Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Enjoy mandarins in a creamy parfait

Instant tapioca provides a base for a light dessert

Mandarin tapioca parfaits can be tailored to individual tastes. These all include mandarins, but for accent use, clockwise from bottom, pomegranate arils, shredded coconut, toasted almond slices, and a combination of coconut and almonds.

Mandarin tapioca parfaits can be tailored to individual tastes. These all include mandarins, but for accent use, clockwise from bottom, pomegranate arils, shredded coconut, toasted almond slices, and a combination of coconut and almonds.

Photos by Kathy Morrison

6 mandarin oranges in a blue bowl, with a pomegranate and another mandarin alongside
Mandarins make a wonderful snack on their own.

Mandarins are my favorite citrus fruit, and the Satsumas are the best of those, I think: easy to peel, just tart enough and the right size for a snack.

This is the weekend for the Mountain Mandarin Festival, so I thought I'd come up with a recipe that featured the fruit's refreshing flavor and offers a contrast to the pumpkin-spice-cranberry-apple overload coming later in the week.

This recipe took some tweaking, since the first version I tried came out nice but plain -- good for kids but not sophisticated enough for adult palates. 

I started with a recipe from the Los Angeles Times, first choosing to reduce it from 6 servings to 4. Then I discovered that the bottle in the refrigerator that I thought was whole milk actually was heavy cream, which is too heavy on its own for a pudding. But I remembered I had a can of coconut milk, the kind with the layer of solids, so decided to use that, adding a little of the cream to get it to the needed 2 cups.

Otherwise I followed the recipe, but the end product needed some oomph, my husband (the resident taster) and I agreed.

The recipe here is what resulted when I played around with the liquid and the flavoring. The coconut milk is still a good choice for the liquid, but I prefer the version with half and half. The revision also tastes more like mandarin oranges, which after all was the goal.

Mandarin parfaits with tapioca

Serves 4

Ingredients:

White bowl interior, multi-colored whisk and yellowish tapioca
Instant tapioca is the base for the parfaits.

6 mandarin oranges, such as Satsumas, about 1 pound

2 tablespoons instant tapioca granules

2 cups half and half or whole milk or one 13-1/2-ounce can coconut milk plus milk or non-dairy milk to measure 2 cups

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2  teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons minced candied ginger, divided

Choice of accent for parfaits:

1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted, or

1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened, or

1/2 cup pomegranate arils

Parfaits in progress, with a green cutting board nearby
Layer the tapioca, then mandarins, then accent.

Instructions:

Peel 4 of the mandarins and split into sections, removing as much of pith and strings as desired. Then cut the sections in half and place in a small bowl. Cut the other 2 mandarins in half without peeling, and juice them. Pour the juice over the section halves in the bowl, and stir in half the candied ginger. Set the bowl aside.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the tapioca, whatever milk you're using, the egg, sugar, salt and the extracts. Bring the mixture to a rolling bowl, stirring frequently, then remove it from the heat.

Pour the hot tapioca into a glass or ceramic bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

When ready to put together the parfaits, pour 2 tablespoons of the mandarin juice from the macerating oranges into the bowl of tapioca. Whisk the juice and the remaining ginger into the tapioca just until combined.

Set out 4 bowls or half-pint Mason jars that will hold the parfaits. Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of tapioca into the bottom of each of the jars. (It doesn't have to be exact.) Using a slotted spoon, place 4 or 5 mandarin section halves on top of the tapioca, then sprinkle on some of your chosen accent. (They also can be combined; the coconut and almonds go well together.)

Two parfait jars on a green placemat, with spoons and a mandarin orange nearby
Taller half-pint jars show off the layers.

Repeat twice more so that there are 3 layers of tapioca, mandarins and accent, ending with the accent.

Chill an hour before serving. If serving time is later and you're using the Mason jars, try putting lids on the jars for better storage.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Thanks to our sponsor!

Be Water Smart

Local News

Ad for California Local

Dig In: Garden Checklist

For week of June 4:

Because of the comfortable weather, it’s not too late to set out tomato and pepper seedlings as well as squash and melon plants. They’ll appreciate this not-too-hot weather. Just remember to water.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, melons, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.

* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.

* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

Contact Us

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event.  sacdigsgardening@gmail.com