hard crack stage for candy. The moment the candy reaches temperature, plunge the bottom of the pan into the ice bath. Let the bubbling subside for 1-2 minutes.

6. Pour the candy into 25 cavities of the silicone tray, filling each about 3/4 full. Let stand 1-2 minutes, then cover with lid or double thickness of aluminum foil.

7. Insert the lollipop stick into each of the hexagons. After they are balanced, leave them alone to firm, about 2 hours.

8. Wiggle each wand end a little to loosen the honey pop from the mold. Transfer to a parchment or wax paper-lined baking sheet. Let stand 20 minutes to air dry.
10. Package each in cellophane and tie with ribbon, or store them in an airtight container in a cool dry place. If stored away from humidity, they will last two weeks or longer. These can be made up to a week ahead. Do not store these in the refrigerator. Keep them away from all forms of humidity.

Malaysia Fried Banana

A sweet snack made from ripe bananas — a beloved Malaysian treat passed down from my mother in law.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Tropical flour - 1/4 cup (optional)

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Water - 3/4 to 1 cup, add gradually to desired consistency

Banana - 3 ripped, peeled and sliced diagonally

Steps

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, tropical flour (if using), baking soda, and salt.
Gradually add water while stirring until you get a smooth, slightly thick batter that can coat the back of a spoon.

2. Slice the ripe bananas into thick diagonal slices.

3. Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Dip each banana piece into the batter, making sure it’s evenly coated. Carefully place into the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crisp, turning occasionally.

4. Drain on paper towels and serve hot as a snack or dessert.
(Optional: sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with honey, or serve with ice cream for a modern twist!)

Sugared Cranberry

This is a great snack to make using leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving. It is also pretty to use for cake decoration. 

Ingredients

Water - 1/2 cup water
Sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups, divided
Fresh cranberries - 3 cups, rinsed and dried

Steps

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and let it simmer on low heat for 3 minutes. 

2. Stir in the cranberries to fully coat in the syrup then remove from heat and stir 1 minute.

3. Remove cranberries with a slotted spoon and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet or a metal rack to let cranberries dry out for 1 hour.

4. Roll cranberries in batches in the remaining 1 cup sugar to coat.

Apple Sauce

Homemade apple sauce is a great way to consume my backyard apples that is not sweet.

Ingredients

Apples - 4 lbs (about 8 to 10 apples, depending on the size), peeled, cored, and quartered
Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar - 3 tablespoons (or to taste)

Lemon peels - 2 strips (optional)
Sugar - Up to 1/2 cup, can sub half with brown sugar
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp

Water - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Steps

1. Place the peeled, cored, and quartered apples into a large pot. Add the strips of lemon peel, the lemon juice or vinegar, cinnamon, sugar, water and salt. (You might want to start with half the sugar at this point and add more to taste later.)
2. Bring to a boil on high heat, then lower the temperature, cover the pot, and maintain a low simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the apples are completely tender and cooked through.
3. Remove lemon peels, purée cooked apple using blender.

Note: 

If the applesauce is too thick, add more water to thin it out. If not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste. If too sweet, add more lemon juice.

This applesauce recipe is perfect for canning. If using a water-bath canner, process pint jars for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes at sea level.
Freezes well and will last at least 1 year in a cold freezer. If you freeze it, make sure to allow enough headroom (at least 1 inch) in your jar for expansion.

Milk Square(奶糕)

Tried this easy snack which is creamy and springy, perfect to serve chilled for the summer. 

Ingredients

Milk - 2 cups

Heavy whipping cream - 2/3 cup

Corn starch - 2/3 cup

Sugar - 1/2  to 2/3 cup

Fine shredded coconut for coating (optional)

Steps

1. In a sauce pot, add all ingredients except shredded coconut, mix well.

2. Put on medium heat and cook until the mixture is fully cooked and become glue like.

3. Pour mixture in a greased mold/container, spread it evenly, and cover with shrink wrap. Then chill in refrigerator overnight. 

4. Remove from mold and slice into squares or cut in shapes with cookie cutter.  Serve directly or roll the squares in shredded coconut to coat them.

"Laughing" Sesame Ball(开口笑)

These sweet and crisp balls are traditional Chinese snack, originated in Beijing. The Chinese name literally means "Laughing". These small flour balls will be crackled during frying, like laughing. I modified the recipe from Xiachufang.

Ingredients

Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 1 and 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Oil/clarified butter - 1 TBSP
White sesame - 1/2 cup

Steps

1. Add sugar and water in sauce pan, boil util sugar is fully dissolved. Set aside to cool down. 

2. In a mixing bowl, mix flour and baking soda; then add oil and sugar water to knead lightly  into a dough. If the dough is too dry, add up to 1 TBSP water. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

3. Portion the dough into small balls. Prepare a small dish of water. Dip each ball in water before roll it in sesame so that the sesame will stay on the ball.

4. Add oil in a sauce pan and heat up until 320°F, turn off heat, put in the sesame balls. The high temperature should cause the sesame ball to expand quickly and crack the surface. When the balls are starting to float, turn on low heat to fry until the balls are turning yellow. At the end, turn on high heat to quickly brown the balls.

5. Serve after the sesame balls are cool down.

Soft Sea Salt Caramels

Caramels for holidays following this recipe.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup
Heavy whipping cream - 1/2 cup
Water - 3 TBSP
Light corn syrup - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp
Coarse or flaked sea salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Yield: 60 caramels

Steps

1. Line a pan/mold with parchment paper, lightly spray oil on parchment paper. My mold is about 9" x 7".
2. Cut butter into pieces then combine with heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until butter has melted. Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan combine the water and corn syrup. Then, add the sugar, but try your best not to splatter the sugar up the sides of the pan. Now, use a spoon to gently stir the sugar into the water and corn syrup, just moistening the sugar.
4. Heat over medium heat until the sugar has come to a boil. Then, cover with a lid for 1 minute. This adds steam/moisture to the pan, so any sugar that may have stuck to the sides of the pan melts and falls back into the boiling sugar.

5. Remove lid then attach a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Then, cook sugar for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar reaches a temperature of 320°F. At this temperature, the sugar will take on a light amber color around the edges of the pan.

6. The moment the sugar reaches 320°F, carefully pour about a sixth of the butter and cream mixture then stir, using the base of the candy thermometer to incorporate it. Repeat with the remaining cream and butter. The sugar will bubble violently as you add the butter and cream – so do this carefully and slowly to prevent the mixture from bubbling over the sides of the saucepan.
7. By adding the cream and butter, the temperature will drop. Now, continue cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the caramel reaches a temperature of 240°F. This will create a soft caramel, if you want slightly harder caramels, bring the temperature closer to 245°F.

8. The moment the caramel reaches your desired temperature, pour into the prepared pan/mold. Cool 20 to 30 minutes then scatter the salt over the caramel. Then, let the caramel cool 3 1/2 hours.

9. Remove the caramel from pan/mold. If the caramel is too soft to work with, place into the refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes to firm up. Then, use a large sharp knife to cut into your desired shape. I followed the grid on my mold and cut them into 1.5" x 0.7" rectangles.
10. Wrap caramels in plastic wrap or waxed paper and enjoy immediately, or you can refrigerate or freeze for enjoying later. I used this 4.5" x 5.5" wrapper, divided into two.

Note:

Double the recipe and use the 8.25" x 8.25" square mold can get a thicker caramel pieces. 

Gummy Bear

Ingredients

Fruit juice - 1 cup
Lemon juice - 1 TBSP
Honey - 2 TBSP
Gelatin - 3 TBSP

Steps

1. In a small saucepan, add juice, lemon juice, honey, sprinkle on gelatin powder, let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Heat up mixture in saucepan until gelatin is all melted.

3. Fill molds using a syringe. Err on the side of over-filling rather than under-filling.

4. Place filled molds in the freezer for five minutes. Carefully remove pieces from molds and place in an airtight container. Store completed gummies in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

sweet potato - 16 oz
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Paprika - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Steps

1. Slice sweet potato to same size sticks (between 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch).
2. Place sweet potato slices in a mixing bowl, add all other ingredients, toss to coat evenly.

3. Transfer coated slices to air fryer. Cook at 380°F for 20-25 minutes until tender and crispy. Shake the fryer basket a few times in between to make sure fries are cooked evenly.