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Magazine
Dessert fare
PUDDINGS and deserts are cool and creamy, soft and fluffy. Though rich in content, they are light to eat. With a little effort, you can whisk the most delectable puddings from custards, fruits, cream, sugar and nuts. On special occasions, you can make puddings and desserts, perfectly decorated and in a grand style.
Fruit trifle
Ingredients:
Milk 2 cups
Powdered sugar 1 1/4 cup
Custard powder 2 tbsps
Fresh cream 300 g
Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp
Fruit pieces, 1 apple, 2 oranges, 1
sweet lime, 1 banana, a few
seedless grapes (chopped)
Small eggless sponge cake 1
Mixed fruit jam 3 or 4 tbsps
Method:
Heat the milk with six tablespoons of powdered sugar. Dissolve the custard powder in little cold milk and add to the hot milk. Stir constantly till thick. Cool.
Take fresh cream in a vessel. Add the remaining ¾ cup of powdered sugar and beat over ice cubes. Reserve 1/4 of cream for decoration. To the cooled custard, add the essence and the remaining fresh cream. Spread half the cream custard in a pudding tray. Spread half of the fruits. Cut the cake into slices. Apply jam on one side and arrange over the fruits. Spread the remaining fruits. Pour the remaining custard cream and spread till smooth. Decorate with stiffly beaten fresh cream and some fruit pieces.
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Mixed fruit khoya crumbs
Ingredients:
Mixed fruits pieces from a tin
2 cups
Powdered brown sugar
(Demerara sugar) 2 tbsps
Melted butter 2 tbsps
Fine semolina 1/4 cup
Breadcrumbs 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder 1/4 tsp
Powdered sugar 1/2 cup
Khoya crumbs 1/2 cup
Method:
Mix the brown sugar with pieces of mixed fruits. Roast the semolina and breadcrumbs in melted butter. Remove from heat and mix the sugar and cinnamon.
Roast the khoya lightly until soft and the ghee separates. Mix with semolina and breadcrumb mixture. Make one layer of the semolina-khoya mixture. Spread prepared fruits. Cover with the remaining mixture.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 175{+o}C until the crumbs are golden brown on top. Remove and later serve warm or at room temperature. It can be served with vanilla ice cream.
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White pumpkin basundi
Ingredients:
Milk 1 litre
Grated white pumpkin 1 cup
Cardamom powder 12 tsp
Sugar 1/2 cup
Few slices of blanched almonds
Method:
Boil the milk in a thick bottom vessel. After five minutes add the pumpkin after squeezing it lightly and continue boiling for 15 minutes or until pumpkin gets cooked.
Add the sugar and boil for a few more minutes. Mix the cardamom and remove from heat. Take out in a serving bowl.
Serve either at room temperature or chilled in the fridge. Sprinkle almond slices on top.
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Rabadi baskets
Ingredients:
For the baskets
Khoya 2 cups
Powdered sugar 1/4 cup
Little melted saffron
Butter paper cups
For the rabadi filling
Milk 1/2 litre
Sugar 1/4 cup
Few drops of lemon juice
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp
Few slices of almonds and pistachios
Method:
Mash the khoya, sugar and saffron together to make a smooth paste. Refrigerate for sometime.
To prepare the rabadi, boil half the milk in an iron kadai. Add three drops of lemon juice. Continue to boil till fairly thick. In another vessel, do the same with the remaining milk. Mix the sugar and cardamom. Cool.
Divide the cooled khoya mixture into 28 balls. Shape each one like a basket and put it in a butter paper cup. Fill each one with rabadi.
Decorate with slices of almonds and pistachios. Keep in fridge till serving time. Remove butter paper cups at the time of serving.
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Orange nests
Ingredients:
Oranges 6
Mixed fruits (450 g) 1 can
Powdered sugar 1 cup
Few drops of orange colour
Orange essence 1 tsp
Fresh cream 200 g
Gelatin 2 tbsps
Powdered sugar for fresh
cream 2 tbsps
Few glazed cherries
for decoration
Method:
Cut the oranges into two using by zigzag cuts. Remove the segments. Refrigerate the empty halves (nests) so that they harden. Extract juice from the segments. There should enough for two cups.
Drain the syrup from the mixed fruit can. It should measure ¾ cup. Mix with orange juice. Add the sugar, colour and essence.
While keeping the vessel over ice cubes, whip the cream till stiff but flowing in consistency. Take 1/2 cup of the orange juice and soak gelatin in it.
After five minutes, melt by putting the vessel in hot water. Mix with the remaining orange juice. Put this mixture on ice to semi-set. Stir often. Divide into two.
To one part, add the mixed fruit pieces and half of the whipped cream. Fill in the orange nests. Put in the refrigerator to set. Top each nest with the second part of the semi-set orange juice. Chill.
Mix two tablespoons of the sugar in the remaining half of the cream. Whip a little more to make it stiffer. Decorate each nest with cream and glazed cherry pieces. Chill till serving time.
JYOTI N. PAREKH
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