This rice pudding-cake is made from black sticky rice, it is a variation of the traditional black rice pudding, and gives me an excuse to layer young coconut in, one of my favorite dessert ingredients.

Ingredients
100 gms Black Sticky Rice
70 gms Sugar
220 ml Coconut Milk
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Young Coconut Meat

Preparation
1. Soak the black sticky rice in water overnight.
2. Steam for 25 minutes, I place foil in a Chinese steamer, pierce some holes in it, then place the rice on top.
3. In a saucepan, place the coconut milk, sugar, and salt and steamed rice.
4. Heat and stir over a low heat until the liquid has dried off and the rice is very thick.
5. Place in a box in the fridge to set, I use a small non stick loaf tin.
6. The rice will form a solid loaf, you can then slice it, and layer it with young coconut

The taro gives a soft bread like texture, the coconut cream a smooth creaminess and the berris give a contrast tartness. I used red berries for this, but sour strawberries or raspberries would also work well.

Ingredients
500 gms Taro Root
140 gms Tapioca or Cassava Starch Flour
60 ml Hot Water
250 ml Coconut Milk
175 gms Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
Young Coconut Meat (Available in cans)
Bitua Leaves
Sour Berries for Garnish (Optional)

Preparation
1. Peel the taro root, cut into half, steam until it is cooked through and leave it to cool. Mash it.
2. Take half the flour, add to the mashed taro, add the hot water and mix. Add the remaining flour and mix well to form a smooth paste.
3. Cover the bowl the paste is in with a damp towel to stop a skin forming.
4. Into a blender, blend the Bitua leaves with 2 tablespoons of water to form bitua juice, sieve the leaves out leaving just the juice and add that to the taro dough. If the dough is too wet, add more flour.
5. Roll out the taro and cut into square (if you prefer you can pinch off pieces and roll them to form balls).
6. Into a saucepan, place coconut milk and bring to the boil, add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Adjust the seasoning of this sauce to your tastes, it should be a little salty and slightly sweeter than you like.
7. Cook the tarot squares in boiling water for 3 minutes, remove and cool in cold water.
8. Serve the taro, berries and warm sauce immediately

Soft, slightly sweet with a slight nutty flavour from the sesame seeds. That’s how I would describe this dessert. The dark yellow pieces in the picture are pieces of jack fruit.

Ingredients

• 30 gms Jack Fruit
• 120 gms Rice Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Cassava Starch
• 2 Tablespoons ( Pang Turw Yai Murm )or Corn Flour
• 150 gms Sugar
• 250 ml Coconut Milk
• 250 ml Evaporated Milk
• 250 ml Limestone Water (optional)
• Sesame Seeds
• 1-2 Drops Jasmin Flavour (optional)

Perparation
1. Mix the cassava starch, corn flour and rice flour together, then add the sugar.
2. Mix in the coconut milk, evaporated milk, limestone water, and jasmin flavour.
3. Heat in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring continuously until the mixture becomes thick and sticky, then lower the heat and continue cooking for 1 minute to cook it through, then take off the heat.
4. Chop the jack fruit into small pieces, mix into the flour mixture.
5. Empty the mixture into a try, (a small lasagne tray works well), sprinkly the sesame seeds over the top, then leave to cool.
6. When its cold and set, remove from the tray and cut into squares

This is the Thai version of rice pudding made with black sticky rice and coconut milk. I like to serve it, as in the photograph above, by pressing the rice into a decorative mould and pouring the coconut milk over the top. But you can also just spoon it into a bowl and pour the coconut over it.

Ingredients
150 gms Black Sticky Rice
250 ml Water
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Corn Flour or Cassava Starch
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
100 ml Coconut Milk

Preparation
1. Soak the sticky rice in water overnight.
2. Drain and rince twice.
3. Steam for 15 minutes in a Thai rice steamer.
4. Place into a saucepan with the water, and boil for 12-15 minutes until the rice is soft.
5. Stir in the sugar and salt, mix the corn flour with a little water and stir that in to thicken the rice.
6. Continue heating and stirring the rice until it is thick, then spoon it into the moulds, or simply spoon into bowls.
7. Turn the moulds out onto plates.
8. Warm the coconut milk through and pour a little over the rice

I have two puddings for you today, this is yellow soya in a sticky sauce. Normally served with coconut milk, but for extra richness you can do what I’ve done for the photograph and add a spoonful of coconut cream (the rich top layer of the coconut milk) instead.

Ingredients 
50 gms Green Soya Beans (Or Yellow if you can get them)
200 gms Sugar
300 gms Water
1 Tablespoon Cassava Starch
100 ml Coconut Milk

Preparation
1. Soak the green soya beans in warm water overnight and remove the skins.
2. Steam the yellow soya for 45 minutes.
3. Put 300 ml water into a saucepan, add the sugar and boil.
4. Mix the cassava starch with 3 tablespoons water, and stir into the sugar water to thicken it.
5. Add the yellow soya and stir it in.
6. Serve warm with a tablespoon of coconut milk poured over it

We eat a lot of vegetables in desserts in Thailand, including potato. The starch in potato tastes sweet when eaten, enzymes in your mouth break the starch into sugars, so it’s not such an unusual thing to have for a dessert.

Ingredients  for 2 People
2 Potatoes
150 ml Water
150 gms Sugar
100 ml Coconut Milk
1/4 Salt

Preparation
1. Peeling the potatoes and chop into bite sized cubes.
2. Steam for 10 minutes until fully cooked.
3. Boil the water with the sugar, until dissolved and leave to cool.
4. Boil the coconut milk with the salt for the salt to dissolve and the coconut milk to get hot.
5. Serve the potatoes in a bowl, with the hot coconut milk poured over them, and pour over enough syrup to make it as sweet as you like.