Almod Jelly aka Annin Doufu

Almond Jelly or Annin Doufu is a dessert popular in Japan. It's especially tasty and refreshing in the summer. The recipe shown here uses milk, water and almond essence to make an almond flavor. However, if you can find it, the recipe is also tasty if you replace the milk, water and almond essence with real almond milk. Almond milk and Agar agar may be difficult to find, but some natural food shops sell it. I also use canned fruits cocktail, but if you have the time to make a fresh fruits cocktail, that's even nicer, of course.

Ingredients:

• 100 ml of milk.
• 500 ml of water.
• almond essence to taste.
  
• +- 75g of crystal sugar, or less or more to taste.
  
• 2g of powdered agar-agar (kanten).
  
• one medium sized can of fruits cocktail.

Preparation:

1. Mix the milk and water in a sauce pan, put on a high fire.
2. Whilst stirring, add the sugar, almond essence and agar agar.
3. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring regularly, and boil it for at least 5 minutes.
4. Wash a mold with cold water, and then pour the mixture inside it.
5. Let the mixture cool down a bit in the mold. The mixture will stay liquid until it has cooled down completely, so don't worry if it seems like it's not setting soon.
   
6. Put the mold with the mixture in the fridge and leave it there overnight or until it has become solid.
7. When the mixture is solid, cut it with a sharp knife into small pieces.
8. Open the can of fruits cocktail, wash it, strain it in a sieve, and pour it over the almond jelly. Stir well.
9. Enjoy! :)

Serves 2 to 4 persons.

Remarks:

The binding strength of agar agar may differ according to brand and purity. Because of this, you may need more or less of it. You may want to refer to the instructions on the on the package. If the Almond Jelly doesn't set well, you can melt it again in a pan, and add more agar agar to it. If it is too tick, use less agar agar next time.