IB Kitchen Club

[sister herb]

Almond paste

100 g blanched almonds
100 g icing sugar
egg white
2 ml almond extract

Using an almond mill (if you haven´t it, beat them as fine as you can or use minced almonds), grate the almonds finely and mix with the sieved icing sugar in a bowl. Mix in some egg white, little at a time, until you get a soft and kneadable mixture. Add the almond extract and continue kneading with your hands. The resulting paste should be soft, but not sticky.

If not used immediately, wrap the almond paste tightly in plastic and store in refrigerator. Use it within a week or so to make candies, to cover cakes.

Almond paste may be coloured and flavoured with food colourings, cocoa powder and peppermint oil, rose water, orange flower water, etc.

Note that using larger quantities of liquid flavouring will make the paste softer and stickier, so add some more icing sugar in the mixture.

Do not overwork the paste when shaping or rolling it out, as this will cause the oil in the mixture to separate, making the paste oily and unworkable.

 

[sister herb]

Marmalade confections

These marmalade confections of natural fruit and berry flavours are easy to make at home.

60 ml thick berry or fruit puree, see instructions below
200 ml water
0,6 tsp (about 1,6 g) agar-agar powder or 6 g agar-agar strands
200 g sugar
(a few drops of lemon juice)
extra sugar for coating

For this recipe you can use fresh or frozen raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, apples, cranberries, blackcurrants, red currants, etc, or more exotic Finnish berries like lingonberries, bilberries or cloudberries. Even carrots may be used. More acidic berries, like lingonberries or cranberries, make the most aromatic marmalades, in my opinion.

To make the berry puree, place the fresh or frozen berries in a small saucepan. Bring the berries to the boil, crushing them with a spoon to release their juices. Let simmer until the berries have cooked down a bit. If you are using carrots, first peel and grate them finely, then cook until very tender, almost mushy, in a little dash of water.

Using a metal spoon, push the berry pulp (or the fruit or carrot pulp) through a fine sieve to get a thick puree and to get rid of any seeds, fibres etc. Cover the puree and set aside to cool.

Mix the water and the agar-agar powder in a saucepan. If you are using agar-agar strands, they must be soaked in the water overnight before cooking. Bring the mixture slowly to the boil, stirring continually. After the agar-agar has dissolved, add the sugar and bring the mixture to the boil again.

Stir until the sugar has dissolved, lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for about half an hour, or until the mixture forms a sticky thread when dropped from a spoon. Depending on the size of your pan, the cooking may take anything between 15 to 45 minutes. Stir the mixture every now and then during cooking.

Let the mixture cool for a couple of minutes. Then stir in the berry puree, mixing thoroughly. Taste the mixture. If it is very sweet and bland, you may add a few drops of lemon juice to give some acidity to the marmalades. Especially low-acidic berries and carrot seem to require this.

Pour the mixture in a small, rectangular or square pan. Cover the pan with plastic and transfer in a cool, dry place for the marmalade mixture to set. This should not take more than about one hour.

With the help of a thin rubber spatula, loosen the marmalade gently from the sides and bottom of the pan.

Unmould the slab of marmalade on work surface or a cutting board. Cut the slab with a sharp knife in squares (see the picture above), or use some miniature fancy cutters to cut out various shapes.

Let the marmalade pieces dry uncovered for a few hours. Then roll them in superfine sugar. The surface of the marmalades is still slightly sticky, so the sugar will adhere to them easily. Place the marmalades on a tray and let them dry in cool room temperature for a couple of days, turning them occasionally, before storing them in a tin.

You can roll the marmalades in sugar again after a couple of days, in case the sugar coating has melted.

Lingonberry marmalades

Bilberry marmalades

Carrot marmalades

Raspberry marmalades

......................................
About agar-agar: Name: Agar
E-Code: E406
Status: Halal
Description:
A seaweed derivative also known as agar-agar. It's a gelling agent used in the preparation of jello or jelly similar to the ones prepared from collagen which is an animal derivative. Islamically, agar is far better than collagen. It is typically sold as packaged strips of washed and dried seaweed, or in powdered form.

 

[Muhaba]

Almond paste

100 g blanched almonds
100 g icing sugar
egg white
2 ml almond extract

Using an almond mill (if you haven´t it, beat them as fine as you can or use minced almonds), grate the almonds finely and mix with the sieved icing sugar in a bowl. Mix in some egg white, little at a time, until you get a soft and kneadable mixture. Add the almond extract and continue kneading with your hands. The resulting paste should be soft, but not sticky.

If not used immediately, wrap the almond paste tightly in plastic and store in refrigerator. Use it within a week or so to make candies, to cover cakes.

Almond paste may be coloured and flavoured with food colourings, cocoa powder and peppermint oil, rose water, orange flower water, etc.

Note that using larger quantities of liquid flavouring will make the paste softer and stickier, so add some more icing sugar in the mixture.

Do not overwork the paste when shaping or rolling it out, as this will cause the oil in the mixture to separate, making the paste oily and unworkable.

This reminds me of Koya - that yummy indian/pakistani dessert made of milk or something. does anybody have the recipe for it?

 

[sister herb]

I found some recipes about Koya... but they were written by Urdu only.

:heated:

I don´t understand that language.

 

[Haya emaan]

koya? never heard it.. what is it like?
searched on net and it gave me about "khoya" instead of koya but that's not a dessert it self..

 

[sister herb]

Khoya bufri

Ingredients:
• 2-½ litre Whole Milk
• 250-300 gms Powdered Sugar
• ½ cup Pistachio (chopped)
• 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
• 1 Silver Sheet



How to make Khoya Burfi:
• Heat the milk in a large pan on high flame and bring it to boil while stirring occasionally.
• Now reduce the flame,keep stirring.
• When the milk gets thick, remove it from the flame.
• Now add sugar to the thickened milk, stir till it dissolves and allow it to cool.
• After the milk gets cool, add cardamom powder and pistachios to it. Mix properly.
• Spread the mixture evenly on a greased metal tray.
• Press silver sheets on the mixture.
• When the mixture gets set, cut it into medium-sized squares.
• Khoya Burfi is ready to serve.

Or something else? Need to try.

 

[sister herb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoa

I just talked about recipe with friend from Bangladesh, they too know this dessert as khoa.

Khoa is made by simmering full-fat milk in an iron karahi for several hours, over a medium fire. The gradual vaporization of its water content leaves coagulated solids in milk, which is khoa. The ideal temperature to avoid scorching is 175–180°F (about 80°C). Another quick way of making khoa is to add full fat milk powder to skimmed milk and mixing and heating until it becomes thick. This may, however, not have the same characteristics as traditionally made khoa.



Khoa = dried up milk.

 

[sister herb]

Karahi might means as some kind of pot.

 

[sister herb]

This is called as mawa in Bangla.
It is used in sweet and also curry dishes to make creamy taste.
Like what you add cream in chicken/salmon.
When the milk is dried up, only cream and butter remain in the gum like thing, so it tastes also sweet.

 

[Endymion]

Had Pulao in lunch today.

I want Marmalade Confections now laying:

 

[sister herb]

I want Marmalade Confections now laying:

If you make sweets at home, you can be sure they are 100% halal - no need to wonder what ingredients companies have used.

 

[Endymion]

Can't we exchange our dishes with each other :hmm: What about Pulao in exchange of Marmalade confections and almond paste num num

 

[جوري]

Pistachio and cardamom are a wonderful marriage
And rose essence does crown them - they make any desert or drink that much more exotic, rich and complex
Mmmmmm

 

[Mustafa2012]

Fruit Cocktail Arab Style

Below is the best dessert I've ever had anywhere. It's a Yemeni dessert made from fresh blended fruit, nuts, ice and sugar. It tastes a lot better than it looks.

​

 

[sister herb]

Recipe too. Even it looks there is banana.

 

[Mustafa2012]

Recipe too. Even it looks there is banana.

The first one is a standard fruit cocktail made from fresh fruit with mixed fruit puree which is the liquidy part. I bought this from a fresh juice bar in Riyadh.

Re: The second one. I didn't make that either. I bought it from a Yemeni dessert shop in Riyadh. KSA.

Hmm. Now let me think about what was in it...

It definitely had mango, pineapple and banana as you can see floating on the top, mixed fresh fruit puree, pistachios, almonds, milk, sugar and ice all blended together.

 

[جوري]

I miss Riyadh sometimes.. is Maqbarat al'oud still there? was the subject of many a nightmares for me as a child lol

 

[Mustafa2012]

I miss Riyadh sometimes.. is Maqbarat al'oud still there? was the subject of many a nightmares for me as a child lol

Which district was that in?

 

[جوري]

Which district was that in?

I don't remember really that was in the eighties and I was just a kid.. but it is the only major grave yard in Riyadh as far as I know.. I am surprised by how little I remember outside of that and a place called ghbeera, and major 'supermarkets' lol..
Are you Saudi?

 

[Mustafa2012]

in

I don't remember really that was in the eighties and I was just a kid.. but it is the only major grave yard in Riyadh as far as I know.. I am surprised by how little I remember outside of that and a place called ghbeera, and major 'supermarkets' lol..
Are you Saudi?

There's a largish graveyard near the masjid of Shaykh Khalid Al Jaleel in the Nakheel District. We used to see Janazah prayers there several times a week. I am not Saudi. I just worked there for some time.

Yeah the supermarkets are pretty awesome.

Riyadh is so modernized now, it's unbelievable. They're just competing to build the tallest and best looking buildings.