Strawberry Kanten

Best kids dessert and the biggest win (for my picky eater)

We have two very different eaters in our house. Theo, our youngest wants to devour absolutely everything in the fridge and pantry and will run over to his highchair as soon as he sees food has been served. Then, once he’s finished everything, he’ll reach over to mine and start eating off my plate. Since we make every meal from scratch this is very satisfying. Theo’s relationship with food is nothing like Ezra, who as a toddler never liked squash or any of the usual toddler hits and would rather hurl his plate than eat from it. Ezra declared years ago that he only wants to eat sweet things and as I may have mentioned, it is a constant challenge to prepare meals for him and sometimes even healthy sweet things too. For most of his young life he hasn’t eaten refined sweeteners, however, nowadays he is prone to turn down one of my muffins if it’s not chocolate or sweet enough for him. So you can imagine my delight when he gobbled up this fruit kanten (Japanese fruit Jelly) last night. Why hadn’t I thought to make him kanten before?! I made it weekly when I worked at Angelica Kitchen and constantly experimented with different flavors —two of my favorites made it into my first book. It’s thanks to his class mate for bringing a yellow pineapple Jello to school—he told me he really wanted to try it and was genuinely shocked when I said I could make him some ; ) I’m thrilled because it’s a great weeknight dessert—I don’t have to worry about the sweetness or cacao content keeping him up late and unlike dried fruit it won’t get stuck in his teeth (cavities)!

The recipe I’m sharing today uses frozen strawberries as we won’t be seeing any local berries or fruit around these parts for almost 3 months. Now that I know it’s a hit, I’ll try some other flavors—orange and then maybe pear.

In this month’s livestream (for paid subscribers) I will be showing how to adjust the recipe to suit your needs, tastes and season and how to elevate it for a more adult dessert too. Join me live in my kitchen Sunday March 30^th @10:30am EST

Looking forward to connecting with you then and if you can’t make it the recording will be sent out the same day.

Happy Spring!

Amy

Notes:

For those who may not know, kanten is a jelled fruit dessert made from agar agar seaweed. Agar is virtually flavorless and like all seaweeds is high in iron and calcium.

These days it can be hard to find agar flakes in health food stores; so, here I’m using what they stock at my local food co-op—agar powder. Its often found in the bulk spice section from Frontier. (This link is for a pound which is a lot!

I don’t buy juice often and was surprised to see that there are hardly any brands that are 100% juice. Instead of blending apple juice with fruit you could use all juice but be sure it’s just the fruit.

When experimenting with different fruits testing how the mix gels is critical as the different levels of acidity found in different fruits will affect the texture. I’ll explain more in the livestream. To test before setting—remove a tablespoon and place it on a plate in the coldest part of your fridge for 5 minutes. Once it’s cold see if it’s a good consistency for you. If it’s too firm add a little more juice if it’s not setting enough you can dissolve more agar in ½ cup of juice.

The general rule for interchanging agar powder and agar flakes is the powder is 3 to 4 times stronger than the flakes. So 3 to 4 teaspoons flakes to 1 teaspoon of powder. Its not exact because its a natural product and it’s strength does vary (I have lots of info in my first book about using agar). Kanten is perhaps the most forgiving way you can use agar because a little soft is ok and its it too hard you just add more juice.

Strawberry Kanten

Makes about 3 cups

1 10 oz|285 g package frozen strawberries, defrosted

1 ¾ cup apple juice, divided

Honey or maple to sweeten. (I used 2 to 3 teaspoons honey)

2 teaspoons agar powder or 10 teaspoons agar flakes

Place strawberries and ¾ cup apple juice in an upright blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer, you should have just over 2 cups. Set aside.

Add the remaining cup of juice and agar powder to a small pot and bring up to a simmer over high heat, whisking frequently. Cover pot and reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. If you’re using agar flakes, you’ll need to simmer for about 10 minute or until you can’t see the flakes anymore.

Remove from heat and whisk in the strained strawberry juice. Pour into small glasses or cups or into a jar. Place in the fridge until completely cold and set. Serve cold.