Sweet Almond Cream (杏仁露)

Traditional Chinese desserts often come in liquid form.  In the ever so popular Phoenix Bakery (鳳城) in Southern California, dessert soups (甜湯) are a category of its own.  Here is our attempt to make a well-liked soupy dessert. Compared with the traditional method of: (1) making glutinous rice paste out of rice grains, and (2) adding the genuine almond taste from raw almonds, the method we use here is very simple (as derived from the making of Seaweed Almond Crisps previously), yet the results are authentic and delicious.

Ingredients

1. Glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)- 2/3 cup (see the green package on the right-hand side of the picture below for product package). Using regular Rice Flour (the left-hand-side package in the picture) works almost equally well (yielding slightly less-dense paste in Step 3 below).
   
2. Pure Almond Extract- 1/4 tsp.
3. Sugar, 1 Tbsp.

Method

1. Heat 1 cup of water in microwave for 45 seconds. Note- I use a 2-cup glass measuring cup, which is microwave safe and large enough for mixing water and glutinous rice flour.
2. Add 2/3 cup of glutinous rice flour (糯米粉) into the warm water, and stir (with a large spoon) till the rice flour is fully dissolved and there is no clump left in the mixture.  Add 1 Tbsp of sugar into the mixture, and stir.
3. Heat the mixture in the microwave again for another 45 seconds. By now, the rice flour mixture should have curdled into paste form. Stir (with a large spoon) till the paste is smooth and thick. If the mixture is too thick, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water gradually as you stir, to create heavy-cream-like texture, hence the name Almond Cream.
4. Add 1/4 tsp of pure almond extract into the paste. Stir and mix thoroughly.
5. Chill in the fridge and serve cold, or warm (by heating the serving size of ~3/4 cup in microwave for 15 seconds). Here is the outcome from our kitchen (using a 6-oz, i.e. 3/4 cup, glass custard cup).