Dessert

Nice cream again!

It was such a hot and humid day in Minnesota today.

I’m usually not a big ice cream person, but even I crave for one on a day like this.

The nice cream was flavored with cinnamon and cocoa.

And then semi-sweet chocolate chips were folded in.

It’s been about 3 and half years since we moved to the city.

When we lived in the suburb, we had so much space in the almost 4000-square-foot house.

We downsized to the current condo which is less than half the size of our previous house, and I’ve learned to store things by displaying them. I have to!

This really helped me to get rid of things that I don’t love, and now I only buy things that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

This is not always easy, but I actually really enjoy the process of taking time to choose things that I welcome to my house, which helps me understand what style, well, slowly.

My first time making nice cream!

It’s getting really warm in Minnesota and I though it was time.

It was so smooth.

Thanks to my trusted Vitamix.

My first nice cream was flavored with rum and vanilla.

One thing I learned is that nice cream melts really fast.

This is a tough one to take pictures of!

The other day we were at one of my favorite home decor stores in Minneapolis, The Foundry Home Goods.

The store is not large, but I love their selection.

While we were there, Terry and I both spotted something really cool.

Can you guess what it was from those pictures above?

Well, here is the hint.

It happens to have the same color as my vanilla rum nice cream.

A vintage fan!

Since we liked it so much, Terry ordered one on Amazon with his phone while we were still at the store! (The one in the store was not for sale.)

It was delivered in a few days.

You’ve got to love amazon.

You can tell it’s well made.

Now I have two things that help me stay cool, nice cream and a fan.

I always liked gelatin dessert, especially on a hot summer day, because it’s so refreshing.

But since I found out what gelatin is really made of, I have lost interest in it.

(Well it was an understatement. I was shocked. Who knew?)

Luckily I have found a way to make jello-like dessert and fit it into our 95% plant-based diet.

This beautiful coconut jello was made from coconut milk, sugar, and “kanten” (or called “agar agar” in the United States.

Kanten is made from some type of seaweed and it’s a popular ingredient to make this type of dessert in Japan.

Some people seem to worry about possible seaweed smell, but I never noticed any smell in the Kanten I use.

I dressed up the coconut jello with Japanese Dango balls as well as kiwi, mango, and grapes.

This one was made even more pretty with the beautiful pink rhubarb jam.

It was also delicious when served with maple syrup.

Shiratama Dango balls are one of traditional Japanese sweets/snacks, and these are tasty!

These have a nice sticky texture, but they are not as sticky as mochi.

I made regular (white) and Matcha (green) balls.

This time I enjoyed them with molasses and Kinako (roasted soy beans) powder.

This is one of the traditional ways to eat shiratama dango balls.

We use “kuro-mitsu” (or black sugar syrup) in Japan, and I think molasses is probably the closest to it.

Kinako powder has become one of my favorite things lately, and I had to bring a bag home from Japan last month.

It’s interesting that most traditional Japanese sweets are vegan and they do not contain any dairy products.

That’s probably because dairy was not a big business in Japan for many many years.

Then at the same time I realize there are so many delicious and satisfying non-dairy desserts to enjoy!

To make these Shiratama Dango balls I used “Shiratama” flour.

I added water to the flour (follow the directions on the “Shiratama” flour package), formed balls, cooked them in boiling water for a minute, and then cooled them in ice water.

I found the flour in the Japanese food section inside a large Asian grocery store in Minneapolis, but I’ve heard that you can also use “glutinous rice flour”.