International Coffee Day 2026 falls on October 1, and this filter coffee ice cream is perfect for exactly that kind of occasion, given the country’s obsession with the beverage. This dessert is simple enough to make the night before without needing an ice cream machine, ready to scoop by the time anyone's actually celebrating the occasion. It starts with whipped cream folded with condensed milk and a strong coffee flavouring, poured into a mould, and left in the freezer overnight. It just needs a lot of patience from there. A bit about filter coffee, before adapting it into a dessert: traditionally, a blend of coffee (commonly around 70-80%) and chicory (the remaining 20-30%) is ground and packed into the upper chamber of a metal filter, with hot water poured over it and left to slowly percolate through a perforated disc into the lower chamber over 20-30 minutes. What comes out is a concentrated decoction, mixed with hot milk and sugar and poured back and forth between the dabarah and tumbler to froth it before serving. This ice cream recipe for International Coffee Day 2026 borrows that same concentrated decoction rather than using instant coffee, which is what gives it a more wholesome flavour and less bitterness than a dessert made with instant coffee granules. Because this recipe skips a cooked custard base entirely, it's also one of the easier ice cream recipe options for a first attempt at homemade ice cream.

Friendship Day gift ideas start with friendship bracelets, and while the era of school might have faded away for many of us, the sweet feeling associated with friendships might not have. So, this Friendship Day 2026, revel in the nostalgia by turning those bracelets edible. These homemade candy bracelets are strung from crunchy, dissolve-on-the-tongue meringue beads, tinted in whatever colours suit your friendship, and worn (or nibbled) all day long. Unlike shop-bought trinkets, they cost next to nothing to put together and use ingredients most kitchens already have. Handmade gifts for best friend and all of your other friends need some dedication, and this sweet recipe demands exactly that. So, call that dear friend, or visit them, dropping what seems to always hound your heels, and make the making of these candy bracelets a shared activity. You whip, pipe, bake, and string them together, which makes the process best suited for a shared activity if you're making a batch with friends; these are meant for. Increase the volume of ingredients if not making the candy bracelets for a pair. The base for this Friendship Day 2026 is a simple meringue, made with egg whites that are whisked with sugar and a stabiliser until glossy and stiff. Then it is split between small bowls and coloured and flavoured, as per individual tastes, before being piped into small rings on a tray. It is then baked on low heat, and once the beads have cooled and hardened completely, a large needle threaded with elastic cord turns them into a wearable, giftable strand.

This citrus tahini ramen recipe takes the comfort of a noodle bowl and lightens it with a tangy-citrusy tahini dressing instead of a heavy broth. YiPPee! Magic Masala Noodles are pan fried to give them an crunchy edge so you get an array of tastes and textures in one bowl. The noodles sit alongside roasted vegetables, fresh orange or lemon segments and a scattering of sesame seeds, with a dressing of tahini, lemon or orange juice, gochujang and some water. Tahini is a sesame seed paste at the heart of this dressing and is valued in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean kitchens for its rich unsaturated fats and its good dose of calcium, perfect for those who consume little dairy. Keeping up with the Hallyu wave, this ramen recipe uses the fiery Korean gochujang, which adds a faint sweet spiciness that goes well with the citrus flavour. The vegetables in this recipe are roasted intentionally, as this method caramelises their sugars and gives them an incomparable flavour that boiling cannot match, all while they remain tender. As for making this ramen recipe without the noodles tasting like a wet sock, you need a bit of patience with the pan-frying step and to hold back on the dressing until just before serving so the noodles remain crispy.