Premium D24 Durian Ice Cream 極上D24榴槤雪糕

Whoa!

Did I make my own ice cream again?

哩個唔係自制雪糕...

Heheheh. Don't count on it.

Before I get an ice cream maker, I don't think so. The idea of "churning" ice cream mixture with a hand mixer every 50 minutes...it is not very appealing ^_^
冇雪糕機之前真係唔會再整雪糕...因為真係太多功夫...

My friend Ieie brought this Premium D24 Durian Ice Cream last weekend.
我老友Ieie買黎既極上D24榴槤雪糕

The fragrance (ahem!) sent my helper hiding in her room (She is one of those people who think that durian smells like shit. Opps. She needs some durian training), but for us, it is just not durianey enough. It's sweet and creamy, but not as good as a section of ripe, rich and fragrant durian flesh.

個榴槤飄香攪到工人姐姐要返房, 冇辦法, 佢覺得榴槤好似屎咁臭, 我地都幫佢唔到..但對我地黎講就係極品啦!!! 但係同真榴槤都仲未有得比..

We are just like durian lovers everywhere. We prefer the real deal to any durian products any day.

Don't you?
大家都鐘意食榴槤嗎? XD

Baked Durian in Whole Wheat Filo Pastry

Durian season is still here...and whenever I went grocery shopping, I see ripe, soft, golden yellow, super fragrant durian packages screaming out my name.

If it's up to me, I'd buy a pack every single time.
But my ever so helpful SC would remind me that durian = sugar = fattening ^_^'...thus should be avoided whenever possible.

Amazingly, yesterday he suggested me to buy a HK$20 pack of gorgeous durian...after I said that I'd use the whole wheat filo pastry sheets I got last week (on sale, HK$60 reduced to HK$5!!! Three-sixty Landmark, Central) to bake some durian dessert. Honestly, I had no idea how to use filo pastry...let alone bake an elaborate dessert with it...but I'd say whatever I needed to say to score me a pack of heaven ;)

So, how did I do it finally?

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Lightly grease a baking dish, lay a couple layers of filo pastry sheets, brushing in between with peanut oil (you can use butter if you want more oomph), tuck them in as you would do pastry base for a pie. Then simply add durian flesh to fill the pastry "bowl" and top it with a thin layer of caster sugar to get the "bruleed" effect. Don't forget to brush the top layer of filo pastry with some oil/butter to make it gloriously golden.

Bake for about 25 minutes in the middle rack, and move it to the top rack, bake for a few more minutes until you get the bruleed effect. You can blow torch the top if you want, but gas-and-flame combo scares me :D

Easy peasy, eh?
...and what will you get?

Sweet, creamy, fragrant, soft and rich durian flesh with crispy pastry skin.

Yums!!!

Durian is one of those things that taste fantastic hot or cold.
I understand that some of you find durian disgusting, you can replace durian with bananas, chocolates, peaches, etc etc etc. The sky is your ocean (or something ^_^)

Now if you'd excuse me...I am still burping durian now (a good 22 hours later).
Clearly, it is not an ideal date dessert, especially if your date hates durian ;)

PS. SC reminded me to post a picture of whole wheat filo pastry sheets that I used ^_^ so there you go.

Lucky Dessert: Durians - Love, Hate & Everything in Between

You're either a durian person or you aren't.

...or I just haven't met anyone who's in between.

...or you love durians only when they're frozen and pretty much lost all of its stinks/fragrance. Let's face it, those can no longer be regarded as durians.

...or maybe you used to love durians so much, you overate and got super sick of it and now you are a major durian hater.

...or nothing in this world is black and white.
There are greys and shocking pinks everywhere...there are always exceptions.

In my case, I'd consider myself a major durian lover. I think they are fragrant, sweet, creamy, yummy, velvety, and they come in my favorite color...from the prettiest pale to the richest and most intense....glorious yellow.

I love my durians as they are, nothing else necessary, don't turn them into sorbet, ice cream, candies, or god forbid...sushi. Please, just DON'T.

But...(in life, we always need a but) I love how Lucky Dessert dealt with durians. They serve my favorite durian desserts ever!


Durian Baked Puff Rolls (HK$37 ~ US$4.8).
Durian goodness wrapped in flaky, butter puff pastry, dusted with sugar? Oh yes! A million times YES!

...and these Top Grade Durian in Sticky Rice Rolls (HK$38 ~ US$4.8)...
Sweet and creamy goodness in chewy sticky rice wrap...dusted with steamed coconut flakes....simply toe-curling!

What a sinful bite.

There's only one thing. They garnished everything with a strawberry, and not a good one. Even a good strawberry may pale in comparison to Durian's pungent flavor and fragrance.....the strawberry had no business being there, hmm....apart to look pretty.

If you're a durian person, who happened to be in town, and would like to try these durian goodnesses...

Get ready to queue for a seat.

Lucky Dessert
G/F 27 Soy Street, Mongkok
Tel: +852 2332 8919

or go to their less known branch...

Shop 10, G/F, Grand Tower
369 Nathan Road, Mongkok
Tel: +852 2396 6928

If you aren't a durian person or everything else in between, no worries.
They also serve non durian desserts.

Durian Steamed Cake

I love durian. To me it is indeed the king of all fruits, while most people think that it is #1 public enemy (yes, carrying durian in public transport and places is normally forbidden).

But I kinda love that so many people around me absolutely HATE durian.
It means, there are always more durian for me, and when the durian lovers united, we can always think of mean pranks to trap those who can't stand it (oppps), such as:
- Made my friend's fiance do push ups with a huge plate of (fragrant to me, stinky to him) durian flesh underneath, right in front of his face. He almost ran to the bin throwing up
- Smeared durian flesh all over a collague's desk (who is the biggest durian hater in the world), it was hard for the durian lovers...trying not to lick it off and all
- On recent Hong Kong TV program, the host trapped the co-host (Amanda S, the model) to try a "special" fried rice...special = DURIAN. She went all "bleghhh" on TV for durian lovers' amusement.

I love durian for its soft and creamy texture, rich and fragrant scent, sweet, sometimes even bitter, almost alcoholic taste. I normally love durian as it gloriously is. No tampering, no turning it into ice cream, cakes, candies, fried rice (this one is truly perverted) etc. I probably hate durian products as much as durian haters hate durians. LOL

However, after roaming around blog-hopping and seeing gorgeous durian products, I am willing to open my tiny little narrow mind and explore. So, inspired by Ching's Steamed Banana Muffins and Jaden's Durian Frozen Yogurt...and thanks to sous chef's mom for the durian....and sous chef for the discouragements, and the Beijing Olympics for the entertainment...and the academy, and my fans...this is dedicated to all durian lovers and haters out there...here's my...

Durian Steamed Cake
...which was done while China's men's basketball team was putting up a great fight, despite losing miserably to USA, and I learnt that Yao Ming just would NOT follow my shouts of helpful advice (smart man), and whisking while you were watching the game intensely will cause batter splattering all over your favorite pillow covers. Sob sob sob

Ehm, back to the cake

Recipe
- 1 cup durian flesh (remove seeds)
- 1 cup self raising flour
- 5 tbsp caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 egg, beaten

Mix flour, sugar and salt, create a well in the middle. Mix egg, coconut milk and peanut oil, pour into flour mix and mix. Add durian flesh and mix well. Pour batter into greased small cups (or you can use paper lining), steam for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The cake mellowed the durian taste down and they are moist, soft and fluffy in pretty, palest yellow shade. Let's see if these will convert my durian hater friends to extreme durian haters. LOL

Now will you excuse me, I have some more pointless shouting to the TV to do *grin*