Almond Milk Jelly with Mandarin Orange

Almond milk jelly is one dessert that is usually served in Chinese restaurants, usually at the end of a wedding dinner, as a sweet ending to a wonderful meal. The almond jelly are served cold, in iced watery sweetened syrup, sometimes with canned lychees or longans, and is really cold and refreshing. Almond extract are used for the flavour, if you are a fan of anything almonds, than you would like this. You may substitute the almond extract with vanilla extract if you prefer.

I made this over the weekend for our dessert. This version is served with mandarin oranges, but of course, since the season for mandarin oranges is not for a couple of months yet, I used the canned mandarin oranges.  You may use fresh sweet oranges if you prefer. Some freshly squeezed orange juice is drizzled over before serving.

The first thing you need to do is to cook the almond milk jelly. Water, fresh cream, sugar, agar-agar powder are boiled for about 8 minutes until the sugar dissoves. Here, I have reduced the sugar from the original 1 cup to 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons, which for me, is just right. You may adjust accordingly to your taste. Once the sugar has dissolved, I poured the contents into a 8" square baking pan, remove any bubbles that may appear on top. Leave to cool until it sets, cover and place the tray in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to chill. I placed the mandarin oranges and the orange juice in the refrigerator to chill so that everything is cold and nice when it is time to serve.

To serve, cut the almond milk jelly to cubes and portion to individual serving bowl. Top with some slices of mandarin oranges and drizzle some fresh orange juice over. You may add a teaspoon or two of the syrup from the canned mandarin oranges. 

Serve and enjoy! Cold and refreshing!

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #24 (October 2012) : Jellies and Puddings hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House.

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Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Almond Milk Jelly with Mandarin Orange
(Tropical Desserts, Devagi Sanmugam)
3-1/4 cups (800 ml) water
3/4 cup (185 ml) fresh cream
250gm (1 cup) caster sugar (I use 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons agar-agar powder
1/2 teaspoon almond essence
3 mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented (I use canned mandarin oranges)
1 cup (250 ml) chilled orange juice (I use freshly squeezed orange juice)

1. Place the water, fresh cream, caster sugar and agar-agar powder in a pan and bring to a boil for 8 minutes, stirring constantly until the sugar completely dissolves. Then remove from the heat, add the almond essence and stir to mix well.
2. Pour the mixture into a 2-cm (3/4-in) high tray and leave it to set. Then slice into small cubes and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
3. To serve, portion the almond cubes and orange segments into individual serving bowls. Drizzle a little orange juice over and serve.