Let's agree - Diwali and indulgence go hand-in-hand. During Diwali, we go on a bingeing spree, keeping all our diet thoughts at bay. From spicy chaat and pakoda to rasgulla, gulab jamun and more - Diwali brings along an extensive range of sweet and savoury dishes that leave us spoilt for choices. While some of these delicacies we buy from our favourite shops in the city, others we love making at home. Considering this, we curated a list of some delicious dessert recipes that are shared by some of the best pastry chefs in town. Much exciting, isn't it? So what are you waiting for? Put on your chef's hat and whip up a storm in your kitchen. And of course, make Diwali 2021 a delicious and lavish affair for your family, friends and close ones. Let's take a look.
Diwali-Special Recipes: Here're 7 Chef-Special Dessert Recipes:
Chocolate Pudding:
Chef Rajnish Dubey at Honey & Dough
A Chocolate pudding is a delightful dessert, which is very easy to make, and loved by all chocolate lovers. A mixture of chocolate, cocoa powder, cornstarch, milk and sugar- Chocolate pudding is thick flavored custard, which is tempting and just melts in one mouth.
Ingredients:
- 550 ml whole milk
- 80 ml heavy cream
- 100 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 10g rice flour
- 15g cocoa powder
- 15g corn starch
- 2g salt
- 5g vanilla extract
- 100g sugar
Directions
1. Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, salt and rice flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk and whisk until well combined. Place over medium heat.
2. Cook stirring constantly, until pudding is bubbling and thickens. Stir in the chopped chocolate and heavy cream. After the chocolate melted, turn off the heat, add vanilla and whisk until well blended.
3. Pour into dessert dishes.
4. Let cool at room temperature and then refrigerate until ready to serve.
Lemon Tea Cake
Amit Kumar, Chef at L'Opéra
Lemon Teacake is Chef Special Tea cake at L'opera suitable for all occasions. Lemon teacake is the cake with a lemon glaze, which adds a pop of intense lemon flavor to every bite. One can enjoy it with cup of tea and coffee as every bite of its is flavorsome with the perfect flavour of Sweetness and little tangy.
Portion (5 cakes of 350 gms each)
Ingredients:
- 75 grams Eggs
- 105 grams Castor Sugar
- 5 grams Cream
- 80 grams Flour
- 4 grams Trimoline
- 2 grams Baking Powder
- 75 grams Salt
- 5 grams Lemon Zest
- 30 grams Butter
- 1.87 grams Lemon Juice
- 12.5 grams Icing Sugar
Instruction:
1. Whisk whole eggs and sugar.
2. Then add cream and trimoline.
3. Put in the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and salt. Then add lemon zest.
4. Pour melted butter and give it a thorough mix.
5. Grease and dust all the moulds with butter and flour.
6. Put 350 grams of batter in each mould and score each cake with a butter.
7. Bake at 145degree C for 45 minutes.
8. Then make lemon glaze by cooking icing sugar and lemon juice together.
9. Keep stirring until it reaches the desired temperature.
10. Pour the glaze (temp should be 60degree C) over a frozen lemon cake covering all the sides.
Image Credit: L'Opéra
Berry Mousee Cheesecake
Amit kumar, chef at L'Opéra
An American favorite with an L'Opéra twist- a soft cookie base topped with a fluffy layer of creamy cheesecake and a fruity berry mousse.
Ingredients:
- 1000 grams Butter
- 1000 grams Biscuit Crumb
- 300 grams Cream Cheese
- 115 grams Caster Sugar
- 110 grams Cream
- 1000 grams Mixed Berries
- 100 grams Caster Sugar
- 36 grams Gelatine
- 300 grams Water
- 600 grams White Chocolate
- 190 grams Cocoa Butter
- 1200 grams Whipped Cream
Method:
1. In a mixing bowl add the biscuit crumb and butter and mix it.
2. Spread an even layer onto the baking tray.
3. In a mixing bowl whisk cream cheese, 115 g of sugar and cream until mixed well.
4. Add the cream evenly on top of the biscuits crumb and place in freezer to set.
5. Heat the mixed berries and sugar until the berries are soft and mushy.
6. Grind and sieve the berries over white chocolate.
7. Mix the puree and chocolate together until the chocolate has melted.
8. Melt bloomed gelatine and add in the puree.
9. Melt cocoa butter and add in the puree, mix it well. Gently fold in the whipped cream.
10. Demould the cake from baking tray and place it on a plate.
11. Take the glaze and gently pour it over the cake till it fully covers the cake and immediately refrigerate.
12. Once the cake is set, slice the blueberry cheesecake into two halves.
13. Garnish with a coloured hazelnut.
Banoffee Pie:
Gunjan Batra- Founder and Baker, Bakehouse Comfort by Café Delhi Heights
'Banoffee' is a combination of Banana and Toffee, a simple desserts that is high on flavours of Banana is the most simplest and Delicious Dessert. A base is made of crushed cookie crust with the layers of toffee or caramel, sliced bananas; whipped cream and chocolate glaze makes it very popular and quickly made dessert.
Ingredients:
- 100 grams Non Dairy Cream 50 ml
- 100 grams Yellow Butter 13 gms
- 15 biscuits Marigold Biscuit 08 Pcs
- 100 grams Milk Maid 15 ml
- 50 grams White Butter 11 gms
- 50 grams Low Fat Cream 30 ml
- 25 grams Vanilla Glaze Cold 03 gms
- 10 grams Liquid Glucose 06 gms
- 20 grams Icing Sugar 06 gms
- 2 banans Banana 01 Pc
- 25 grams Chocolate Glaze 02 gms
- 10 grams Caramel Syrup 02 gms
Method:
1. Prepare the pie plate by greasing with butter and set aside. Process the cookies in a food processor until they turn into small pieces.
2. Melt the Butter and stir into the cookie crumbs until well combined. Line the pie plate with cookie crumb mixture making sure it comes all the way to the top of the plate. Pie crust should be approximately 1/4-inch thick. Refrigerate the crust for 4 hours to set.
3. Fill the Pie crust with the prepared toffee filling and flatten with a spatula. Add one layer of sliced bananas.
3. Whip the low fat cream with icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form then top your sliced bananas with it. Use the back of spoon to create swirls. Then top with chocolate curls, chill Banoffee pie in the fridge for two hours before serving to allow layers to set and flavors to meld.
Image Credit: Bakehouse Comfort by Café Delhi Heights
Fresh Fruit Tart
Gunjan Batra- Founder and Baker- Bakehouse Comfort by Café Delhi Heights
A Tart with the assembly of fresh fruits is Easy and light recipe which is amalgamation of western and Indian style dessert. Fruit Tart has a sweet pastry crust that is filled with a rich and creamy pastry cream and topped with seasonal fresh fruit.
Ingredients:
- 25 gms Vanilla Glaze Cold
- 10 gms Kiwi
- 20 gms Muskmelon
- 10 gms Strawberry
- 10 gms Grapes
- 40 ml Tonned Milk
- 35 gms Butter Low Fat Butter
- 20 gms Icing Sugar
- 45 gms Flour
- 5 gms Custard Powder
- 5 gms Almond Powder
- 1 Cake Base 6 Inchs
- 30 gms Dragon Fruit
Method:
1. Make dough. In a blender, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt and butter until butter pieces are pea size. Add the egg and pulse until dough starts to clump together. Add milk as needed to help the dough come together. Shape into a disc and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350degreeF and grease a 06 inch tart pan. Roll the dough out on a floured surface, so that its size it's slightly bigger than the tart pan and is about 1/4 inch thick. Then press dough onto bottom of pan and form up the sides. Pierce the dough several times with a fork. Bake crust for 18 to 22 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow to cool completely.
3. For the Custard, in a medium sauce pan, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornstarch and salt until well combined and no lumps remain. Then whisk in the milk until well combined. Heat the mixture over medium-high heat for 2 to 4 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla.
4. Add in each piece of butter separately, whisk it until completely melted before adding the next piece. Pour the hot mixture on top of your cooled tart crust and place a layer of plastic wrap directly on top. Refrigerate for two hours. Assemble fresh fruits on the top, Refrigerate until ready to eat.
Chocolate Champignon Mousse:
Chef Amit Singh, Ophelia
Chocolate Mushroom Belgian Praline is not only the most Delicious dessert but also wins over as the best looking dessert at Ophelia. Belgian Praline shaped, as Mushroom topped with chocolate batter is sheer indulgence
Ingredients:
- 250gm Philadelphia cheese
- 120gm Whipping Cream
- 150gm Callebaut chocolate
- 30ml Rum
- 50gm Egg white
- 50gm Icing sugar
- 50gm Flour
- 50gm Melted butter
Method:
1. Cream the Philadelphia cheese with whipping cream, make a smooth batter.
2. Melt the callebaut chocolate in a double boiler and mix it with the batter.
3. Add rum in the above mix.
4. Keep the cheese mixture in a silicon moulded pad and put the rum ball in the centre and keep it in the freezer for just 2 hour.
5. Finish it with fresh fruits, strawberries, and micro greens.
Image Credit: Molecule Air Bar
Gulab Jamun Cheese Cake:
Chef Anas Qureshi, Molecule Air Bar
Ever since, the great Indian Mithais have evolved with time and tradition, we at modern kitchens are putting our creativity to the test, experimenting with ingredients, marrying flavours and presenting fusion Indian desserts like never before. Every traditional Indian dessert is iconic but when we fuse these iconic desserts with various other flavours, textures and cultures they go on to a whole new level. A layer of sliced Gulab Jamun in the cake makes it the most unique, innovative and festive dessert at Molecule
Ingredients:
- 350g plain digestive biscuits
- 120g ghee or unsalted butter, melted, cooled
- 600g cream cheese, softened
- 350g jaggery, chopped
- 8 Gulab Jamun
- 1 cup (250g) sour cream
- 200ml thickened cream
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup (50g) corn flour
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 50g blueberry compote
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180degreeC. Grease a round 20cm spring form cake pan and line the base and side with baking paper.
2. Place biscuits in a food processor and whiz to crumbs. Add ghee and whiz to combine. Press into the base of the prepared pan and chill until needed.
Place cream cheese and 250g jaggery in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Beat in sour cream and cream. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cornflour and lemon juice, Cut the gulab jamuns into halves and place them on the biscuit base and pour the cream cheese mix over it. Wrap the outside of the pan in 3 layers of foil and place in a large roasting pan. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cake.
4. Reduce the oven to 150degreeC and bake the cake for one hour, 40 minutes or until just set with a gentle wobble in the centre. Turn off the oven and cool for one hour in the oven. Remove cake from oven, cool to room temperature, then chill for three hours or until cold. Remove from the pan and place on a serving plate.
5. When ready to serve, melt remaining 100g jaggery in a small saucepan over medium heat with 2tbsp water, stirring to dissolve the jaggery. Cool completely, then pour over the cake garnish with blueberry compote and fresh mint leaves.
Happy Diwali 2021, everyone!