Mad About Minis: Single-serve Haupia Coconut Pudding

I had a bit of a writer's block for Thanksgiving. I was not too sure what to feature for thanksgiving since we normally do not do a traditional Thanksgiving feast. My mom is usually out of town this time of the year (time for a long drive) and my husband's family is 2000 miles away.

That does not stop us from celebrating. I consider Thanksgiving a cook's holiday because it's an opportunity to plan a themed dinner and prepare it. These days we’re only doing it for the two of us, but who knows when it will change.

This year, we decided on a Hawaiian style menu: sweet and sour spareribs, ahi and veggie poke, and of course, kalua-style turkey and cabbage (Note: I am still working on some of these recipes starting with the poke, so expect them in my blog next year). We considered buying some laulau, but decided we have too much food as it is.

For dessert, I made Haupia for two. Haupia is a coconut milk pudding traditionally made with arrowroot starch. I really have to make this single or double serve because it is soooo good and I may not be able to resist the whole batch! I once bought two orders of it at a local eatery for a potluck and the cashier thought it was all for me. She said she could finish two or three orders.

Since coconut milk is the "thing" these days, you may enjoy this recipe, especially if this is your first encounter with Haupia. I based this on a recipe I learned from a Hawaiian cooking class. Hope you enjoy it.

Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Haupia (Coconut milk pudding)

Based on a recipe by Ron Serrao

Thickening...

Ingredients

• 1/4 c of canned coconut milk
• 2 tsp of cornstarch
• 1.5 tsp of sugar
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl or ramekin, microwave coconut milk for 20 seconds to warm it up.
2. Mix rest of the ingredients and dissolve.
3. Heat in microwave in 20 second intervals until mixture coats the back of a spoon. (Usually about a minute or three 20 second attempts - see photo below)
4. Cool and enjoy.

Verdict

It took me a while to figure out what to write, but I think this was worth sharing. I have been meaning to explore the snack cakes from Hawaii and the Philippines and this is a good start. It's easy to make.

I think the portion size for this recipe is perfect – Just enough to have a sweet finish to a tasty Hawaiian feast.

This recipe scales easily too. If you need it for two or three, just scale it appropriately.  Please do note, the original recipe was for 12 and used 1/4 tsp of salt.

I usually make this when I have leftover coconut milk (usually from making curry). I have not tried it using coconut milk from the carton yet. If you try it let me know how it turns out. It's fairly quick to make too, so it's great for a quick dessert.

The other thing is you can have fun with it since Haupia can be easily molded or cut. See what I did with a cookie cutter. Love it!

Aloha! A hui hoi.

Mad About Minis: Mini Chocolate Pudding

This dish was inspired by the Sea Salt Chocolate Budino from Pizza Antica. I tried this dessert last year, and it was excellent. I thought this was something I can easily make since I have been making a lot of mini desserts then. Well, maybe easy.

Unfortunately, I did not know what a budino was, this was my first budino. After a lot of research, I found that it was an Italian Chocolate Pudding. I found a lot of budino recipes: it is usually very rich using cream and whole milk. I wanted to scale it down and also making it a bit more healthy. However, Actually, even the pudding recipes were a bit difficult to scale down too. So, I have a dilemma.

Fortunately, after a long search, I found a home-alone chocolate pudding recipe hidden in the internet. It is in the community section of Cooking Light magazine. There are a bunch of recipes in there, but I choose the one from Cooking Light, primarily because I wanted to save my chocolate chips for cookies, and I wanted to use the Dutch Process Cocoa.

I also wanted to make a smaller version since 3/4 cup of milk seems to be a lot! Usually I just want something small and sweet to end the evening. So naturally, I halved the recipe.

Here’s what I have so far… I love the deep chocolate flavor on this dish. Let me know what you think.

Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Chocolate Pudding

Based on Cooking Light’s Home Alone Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

• 3 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp Dutch Process Cocoa
• 1.5 tsp corn starch
• 6 Tbsp low fat milk
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Microwave milk for 30 seconds.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Add warm milk and vanilla mixture.
4. Microwave at high for 30 seconds and stir well.
5. Microwave until thick, at most for another 30 seconds.
6. Add vanilla extract and stir.
7. Refrigerate until cold (at least about an hour)

Verdict

I love this recipe. To make it more decadent, I sometimes put it on top of crushed oreo cookies to make the double-dose chocolate effect.

I also have been known to double the recipe to share… or not. I'd just save the other portion for later..

I have also tried making this pudding using coconut milk. That gave it a tropical feel, especially if you add bananas or more coconut.

But then that would not be Italian…