My favourite Desserts

This is just a list of desserts I will never get tired of eating. Breakfast/lunch/dinner…I can devour these anytime.

1. THEOBRAMA: This is my favourite dessert and I have no clue about what goes into it or it’s origins etc….but it’s definitely my favourite. I don’t care about the white layer as much as the bottom two chocolatey blankets of gastronomical delights.

2. TIRAMISU: Most eateries here sell tiramisu made with whipping cream powder which is not even real cream. I like the authentic tiramisu which is made using mascarpone cheese which is a real task to find here. I did make this dessert once when I got my hands on the cheese. It was quite a task. I always ask if it’s made using cream or mascarpone and accordingly order dessert 🙂

3. CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE: I make a darn good truffle cake quite often actually. Well, I am an amateur with icing so it may not look great, but I assure you it tastes great. I make it the way I like it – with an extra rich ganache and thickerrrrrr layers of icing.

4. Caramel/Coconut CUSTARD: I’m really not talking about custard powder here. That’s just terrible. I’m talking about custard made using egg yolks and cream on a double boiler which is later carefully baked in an oven in a steam bath….not the quick and easy substitutes…they’re really pretty much tasteless.

5. MARZIPAN iced CHRISTMAS CAKE: If you’re used to buying ‘christmas cakes’ from bakeries in India, they’re not christmas cakes but plum cakes. There is a big difference. Sadly, most people are unaware of this fact. A real christmas cake does not have that ghastly artificial blackish colour. It is carefully made using natural ingredients that lend a golden brown or slightly darker hue depending on the method of choice, certainly not blackish! A real christmas cake does not boast about mere tutti fruity bits and cherries. There should be real dry fruits and nuts in there that have been sitting in a rum solution for at least a month. Even if there is no rum in the cake, it has got to be moist and loaded with nuts and fruits, and they shouldn’t be sinking to the bottom of the cake but evenly distributed despite the variation in densities. Well, it may sound boastful – but I do make a darn good Christmas cake. I make almond or cashew marzipan separately as a christmas sweet that I love, but I really have no clue about icing a cake with marzipan and fondant. And again, marzipan made using peanuts instead of almonds is not really marzipan.

6. CARROT/GAJJAR KA HALWA served at room temperature: Most people like this dish served hot. But I really dislike it hot. It tastes delicious when it is at room temperature or even cold. But piping hot is just too boring for me. I make a lovely carrot halwa with a lot of milk reduction. I know, sounds like a brag…but it is what it is okay 😉

7. Cold GULAB JAMUNS: I find this dish absolutely irresistible. But, just like carrot halwa most people eat this hot. I really don’t like a hot gulab jamun or any dessert served hot. I like it at room temperature or even cold….just not hot.

8. BANANA BREAD: I dislike bananas….it’s the only fruit I dislike. But for some strange unknown reason, I love banana desserts especially a nice cake. I make a fairly decent banana cake.

9. CUSTARD APPLE ICE CREAM/KULFI: This is a seasonal fruit. It is one of my favourite fruits. We had two custard apple/sitaphal trees just outside my home where I grew up. I guess they were some dwarf variety. Because as a child I’d climb around all the trees and pluck so many fruits. You cannot really have custard apple ice cream in winter or even early summer. It usually arrives during the monsoon season in Bombay. It is a real treat.

10. Fruity milk based BOBA/BUBBLE TEA: Well, technically speaking Boba is a beverage. But, I’ll count it as a dessert. I love the fruit flavoured ones which have a milk base to it like a nice kiwi/strawberry/chickoo milk Boba.

11. CHICKOO/SAPOTA ICE CREAM: Chickoo pairs really well with milk. So a chickoo ice cream or milkshake is just so lovely.

12. CREAM OF SITAPHAL/CUSTARD APPLE: Cream of sitaphal/custard apple is nothing but blended fruit with full fat cream and sugar. It’s the natural flavour of the fruit that is the star of this simple-yet-divine dessert. Haji Ali in Bombay is the place to try this dish out.

13. JALEBI: I really like jalebis and lose count with desserts such as this one. And if they are fried in ghee instead of oil, I won’t stop until the container has nothing left. Making these alone is a messy affair. You really need a hand with this one.

14. GUAVA CHEESE: Here, you can see my Christian roots. Guava cheese is one of the many sweets the Catholic community in India make every Christmas. They are usually made using red guavas for that reddish colour. Red guavas/white guavas they taste just the same with a little colour difference. I’m horrible at this one. I have failed miserably several times and I get cold sweats when I even think of attempting again. You see if you heat the mixture few seconds longer, these turns out too hard and the sugar crystallizes ruining the texture and consistency. If you heat it any lesser – it can be used as guava jam instead of cubed sweets….getting the right consistency is sooooooo damn tricky.

15. MANGO BARFI : Very few people have had the privilege of tasting mango barfi made from real mango pulp. Most shops sell barfi made using flavoring agents. Since I hail from Maharashtra, India – the land of mangoes, let me tell you – a mango is not just a mango. There are at least 20 popular varieties of mango plus some local varieties that aren’t really sold in the markets, but just appear on your tree if you own one! The most delicious variety, and of course the most expensive one is the ALPHONSO. Alphonsos grow in Maharashtra, Goa and some parts of Karnataka – the Konkan coast. They are super delicious on their own. Imagine a barfi made using real mango pulp….gastronomical heaven.

16. FIG/ANJEER ICE CREAM: I love figs. I understand not many people like this fruit. But I do – dried, fresh, ice cream….anything is welcome.

Most of the times I feel like nobody really knows me. Well, of course I’m so blessed that my family knows me well enough. But, otherwise nobody really knows anything about me. People make all sorts of claims and assumptions about me all the time. In a way, my blog got more and more personal in an attempt to really be me – to manifest my true self to anyone who cares to read. So this was a vain attempt to showcase a little bit of ‘me’.

Hope and Love,

RUELHA