This recipe is from Dee Wang. Wang was born and educated in Shanghai and came to America with her husband after WW2. She is one of the first people to popularize Chinese cooking at home in a time when spaghetti was seen as strange and ethnic.
While the Chinese have never been big on sweets and even less so on dairy, Shanghai was like Hong Kong in that it had a mix of western and Chinese culture. One particular Shanghai dessert stands out. It's rich but very cool and refreshing on a hot summer evening.
Almond Float
1 package unflavored gelatin (though you can use 1/4 oz. of agar-agar as the Chinese do)
1/4 cup sugar
1.5 cups water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tbsp. almond extract
8oz. of Mandarin oranges in syrup
Mix gelatin, sugar, and water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add evaporated milk and almond extract. Pour into a shallow dish, cool, and refrigerate. Chill fruit at same time.
To serve, put the fruit and syrup into individual dessert bowls. Cut the gelatin into small pieces and float on top of the fruit. Cut any shape you like but it's traditional for the shapes to approximate the size and shape of the fruit.
Serves 4 to 6.
Back when this recipe was written traditional Chinese ingredients were extremely difficult to come by. This dish is traditionally made with Mandarin oranges and lychees together. Feel free to add any types of fruit you like though do be sure to buy some additional fruit to make a syrup to accompany them. I like to sprinkle chopped almonds on the top and add just a little bit of lemon juice to taste to lend a piquant contrast to the sweet fruits.
