Sweet Potato Jelly (agar)

I tagged this recipe for the Chef ABC game - it's a good way to make sure that I try recipes I've been wanting to. I tried to make half the recipe but had trouble with the agar, because I had to use stick agar at the last moment. My calculations were off, I think, so what I got is too soft. It also separated into layers. I intend to try this again sometime this summer, and will rewrite this review. Sorry for such sloppy cooking! No star rating now.

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I have had this recipe in my cookbook foreeeeever, because it just sounds like such an unusual and tasty dessert... well, my intuition was right and its exactly that! I made a half recipe, but this still made a fairly large quanity- I just used a 9" glass deep dish pie plate to set this in, and the jelly is about 1/2"-3/4" thick. I cut out small rounds with a metal cookie cutter, and they cut very well- this is fairly solid stuff. Now, don't expect Jello if you make this! It does have a nice dense texture and a sort of starchy mouth-feel from the sweet potaoes but still creamy due to the coconut. It's not overly sweet, just mild and refreshing- I think the flavors in these would be divine with a Thai ice tea! This is my first time using agar and i'm very happy with the results. I didn't have screwpine leaves or extract, so I just used 1/2 tsp vanilla (foodsubs.com says the flavors are sort of similar). I wasn't really sure about step 4- my agar dissolved just fine without boiling. I wasn't sure if I needed to cook it really or not, so I got it hot, added the sweet potato mixture and just brought it to a simmer and poured into my pie pan. You didn't say whether or not to peel the sweet potato, so I decided not to and pureed the heck out of it. I didn't find that I needed to strain this, as step 3 directs, my food processor did just fine pureeing the sweet potatos, skins and all. This is a lovely pale Creamsicle orange. I drizzled the top of mine with some coconut milk, and it looks very pretty. I ran a fork through the drizzles as you would to get a swirly effect with adding a glaze to cake icing (If you know what I mean?) so they're really lovely- looks great in the cut-outs too. All in all, really excellent. Great dessert for a heavy meal, I'm sure and a great snack too. Neat, fun recipe with very tasty results! Thanks, Watermelon, for another winner!!

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