rosella dessert

What does one do when one is feeling a little heaty and would like a refreshing drink / dessert? Perhaps one may head for the nearest dessert stall and order a nice bowl of "cheng ting" or one could, of course, make one's own "cheng ting" at home.

How about something different, something involving the rosella flower? In my post on 5 September 2008, I talked about the rosella flower and the health benefits associated with it.

Shortly after I published my post about the rosella flower, my family and I were at the NTUC Supermarket along Killiney Road when I came across dried rosella flowers being sold in packets. I bought a packet at that time and it has been sitting in my larder doing nothing since then.

On 18 October 2008 (saturday), Da and I were lazing around at home in the afternoon. We had about 2 1/2 hours to relax before we would go out to attend FIL's birthday party. I was very tempted to bake a cake or some cookies. However, much to my regret, there was insufficient time. As such, I rummaged through our larder to look for something to cook / bake that would need less cooking / baking time. I saw the packet of rosella flower and a thought came to me.

I decided to make refreshing dessert using rosella flower and other dried ingredients.

Ingredients

1/2 bowl dried orange peel

1/2 bowl wolfberry seeds

1/2 bowl dried longan meat

1/2 bowl dried rosella flower

1 bowl red dates (pitted)

1 bowl rock sugar

Method

1. Fill a large pot with water.

2. Add all the ingredients and stir them thoroughly.

3. Bring the dessert to a boil.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

If you do not fancy eating the ingredients, you can drink the dessert on its own.

Tips

1. The bigger the wolfberry seeds, the sweeter they are.

2. Make sure that the red dates are pitted. If the pits are not removed, the dates will be a little bitter.

3. Adjust the amount of rock sugar to suit your tastebud.