Homemade Brown Sugar Boba Food

HOMEMADE BROWN SUGAR BUBBLE TEA

Steps:

• Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add tapioca pearls and stir gently until they begin floating to the top of the water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until softened and dark, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea leaves. Let steep for 15 minutes. Strain out tea leaves and refrigerate the tea.
• Drain pearls. Bring 1/4 cup of water to a boil in the empty saucepan. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Immerse the pearls in the syrup and let sit until room temperature, about 15 minutes.
• Divide the pearls and desired amount of syrup between 2 tall glasses. Pour in tea. Add ice, milk, and sweetened condensed milk to both glasses. Stir before drinking.

BROWN SUGAR BOBA ICE CREAM POPS

Steps:

• For the boba mixture: Stir together the 3/4 cup rice flour and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar in a medium heatproof bowl. Add the boiling water and stir until fully combined and no streaks of flour remain. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, reserving the bowl, and knead until spongy and pliable, about 2 minutes. It should resemble soft clay.
• Place the remaining 2 tablespoons rice flour in the same bowl. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll into a rope about 1/4-inch thick, then cut the rope into 1/4-inch-wide segments. Roll each segment into a ball, then place in the bowl. Gently toss all the balls from that piece of dough with the flour to prevent sticking and clumping. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.
• Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium heat. Using a slotted spoon, sift the excess rice flour from the balls, then place them in the boiling water. Stir gently at first to prevent clumping and then allow the balls to cook until they all float, about 3 minutes. Drain the boba balls, reserving the saucepan.
• Transfer the boba back to the saucepan and add the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the molasses and 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the brown sugar and molasses become thick and syrupy, 8 to 10 minutes. (The mixture should be slightly thicker than maple syrup.) Transfer the boba mixture to a medium bowl and refrigerate until completely cooled, about 1 hour.
• For the ice cream pops: When the boba mixture is ready, make the ice cream base. Stir together the condensed milk and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Whip the heavy cream in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the whipped cream into the salted condensed milk until combined, then fold this mixture into the remaining whipped cream until fully incorporated.
• Fill each ice pop mold with 2 tablespoons of the ice cream base, followed by 2 teaspoons of the boba mixture (see Cook's Note). Fill the remaining space in the molds with more ice cream base, then drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of the boba syrup on top. Using a small spoon or small offset spatula, run it through the ice cream to create swirls of boba and syrup. Insert the ice pop sticks, then gently tap the molds on the work surface to release any air bubbles. Carefully transfer the molds to the freezer and freeze for at least 8 hours or, ideally, overnight.

BROWN SUGAR BOBA MILK TEA

Steps:

• For the syrup: Stir the brown sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture is the consistency of a loose maple syrup, about 8 minutes. Add the syrup to a heat-safe jar to cool while cooking the boba.
• Place the boba in a fine sieve and shake off any excess cornstarch.
• Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the boba, stirring to prevent them from sticking together, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the boba float to the top and darken in color with translucent edges, about 4 minutes if the boba are fresh and about 7 minutes if they are frozen. Drain the boba and rinse with cold water (they will be chewy but will firm up as they cool).
• Add the boba to the brown sugar syrup and let sit until the syrup is at room temperature, about 20 minutes.
• For the tea: Divide the boba among 4 glasses using a slotted spoon and add 1 tablespoon of the syrup to each glass, letting the syrup streak and coat the inside of the glass. Divide the tea and milk evenly among the glasses and serve.
• Whisk 1/3 cup water with 1 cup of the tapioca starch in a small bowl. The slurry may look separated but will come together in the next step.
• Add the brown sugar and 2/3 cup water to a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium high and whisk in the tapioca slurry until the mixture begins to just tighten and the water fully incorporates, about 30 seconds.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup tapioca starch using a heatproof spatula until it forms a ball of shaggy dough, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Dust a work surface with tapioca flour. Gather the dough together from the saucepan, transfer it to the surface and let cool, 3 to 4 minutes. Knead the dough until it is smooth, springy to the touch and no longer sticky, adding tapioca starch as needed, about 7 minutes. If the dough feels too dry, wet your hands and knead in water from your hands.
• Divide the dough into 6 pieces and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch with a rolling pin. Use a 1/2-inch-wide bubble tea straw with the tip dusted in tapioca starch to cut pieces from the dough, making sure to dust the straw occasionally to prevent sticking. Gather the dough scraps into a ball and repeat the process. Discard any leftover dough after this step as it will be too dry to use again. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough.
• Lightly dust a baking sheet with tapioca starch. Roll the boba pieces into pea-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough feels too dry or is cracking, dampen your fingers with a little water and knead it. Use immediately or freeze the boba in a single layer until hard, about 2 hours. Transfer to a resealable freezer bag and freeze until ready to use.

HOW TO MAKE BUBBLE TEA

Steps:

• Put the teabags or tea leaves in 100ml boiling water and leave to brew for 10-15 mins. Discard the teabags or tea leaves, then set the tea aside to cool to room temperature.
• Bring 500ml water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan set over a medium heat, then add the tapioca balls. Using a rubber spatula, stir the water and make sure the balls, or boba, are not sticking to the side of the pan. Turn the heat up to reach a rolling boil for 2 mins, then turn off the heat, but keep the pan on the stove with a lid on for another 2 mins. Drain the boba in a sieve under gentle running tap water for about 20 seconds to slow down the cooking. Using the same spatula, gently push the boba around in the mesh to make sure they don't stick and are cooling down evenly. Once they're cool to the touch, set in a mixing bowl, add the 1 tsp dark brown sugar and mix in thoroughly.
• To make the sugar syrup, add the 50g dark sugar to 60ml water in the same pan set over a medium heat. Slowly stir and let it come to a boil, making sure all the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat and leave to cool down. It will thicken as it cools. This will make approx. 80ml syrup, about 2½ servings. Any leftover syrup will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to a month. A dd the cooked boba and mix until thoroughly coated. The boba can be left covered for up to three hours. Do not refrigerate as they will harden.
• Assemble the bubble tea. Put the sweetened boba in a 485ml drinking glass, or two smaller glasses if you want to share. Swirl the boba to create a marble effect on the wall of the glass. Pour in the brewed tea and 1 tbsp of sugar syrup. Add ½ cup of ice and, using a metal spoon, stir the glass so the syrup and the tea are thoroughly mixed but make sure you don't scrape off the sticky marbling effect on the wall of the glass. Top up with 200ml of cold milk and serve with a boba straw.