Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for bubble tea ice-cream sundaes | The sweet spot
I absolutely adore bubble tea: it’s such a fun drink.I find it impossible to be anywhere near Chinatown in London without ordering one, and the brown sugar milk tea flavour is my go-to.The “bubble” refers to the balls of tapioca that are cooked until chewy, a texture I find so pleasing; if you like mochi, this will be right up your street.You should be able to find quick-cook tapioca pearls in most large Asian supermarkets; I tend to avoid the plain white tapioca pearls because they can take more than an hour to cook.Prep 5 min Cook 20 min Serves 4150g quick-cook brown sugar tapioca 100g light brown sugar 2 English breakfast tea bags 100ml double cream ½ tsp flaky sea salt 8 scoops vanilla ice-cream Chocolate sprinkles or shavings, to serveBring a saucepan of water to a boil, add the tapioca pearls and cook for three to four minutes, until they’ve got a chew to them but are still a little firm.
Drain the pearls into a sieve, then run them under the cold tap to stop them sticking together,To make the tea syrup, put the sugar, 75ml water and the tea bags in a small saucepan and bring to a boil,Turn down to a simmer, cook for four to five minutes, until the liquid reduces by about a quarter, then remove and discard the tea bags,Turn down the heat to medium-low, add the tapioca, then stir well to coat,Take off the heat and leave to cool in the pan.
(You can do this in advance and leave at room temperature overnight,)To make the salted cream, lightly whip the double cream and salt to very soft peaks,To serve, put a spoonful of the tapioca and syrup mix into a sundae glass or ramekin, then swirl it around so some of the syrup coats the inside,Layer it with a scoop or two of ice-cream and some more tapioca and syrup,Top with a dollop of the salted cream followed by chocolate sprinkles or shavings, and serve.
Elon Musk calls Trump’s big bill ‘utterly insane and destructive’ as Senate debates
The billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Saturday criticized the latest version of Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending bill, calling it “utterly insane and destructive.“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote on Saturday as the Senate was scheduled to call a vote to open debate on the nearly 1,000-page bill.“Utterly insane and destructive,” Musk added. “It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”Passing the package, Musk said, would be “political suicide for the Republican Party
Online hacks to offline heists: crypto leaders on edge amid increasing attacks
Industry figures are seeing beyond the ‘illusion of invisibility’ after series of investor kidnappingsCryptocurrency traders such as Mohammed Arsalan are prepared to watch their online assets expand and explode if they miss the right moment, making or breaking their fortunes in just minutes. All in a day’s work on the internet. Offline, though, they have found themselves less equipped for the consequences of affluence. A string of kidnappings has plagued the industry over the past year and left traders across the globe paranoid, fearful and keen to invest in physical security measures.Arsalan grew up working class in Karachi, Pakistan
Jeff in Venice: seven takeaways from the Bezos-Sánchez wedding
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sánchez held their wedding ceremony in Venice’s Grand canal on Friday, the centrepiece of a three-day gala that drew dozens of stars but also protests by local activists. Here are seven takeaways.The couple kicked off celebrations with a foam party on their $500m (£364m) super yacht moored near the Croatian island of Unije. Coinciding with Sánchez’s son Evan Whitesell’s 19th birthday, paparazzi photos showed the couple wearing swimwear and sunhats covered in frothy suds as they partied alongside Whitesell and his friends. Foam parties can cause conjunctivitis, so the decision to hold one just days before their nuptials was somewhat surprising but maybe billionaire foam hits different
Till Jeff us do part: divisive, star-studded Bezos wedding hits full swing in Venice
The Black Death. Byron on the prowl. Rising water levels. Cruise ships the size of city blocks. Venice may have endured many tumultuous events and sinister challenges over the centuries but rarely in its long history has it had to contend with an issue quite as odd and quite as divisive as the sort-of nuptials of the world’s fourth-richest person
Google’s emissions up 51% as AI electricity demand derails efforts to go green
Google’s carbon emissions have soared by 51% since 2019 as artificial intelligence hampers the tech company’s efforts to go green.While the corporation has invested in renewable energy and carbon removal technology, it has failed to curb its scope 3 emissions, which are those further down the supply chain, and are in large part influenced by a growth in datacentre capacity required to power artificial intelligence.The company reported a 27% increase in year-on-year electricity consumption as it struggles to decarbonise as quickly as its energy needs increase.Datacentres play a crucial role in training and operating the models that underpin AI models such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT-4, which powers the ChatGPT chatbot. The International Energy Agency estimates that datacentres’ total electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels to 1,000TWh (terawatt hours) in 2026, approximately Japan’s level of electricity demand
Ex-Doge employee ‘Big Balls’ gets new Trump administration position
Edward Coristine – the 19-year-old who quit Elon Musk’s controversial so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) earlier this week, where he gained notoriety in part for having used the online moniker “Big Balls” – has in fact been given a new government job, this time at the Social Security Administration (SSA).Coristine, whose lack of experience and super-loyalty to Musk saw him become a flashpoint for outrage at Doge’s ruthless but haphazard efforts to slash government spending and fire thousands of workers, resigned from Doge earlier this week.However a spokesperson for the SSA, Stephen McGraw, told Wired magazine that Coristine was now working for that department.“His work will be focused on improving the functionality of the Social Security website and advancing our mission of delivering more efficient service to the American people,” McGraw told Wired.Coristine may have previously worked for the SSA, but reporting on his employment history is conflicted
Britain’s security depends on more than soft power | Letters
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