Jasmine Tea & Honey Panna Cotta with Dragon Fruit Gelee and Homemade Almond Fortune Cookies - Daring Bakers' Challenge February 2011

"Tea or coffee?"

"Tea."

"Jasmine or Oolong?

"Jasmine, please."

"Black or white?"

"Sugar or honey?"

"Do you like to have a slice of dragon fruit or pink guava to go with your tea?"

Life is full of choices. The more choices we have, the harder for us to make a decision.

Sometimes I find it easier if we are not given a choice. Miss C was an August baby. In the state of New South Wales, I was left with no choice but to enrol her to start school on the year she turned 5. I wasn't given a choice. That was easy. Most of the mums in the same situation were breathing a similar sigh of relief.

There were so many discussions and worries among the mums with kids born in the earlier part of the year. They were faced to decide between admitting their kids to school the same year or the following year. Endless discussions. Worries about making the wrong choices for their kids. Weighing up all the pros and cons.

When we decided to call Australia home, we were without a choice. I was a Malaysian passport holder then. The circumstances made it almost impossible for me to live in Holland. Fast forward 10 years. I am still the same me. The only difference is that I am now an Australian. This makes me eligible to live in Holland as long as Mr J has a job there.

Now we are faced with a choice. An extremely difficult choice to make.

Do we want to give up everything we have built up in the last 11 years and move to Holland? What if my back problem gets worse and we don't have family or a safety net to help us? Too many questions that we cannot find the answers for.

I don't like sugar coated fantasy. Yup, it's exciting. It's Europe. it's a 3-hour train ride to Paris. London is a 1-hour flight away with my brother and his family living there. Mr J's family are all close by. Miss C would grow up with her cousins and knowing her grandparents well. All the fun.

But the harsh reality is that this would not be a holiday. There will be freezing winters, grey skies and wet weather to battle. A brand new language to learn, a new society to be integrated into and a child to raise in a culture and an environment that I am not familiar with.

As I ponder our future and all the uncertainties in life, I wish these cookies held the answer.

Maybe saying a little prayer will help.

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Jasmine Tea and Honey Panna Cotta Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
10 g Jasmine tea
1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/3 cup (80 ml) honey

Method

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.
2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).
3. Next, add the tea, cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.
5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.

Dragon Fruit Gelée Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) dragon fruit (pitaya) puree
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
1/4 cup (60 ml) (60 gm) (2 oz) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (3½ gm) (1/8 oz) unflavored powdered gelatin

Method

1. Sprinkle gelatin over water.
2. Place fruit and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Now mix the gelatin into the dragon fruit mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool (close to room temp, again, if you're planning on layering on pouring on top of your Panna Cotta, a hot mixture will also heat up your chilled Panna Cotta).

Almond Fortune Cookies Reicpe
Adapted from How To Make Fortune Cookies: A Tutorial

Ingredients

2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons water

Method

1. Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.
3. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.
4. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.
5. Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, 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 4 inches in diameter.

   

6. Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes).
7. Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin.

   

8. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape.

   

9. Continue with the rest of the cookies.