Chinese Dessert Recipes

• 2 cups Flour
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp Baking Soda
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• ½ cup Butter
• ½ cup Shortening
• ¾ cup White Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 2 ½ tsp Almond Extract
• ¼ pound Whole Almonds (blanched)
• 1 Egg (Lightly Beaten) 

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In another bowl, use an electric mixer or whatever equipment is available to beat the butter or margarine, shortening, and sugar.
• Beat the egg and almond extract together till it blends well.
• Add this egg and almond extract mixture to the flour mixture and mix well.
• (Note: The dough will be crumbly at this point; that is how it's supposed to be. Use your fingers to mix and form the dough, and then make 2 rolls or logs that are 10 to 12 inches long from the dough. Wrap and refrigerate the rolls or logs for 2 hours, as this will make it easier for shaping the dough into circles).
• Take a log or roll and lightly score the dough at ¾ inch intervals so that you have 15 pieces. Now cut the dough. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie tray, approximately 1 ½ inches apart. Put an almond in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Before baking, brush each cookie lightly with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until it turns golden brown.
• Let it cool and store in a sealed container.

• 2 pounds Fresh Chestnuts
• ½ tsp Salt
• ¼ cup Sugar
• 1 ½ cups Heavy Cream Or Whipping Cream
• 4 tbsp Caster Or Superfine Sugar (granulated sugar can be used if needed)
• Few drops of Vanilla Extract (optional)

• Make two diagonal cuts on the flat side of each chestnut (this will make them easier to peel). Simmer the chestnuts in boiling water and cover for 40 to 45 minutes.
• Drain the chestnuts, let them cool, and then remove the top shell, being sure to remove all of the papery inner skin, so that all that is left is the wrinkled, yellowish meat of the chestnut. Cut the chestnut meat in half and loosely chop.
• Grind the chopped chestnut into small bits in a food processor or a blender. Mix salt and the first portion of sugar with the ground chestnuts and stir carefully.
• Whisk the cream into a desired thickness and then fold in the 4 tbsp of caster, superfine or granulated sugar. If you are using vanilla extract then now is the right time to add it. 

• 1 tbsp Unflavored Gelatin
• ¾ cup Sugar (175 ml)
• 1 cup Hot Water (250 ml)
• 3 cups Fresh Mangoes (pureed) (750 ml)
• 1 cup Evaporated Milk (250 ml)
• 8 Ice Cubes
• Lime Wedges (optional)
• Fresh Mango Slices For garnish (optional) 

• Mix gelatin and sugar into hot water and mix until dissolved and smooth.
  In another bowl, mix mango puree, evaporated milk and ice cubes. Pour gelatin mixture into mango mixture and stir until ice cubes are melted.
• Pour the mixture into a jelly mould and let it chill for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.
• To serve, dip the jelly mould for about 2 to 3 minutes in hot water then overturn the pudding onto a dish. Squeeze on some lime juice, garnish with mango slices if desired, and serve. (Best eaten within a day)

• 2 Egg Whites
• ½ tsp pure Vanilla Extract
• ½ tsp pure Almond Extract
• 1 ½ tsp Cornstarch
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 3 tsp Water
• 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 8 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
• 8 tbsp Granulated Sugar 

• Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 ½ inches long and ½ inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease two 9x13 inch baking sheets.
• Lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil in a bowl until frothy but not stiff.
• Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl and then pour the water into the flour mixture.
• Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. Make sure the batter isn’t runny.
• (Note: At this point, you can make your cookies colorful by adding food coloring to the batter and mixing it. For example, use ½ teaspoon red food coloring to make red fortune cookies).
• Take a tablespoon of batter and drop it onto the cookie sheet. Do this for the whole batter, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle.
• Bake for around 14 to 15 minutes until the outer ½ inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they can be easily removed from the baking sheet with a spatula.
• As soon as the cookie turns golden brown, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand and insert a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, and then pull the edges downward. Do the same thing with the rest of the cookies.