Rick called Nav this morning saying he made it to my blog. I am flattered by the fact that he is actually reading my blog! How can I not to blog the wonderful Indian tea Rick and Satnam taught me how to make. Thanks for your visit, Rick and Satnam. It’s very nice meeting you both. I am the lucky one who gets to try the delicious Indian tea. Please come visit again. Next time, I will make some spicy Taiwanese dishes for you both.

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

I must confess that I am not a creative person. This month’s daring kitchen really is a challenge for me as I need to create edible containers to put the maple moose in. So that’s what I did – I crushed Ritz cookies and mixed in one egg and then bake for 10 minutes. Voila! That’s my edible container for the month. I know, they are nothing fancy but certainly can do the trick.

Creme caramel or flan is the dessert I grew up with. In Taiwan, we called it pudding. It’s every Taiwanese kids’ favorite dessert. There are so many ways of eating pudding. Other than eating it as is, we also like to mix it with milk tea, eat it with tapioca or put a stick in it and freeze it as an ice pop. I am not a big fan of super creamy flan so I am pleased with this milk only (no heavy cream or condensed milk) recipe.

Red bean soup is one of the most popular dessert soup in Taiwan, Japan and Korea. The color red means good and happiness in taiwanese tradition. Therefore, this is one of the soups that we usually drink during the chinese new year. Taiwan is known for having good quality of red beans. As a taiwanese, I feel obligated to put this dessert soup on my blog, just so people around the world can understand taiwan a little more. And maybe, they will get to try this delicious dessert soup at their homes too!

My mom called me the other day saying she made this wonderful apple jam that everyone loves. She chopped the apples into small pieces and cook them in the caramel sauce. The caramel sauce gave this apple jam a shinny amber color and lovely caramel flavor. I was just wondering how to use up the excess apples in my kitchen. This recipe came in just in time. You can add this jam to your homemade yogurt, spread on your bread or scone, or even add a little to your black tea, adding some fruity flavor to the tea. This jam can be stored in the fridge for about two weeks.