Recipes for Authentic Chinese Desserts

Chinese desserts tend to be on the light and subtle side. You won't find any heavy chocolate cakes or banana splits among authentic Chinese dessert recipes. However, these sweet Chinese recipes have an air of sophistication about them, and they can be just as satisfying as their modern counterparts.

Almond Cookie Recipe
Ingredients You Will Need:
2 cups rice flour
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
¼ cup almond oil
¾ cup chopped, toasted almond slivers
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Stir together flour, sugar, oil, and almonds in a medium mixing bowl. Add eggs, and mix well. Roll dough out about ¼-inch thick on waxed paper. Cut into small squares, or use cookie cutters to make shapes. Place cookies on a nonstick cookie sheet. Place cookies in oven, and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden and hard. Remove cookies from oven, and let cool.

Tang Yuan Recipe (Rice Balls with Syrup)
Ingredients You Will Need:
1 cup glutinous rice flour
�" cup water, divided
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated ginger

Mix flour and �" cup water in a medium bowl until a dough-like consistency is reached. Roll the dough into balls about one inch wide. Bring a large saucepan full of water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Drop balls into boiling water, and cook until they all float, about six to eight minutes. Scoop balls from hot water, and drop into a pot of cold water. Scoop the balls from the cold water, and place in bowl. Set aside.

Bring remaining �" cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour sugar and ginger into the boiling water, and mix well. Reduce heat to medium low, and let simmer for one minute, stirring frequently. Remove syrup from heat, and pour over rice balls. Scoop into a small bowl, and serve.

Sweet Orange Tea Recipe
Ingredients You Will Need:
4 large oranges
3 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
�" cup packed brown sugar
3 cups water

Peel and break the oranges into segments. Carefully remove any seeds. Place the orange segments in a bowl, and chop into a fine pulp. Do not juice the oranges because you need both the juice and the pulp. Set oranges aside.

Stir together flour, sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Pour bowl of orange juice and pulp into the boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cover with lid. Let mixture simmer for 90 seconds. Remove lid from pan, and let mixture cook for 30 more seconds, stirring constantly.

Remove saucepan from heat, pour mixture into cups and serve.