Macapuno Soft Candy Balls

Hello, hello, hello! How are you? I hope everybody’s doing fine while I was away:). Yeah! you heard it right I was on a holiday for just a couple of weeks last June . I know it’s August now but the jet lag still lingering on me that I was too lazy to  write 😦  until my very dear friend Jhuls of  thenotsocreativecook invited me to write   a guest post for her blog and that motivated me to start blogging again 🙂 This is also my first time to write a guest post and I’m a truly honored to do that. Thank you Jhuls for your sweet invitation:)

Anyway, let me tell you first about my recent holiday.  It was just a quick vacation actually but I do enjoyed it spending time with my family and ate all the foods that I missed in the Philippines. 🙂 My dearest friends  have traveled for how many hours just to see me and that made me feel loved  so I’m taking this opportunity to say thank you to my lovely friends Rya & Julie. Your presence made my holiday extra special♥♥♥.

Yes! A strong friendship doesn’t need daily conversation; doesn’t always need togetherness. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends will never part and that’s how I feel towards Jhuls too . I’ve known her  since our primary years and became best of friends  but parted ways when we were in high school but the friendship we had will always be cherished and treasured by me.♥

And now let me share to you  this simple recipe I have found. The main ingredient is  coconut sport (known as MACAPUNO in the Philippines where it is primarily produced). I had this macapuno sitting on my pantry for a while. I normally add this to my cassava cake or ube cake but I don’t feel like baking  and   it’s nearly out of date so I need to use it before it will be futile. While searching for a recipe that will use macapuno Google brought  me here on “Nette Cooking.

Ingredients:
1 bottle of sweetened macapuno preserves
1 can of condensed milk
1/2 cup cornstarch (disolved in 1/2 cup of water)

                                           coconut fine flakes(desiccated coconut)

                                           colored cellophane

For the complete procedure please watch the video here on YouTube.  These candy balls are perfect for Christmas treats to your friends and family. Hope you will try it.

Enjoy! 🙂

Macapuno Espasol

Honestly, the first time I tried eating espasol I could say that I don’t like it. I don’t know, am I weird? as most of the Filipinos in the gathering really loves it and my husband is  a big fan of it too. I began to think  I’m really weird as I’ve read that espasol is one of the favorite kakanin of many Filipinos. Then I thought that maybe there’s something special in espasol that I need to discover. Then I searched for recipes and have read that adding  macapuno, pinipig, jack fruit or any flavorings  you want  really makes the espasol special and delicious.  I have a jar of macapuno so I tried adding it to the recipe and I am happy to tell you that I fell in love with the espasol (:. I can say that I am now a fan of espasol 🙂 It’s really delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups glutinous rice flour
• 1 14-oz. can coconut cream
• 1/4 cup sugar or less (depending on your taste preference)
• 1 cup macapuno
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt

Procedure:

1. In a pan, toast the glutinous rice flour over medium heat for about 25 minutes or until light brown. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, mix coconut cream and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

3. Add the macapuno, salt, and vanilla extract and bring to a gentle boil.

4. Gradually add 2 cups toasted glutinous rice flour  while stirring. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly,  for 30 minutes or until you get a soft dough-like consistency.

5. Remove from heat and let cool for a while.

6. You can divide it into balls and roll each ball into a mini log  and dredged it in the remaining toasted flour.