A very easy to make chickpea flour, almond and coconut Burfi or Indian fudge. It just needs 7 cups of ingredients, a little stirring and is gluten-free.
Desserts
Laal Mishti Doi – A Bengali Jaggery Sweetened Yogurt
Mishti Doi, which translates as sweet yogurt, is an iconic sweetened set yogurt from the Indian state of West Bengal. It is equally popular across the border in Bangladesh as well.
Mishti Doi is not only served as dessert but traditionally made for religious and festive occasions including weddings. This dish is usually sweetened with sugar. Sometimes caramelized sugar or date jaggery (nolen gur) is the choice of sweetener and this gives the yogurt a golden or reddish colour where this yogurt is then also referred to as Laal Mishti Doi where “laal” means red.
Pressed-Crust Pear Tart
This pear tart is nice combination of soft yet crumb like pear crust and glazed and juicy pears. It’s easy to make because the crust just has to be pressed into the tart pan.
Egg Free Espresso Semifreddo With Peanut Brittle/ Chikki
An Italian style semifreddo made with espresso and the crunch of peanut brittle. An easy make ahead dessert that will make your guest think you spent a lot of time on it.
Hidden Heart Loaf Cake/ A Surprise Inside Cake
I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t love a good surprise. Wouldn’t you like it even better if it came inside your cake? That’s what you get with a Hidden Heart Cake – a surprise inside it! Imagine a nice creamy coloured vanilla cake topped with chocolate ganache which is really perfect as it is. Then
Strawberries & Cream With An Oatmeal Crumble
T.
Mendiants aux Fruits Secs – Traditional French Fruit & Nut Encrusted Chocolate Rounds
Mendiants au Chocolat are a Christmas time tradition in the Provence region of France. There they have a tradition of ending the celebratory Christmas eve dinner with 13 different desserts (les treize desserts de Noël)! Before you start thinking that this must be the ultimate ritualistic sugar high, these 13 desserts are very simple ones and they represent Jesus and his 12 apostles at the Last Supper.
Each family has its own 13 desserts traditionally served after this dinner and some of the “desserts” include Mendiants made of almonds, hazelnuts, dried figs and dates, black and white nougat, Calissons d’Aix (candied melon), a thin waffle called Oreillettes, and a sweet olive oil bread called La Pompe a l’Huile. Mendiants are also given away as Christmas gifts.
Baked Figs With Honey-Scented Yogurt And Granola (GF) & The Winner Of The “Naturally Sweet & Gluten-Free Giveaway
I.
Kalakhand – A Milk & Paneer Fudge : The Easy Version
Kalakhand is soft and fudge-like in texture and made with full fat milk, paneer (Indian fresh milk cheese) and sugar which is cooked until it thickens. Traditionally, it means cooking down and reducing sweetened milk over low heat and this involves a lot of stirring and takes quite a while. My easy/ cheat’s version does away with all the stirring and reducing the milk by using sweetened condensed milk, milk powder, store bought paneer and takes very little time to make.
Apple & Paneer Rabdi/ Rabri/ Payasam/Kheer – A Creamy Indian Milk Pudding/ Dessert
Rabdi is a sweet, milk based dish made by boiling the milk on low heat for a long time until it becomes thick and almost pinkish in colour. The sugar, cardamom and a large amount of chopped/ sliced nuts (almonds and pistachios) give the Rabri its distinctive flavour. Rabri can be served warm but is usually served chilled.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home.