Matcha Bubble Tea!

Back in May, I lost my bubble tea virginity at Bubbleology in Harvey Nic's, Knightsbridge.  I have since then wanted to recreate that quirky drink at home. In case you were wondering, Bubble/Boba tea is a South-East Asian food trend that is now the rage in London too. A fortuitous visit to a Chinese shop in Cambridge helped me acquire a whole bag of tapioca perals for very little. All I had to do was now mix it to my daily morning matcha routine. Here is how you make one yourself.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Tapioca pearls 
2 teaspoons matcha
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp milk

Boba/Bubbles:
Cook the tapioca pearls for about 5 minutes in boiling water till they are soft and have a glazed surface. Set aside.

Match:
Whisk the matcha, honey and milk together into a smooth paste and add boiling water.

Now add the tapioca pearls to the matcha, dividing it equally between two glasses. Serve!

You can make all sorts of tea with boba/tapioca pearls. Another favourite of mine is the taro version. You also serve bubble tea cold. Its lots of fun and the chewy 'bubbles' add another interesting dimension to most drinks.

Will you give it bubble tea a go too? Ann x

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Hot Spiced Cider

This is another favourite winter drink. Nice and easy and very warming and a little less potent than mulled wine.

Ingredients:

1 litre dry cider

50-100g caster sugar

2 Cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg powder or a whole nutmeg

4-6 cloves

Half an orange with peel.

Method:

In a saucepan, heat the cider and add all ingredients. Simmer for about 5-10 mins and leave it to soak in the spices. Serve hot.

The traditional recipes include rum and orange peel (rather than whole orange) but I like the extra fruitiness the whole orange brings and like to limit the alcohol content.

Mulled Wine!

Its getting closer to Christmas and neighboring counties have already had their first share of snow. We don't really need an excuse to make mulled wine but the frosty weather made a good case. I love making and drinking mulled wine and the recipe is simple. Add a bottle of any half-decent red wine in a saucepan, add 2 quarters of an orange, stir in about 100g caster sugar, a couple of star anise, a bit of allspice, a pinch of nutmeg, a stick of cinnamon,  a couple of cloves and get it simmer for a while. Do a quick taste check and serve when you're satisfied with the end result.