Chinese · Dessert
Candied Fresh Hawthorn Skewers
A lighter spin on Beijing's classic winter street-food skewer, tanghulu, where whole fresh fruit is dipped in a hot sugar syrup that sets into a thin glass-like shell. This build swaps the usual sugar-white syrup for allulose, a bulk sweetener with almost no usable calories, keeping the signature crack-shell crunch and sharp-sweet fruit contrast while sharply cutting the sugar load per skewer.
$1
12 minsPrep
8 minsCook
30 minsTotal
MediumLevel
Nutrition per serving
78Calories
0.5gProtein
0.3gFat
47.2gCarbs
12.2gSugar
3.6gFiber
1mgSodium
0mgChol
0gSat Fat
144mgPotassium
11mgCalcium
0.2mgIron
0mcgVitamin B12
10.5mgVitamin C
0gPolyol
30gAllulose
0gAlcohol
Goes well with
German Riesling
local
Osmanthus Flower Tea
international
vegetarian
vegan
gluten-free
dairy-free
sweet-spot
Instructions
1
Wash and dry 220g small apples (standing in for fresh hawthorn, which is rarely available outside China), halve and remove cores/pips, and thread 4-5 pieces onto each of 4 small bamboo skewers, alternating with whole raspberries.
2
In a small heavy pan, combine the allulose and water and heat gently, swirling rather than stirring, until fully dissolved.
3
Add the lemon juice and continue boiling the syrup undisturbed until it reaches hard-crack stage (149-154°C on a thermometer), watching closely as allulose colours faster than sugar.
4
Remove the pan from the heat and tilt it slightly to pool the syrup on one side for easy dipping.
5
Working quickly, dip and roll each skewer in the hot syrup to coat the fruit in a thin, even shell, letting excess drip back into the pan.
6
Stand the coated skewers upright in a block of polystyrene or lay them on a wire rack lined with parchment, spaced apart so they don't stick together.
7
Leave at room temperature for 8-10 minutes until the candy shell hardens to a glassy, brittle crack before serving.
Serves
2 portions ·
2 adults, 0 over 10, 0 under 10
Ingredients
- 7.8 oz220g whole, pitted (hawthorn substitute), skewered apple
- 2.1 oz60g dissolved into syrup allulose
- 1.4 oz40g for syrup water
- 0.3 oz8g stirred into syrup to prevent crystallisation lemon juice
- 1.1 oz30g whole, threaded between fruit pieces raspberry
