My Sweet Escape from the Sizzling Hot Summer Afternoon

The weather is killing me here in California,
Sizzling hot during day time and chilly at night,
It's like I was just enjoying my icee slush in the afternoon and few hours later...I was wearing a light jacket and sipping a cup of hot Oolong tea...

Can't complain much,
At least I don't get blizzard storms or pouring rains here in sunny California.

So what can I do to cope with this extreme summer heat?
How about a scoop of Japanese green tea (matcha) ice cream?
What? Not enough?
Well, how about this jazzed up version of matcha ice cream dessert?

 Ingredients?

Green tea ice cream (or whichever flavor of your liking)
Chocolate sauce (or homemade ganache) 
Toasted almonds
3 egg whites
3/4 cup of confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup of all purpose flour
4 tablespoons of butter (melted)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

How?

Let's start out with "tulipes," or baked tulip-shaped cookie cups.
Whisk the egg whites till frothy, add the confectioner's sugar and blend till smooth,
Sift in flour and whisk till combined,
Pour in 4/5 of the melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract,
Keep mixing till fully incorporated,
Cover with foil and leave in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.

Let's get other preparation works ready while waiting.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
We need 2 different sized molds to make the tulip-shaped cups,
A large fluted mold and a smaller one will do the trick.
However, I don't even have that many molds in my kitchen shelf,
So I actually used individual tart molds and some small mugs to shape the tulipes,
As long as it works right?

Remember to brush the molds with the remaining 1/5 melted butter we saved earlier,
This will prevent the baked batter from sticking onto the molds.
Also get a baking sheet ready and lined it with parchment paper.

Take out the batter once it is done chilling in the fridge,
Use about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter for each tulipe,
Evenly spread it out with a spoon or fork,
Make a large, round, thin layer for each tulipe on the baking sheet,
Once that's done, into the oven for 5 to 8 minutes, or till the edges turned slightly brown.

After baking, take it out from the oven and peel the baked cookie layer off immediately,
Don't get burned! 
I actually used some tissue as my finger cover while peeling off the baked batter (not funny when my finger tips are burned).
Gently pushed the baked batter onto the large mold and top it with a smaller mold,
Once the shape is set, gently remove the molds and transfer the tulipe to a rack to cool down completely.

Left: Wonderful! Right: Failure! (So I took a few bites "just" to make sure if it tastes alright) 

A successful tulipe should come with slightly brown color on the edges,
The texture should be crunchy, but don't leave it out for too long since it can get soggy over time.  

Now scoop some of your favorite ice cream onto the cookie cups,
Drizzle some chocolate sauce and top with crunchy nuts.
This is an easy party dessert,
The cookies cups can be baked right before the party,
Simply lay out various flavored ice cream, toasted nuts, chocolate chips, cookie crumbles, even fresh fruits,
Let your guests to be creative, mix and match the dessert themselves!

One plus point,
If the dessert is not good enough for your guests,
Well, it's their own fault mixing the wrong items together!!

Cindy's Rating: 8 (Fun!)