Apple & Tangerine-Peel Poria Set Cake | A cool, wobbly square with crisp apple and rock sugar

Amber squares, glassy at the edges, with diced apple and goji suspended inside. You cut them clean off the block and eat them cool, straight from a fork.

This cake sets without gelatin. It starts on the stove, where fresh fruit and rock sugar do most of the work, and it firms up on the counter rather than in the fridge.

The sugar

The sweetness comes from Ship Brand rock sugar, small bright crystals that dissolve evenly into the fruit syrup. They keep the flavour clean and light, letting the apple and tangerine peel carry the cake rather than any heavy sugar note.

Ship Brand Rock Sugar (冰糖): small, bright crystals with a gentle, even sweetness. Shop it here.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Apple, peeled and diced small
• Goji berries, a small handful
• Ship Brand rock sugar, to taste
• Water, 600g
• Tangerine-peel poria cake pre-mix powder, 50g

The apple, goji, and rock sugar are added to taste. The two measured amounts, 600g water and 50g powder, are the ones that set the cake, so keep those steady.

Method

1. Peel the apple and dice it into small, even pieces so it releases its sweetness.
2. Put the apple, goji, and rock sugar in a pot with 600g water. Simmer over medium-low until the apple softens and the syrup smells of fruit.
3. Pour in 50g tangerine-peel poria cake powder, stirring the whole time so it dissolves without lumps.
4. Keep stirring and bring it back to a boil for another minute so everything mixes evenly.
5. Pour into a mould and tap out the air bubbles for a clean cut face.
6. Leave to cool and set at room temperature. No need to chill. Unmould and cut into pieces.

The pre-mix powder is what sets the cake, so there is no gelatin and no chilling. Cut the pieces small. Each one holds a cube of apple at its centre, a soft citrus perfume from the tangerine peel, and a gentle spring when you bite.

A quiet little dessert to slice and share on a warm afternoon.

Ship Brand (帆船牌) is the retail line of Yuen Tung Sugar Factory Industrial Company Limited. Sugar refined in Hong Kong since 1987. Shop the collection.