Recipe: Sour Green Apple Kanten with Amasake Cream

We serve good quality sweets two nights a week at the Kushi Institute, Tuesdays and Fridays. So if you are thinking of stopping by to check out our campus and join us for a meal those are definitely the days to come. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance. This ensures you get your piece of the pie so to speak! Call (800) 975-8744 to make your reservation. 

This delicious recipe is courtesy of Anna Rosa Oriat Aeschlimann, one of our lovely volunteers. She has a natural talent for making the most amazing vegan and sugar-free desserts. Not only are they delectable, they are also incredibly beautiful. It's amazing what she can do with white beans and turnips or sesame seeds and carrots. It's absolutely magical. You would never guess that her rich and decadent desserts are actually good for you! If we are lucky this will be one of many more delicious recipes to come! And if you are super lucky, you'll join us on an evening when Anna has prepared dessert! 

Sour Green Apple Kanten with Amasake Cream

Serves 5

Sour Green Apple Kanten
Ingredients

2 cups organic apple juice

2 tablespoons agar agar flakes

2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

1/2 cup sour green apple, thinly sliced

1/16 teaspoon sea salt

Procedure

1. Measure out the rice syrup and place the measuring spoon in the pot you’ll be using, letting the handle rest on the sides of the pot. This way the rice syrup drips down as you set everything else up. Rice syrup is sticky, so this step saves you time and a mess.

2. Pour the apple juice in the pot, add the salt, stir in the agar flakes with a whisk and let soak for 10 minutes. Soaking the flakes isn’t absolutely necessary, but it helps them dissolve more easily.

In the meantime cut the apples. The size you cut the apples will determine the amount of time they need to cook for. One way to cut the apples for a nice presentation is to cut them into quarters and take out the seeds. Cut each quarter into four slices length-wise, then cut each slice into thin pieces. Place the cut apples in a bowl with enough water to cover and add a pinch of sea salt. This prevents the apples from oxidizing so they maintain their color.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stirring prevents the flakes from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. Simmer for 5 minutes if you’ve soaked the flakes, and 15 minutes if you haven’t soaked them, stirring occasionally. Stirring prevents the agar flakes from forming a film on the apple juice and helps the flakes dissolve. Be sure to simmer the flakes for the indicated amount of time. Otherwise, the flakes won’t dissolve in the liquid and the kanten won’t set.

4. Bring the mixture back to a boil, add the apples, and simmer for 1-3 minutes, depending on how well-cooked you would like the apples to be.

5. Pour into individual dessert cups and let the kanten set for 40 minutes inside or 2 hours outside of the fridge.

Amasake Cream

Ingredients

1 cup amasake

1.5 teaspoons agar agar powder

¼ teaspoon umeboshi vinegar

Procedure

1. Pour the amasake in a pot and add the umeboshi vinegar.

2. Gently sprinkle in the agar powder gradually and stir with a whisk as you go, waiting until all of the powder has been incorporated into the mixture before adding more. If you add the agar powder all at once, it will stick together in little lumps which won’t dissolve.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil over a medium flame while stirring constantly. Stirring prevents the agar powder from lumping. Simmer for 1 minute.

4. Pour into a bowl and set for 40 minutes inside the fridge.

5. Puree the amasake cream in a blender until smooth. Because the cream is quite hard, residue may collect on the sides of the blender. In this case pause the blender, scrape the sides with a rubber spatula, and blend again. It may be necessary to repeat this step several times.

6. You should now have a cream that is thick enough to put in a pastry bag and pipe over the kanten. Be sure to wait until the kanten has completely set before piping the amasake cream over it. If you try to pipe it sooner, the kanten will collapse under the weight of the cream.

7. Decorate the dessert in any way you like. A few thin slices of fresh green apple or lemon, small flowers, or a few roasted nuts or seeds all make nice garnishes.

© 2015 Anna Rosa Oriat Aeschlimann

Some of these ingredients may be unfamiliar to some of you, so we've provided definitions below. Many of these healthful items are available through our online shop: www.kushistore.com or through your local health foods store. To learn more about the benefits of these products and many others join us for our Way to Health programs. Visit www.kushiinstitute.org for more info. 

Agar-Agar is a sea vegetable that has the ability to set liquids, so it's a great replacement for gelatin. It comes in the form of flakes and powder. The powder has around 4 times the gelling power of the flakes, so if you're substituting one for the other, be sure to adjust accordingly. 

Amasake is a sweet and delicious beverage made from fermented grains, usually from sweet brown rice. Its creamy texture is perfect for desserts. 

Brown Rice Syrup is a thick sweet syrup made from brown rice. It's a healthy alternative to most sweeteners. 

Umeboshi Vinegar is the brine that is left over from pickling umeboshi plums, a traditional pickled plum in Japan. It's often used as a seasoning in soups and salad dressings or to pickle vegetables.