Macrobiotic Dessert

Ingredients

• 4 cups apple juice
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• 1 cup dark raisins, washed
• 2 tsp agar powder
• 1 cup cashew nuts
• 1 tbsp brown rice syrup

Instructions

1. Bring apple juice, apple, raisins and agar to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Pour into individual bowls and let cool. The agar will gel as it cools.
3. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil and add the cashews. Cook for 10 minutes until they are soft.
4. Strain cashews and put in a blender with a little of the cooking water.
5. Add rice syrup and blend into a creamy paste.
6. Add cream to the top of the apple kanten and garnish with some black sesame or roasted cashews.

Notes

• Agar agar is the Malaysian word for jelly and is a natural and vegetarian substitute for gelatin (Kanten is the Japanese word for it). Wikihow has more details if you are curious.
• It's generally easier to find agar powder than raw agar (which looks like a a long stringy white seaweed). If you get the seaweed form you need to use a lot more of it, in this recipe use about a cup (a decent hand sized chunk of strips).
• Brown rice syrup can be hard to find, honey makes a good (though less Macrobiotic) substitute.