Easy English Trifle

 

Easy English Trifle

This dessert brings back memories of school dinners on special occasions like our Annual Socials with St. Paul's and North Point in Darjeeling. It's impossible to recall what was served for the main meal, but English Trifle for dessert was a staple and was memorable.

My JELL-O cookbook came in handy to get a general idea of the process. Modifications, catered to dietary restrictions, made this 'cracked-up' recipe completely unrecognizable from the original. This is a simple version of the classic English dessert.

Burmese Semolina Cake - Sanwin Makin

 

Sanwin Makin

Semolina is also known as Cream of Wheat in English, Shweji in Burmese, and Rawa or Suji in Hindi. It is available in any Indian market and, most recently, comes pre-toasted to a lovely golden hue. I've tried making this dessert a few times but was most pleased with my efforts this last time. That must be because I replaced the white poppy seeds (posto) with a mixture of white poppy seeds and toasted sesame seeds.

It's pretty labor-intensive to prepare, so set aside a whole afternoon to make this semolina cake. Sanwin Makin is a popular and beloved dessert in Burma. What I love is the aroma that permeates every corner of my home, of toasted semolina, sesame seeds and coconut milk. This cake is creamy, dreamy and light. I baked it in a 9" x 8" Pyrex dish and it was enough to feed 10 guests for an after-lunch snack with coffee. All of us, from the oldest adults to the youngest child loved it and came back multiple times for more!

Apple Cobbler or Dump Cake

 

Apple Cobbler

A very easy dump cake using just a few ingredients, this dump cake was our dessert at Thanksgiving Dinner this year. It can be made with fruit pie filling of any variety. Since I watch my sugar intake, I used a can of Duncan Hines No Sugar Added Apple Pie Filling. To make your own pie filling, stew 2 cups chopped apples with a cup of sugar and a dash of salt. We liked this dump cake so much that the following week, I made a peach dump cake using no sugar added canned peach slices.

Chaler Payesh - Rice Pudding

 

Chal'er Payesh

A comforting and deeply satisfying end to a meal, rice pudding is a favourite with young and old alike.

Creamy Yogurt Cake

 

Yogurt Cheese Cake

A creamy, practically guilt-free cheese cake that substitutes cream cheese with yogurt. I followed a Burmese video to make the cake. I was impressed with how delicious the cake turned out considering the minimal number of ingredients used.

Sevai Payesh - Toasted Vermicelli Pudding

Sevai Payesh

Payesh is a milk-based dessert that is cooked long and slow on the stovetop. It takes ages for 8 cups of milk to thicken and is tedious because it has to be closely monitored during this entire process. Milk solids easily stick to the bottom of the pan and even the slightest hint of burning will mean pitching the entire batch and starting over again.

I'm all for making my life as easy as possible, so I mix a can of evaporated milk with 6 cups of milk to hasten the process. Instead of using plain white sugar, I use brown sugar or jaggery to give a beautiful caramel color to the milk. A lot of time is saved by using already toasted vermicelli that is readily available in most Indian markets. If toasted vermicelli is not available, break up the vermicelli is small pieces and toast it in a skillet with a tablespoon of butter or ghee until golden in color.

This dessert is a deeply satisfying end to a festive meal.

Misti Doi or Sweet Yogurt

Misti Doi

Misti Doi is, customarily, served at the end of a spicy meal. It's served chilled and is light and delicious! This is the closest thing to the misti doi that is available in sweet shops located at practically every street corner in Kolkata.

Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding

In the Bowl

Inspired by a Banglar Rannaghar video, (my favourite videos to watch), this bread pudding reminds me of my caramel custard or flan recipe with bread added to it. I used coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar and evaporated milk instead of cream.

Bhapa Sandesh - Steamed Ricotta Cheese Dessert

Bhapa Sandesh

Sandesh is a beloved sweet or misti in West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh. Bhapa (steamed) Sandesh can be made in a pressure cooker or microwave oven. I find it simpler to use the microwave method because it's faster and can be made in the same Pyrex dish in which it can be served so there are no dishes to wash.

Whole milk ricotta cheese works well in this recipe, the alternative being to make cottage cheese or chana at home. The latter involves an elaborate and complex process which is not my cuppa tea.

Sandesh was my son's favourite misti and had to be included in his tiffin or bento box every day. The soft and satiny texture of sandesh varies with the ratio of cheese to sugar. The more cheese in the sandesh, the softer and more velvety it is.

Shahi Tukda - Royal Bread Pudding

Shahi Tukda

Shahi Tukda or Bread Pudding fit for a king, is a popular and festive dessert in Mughlai cuisine. Toast points, fried in butter or ghee until golden brown, are soaked in simple syrup, dipped in thickened milk (rabri) that is flavoured with cardamom and saffron and garnished with sliced almonds.

To simplify life and to cut down on sugar consumption, the step to soak the pieces of bread in simple syrup is eliminated. Also, making rabri is a very tedious process and to simplify that step, evaporated milk is mixed with Gits Kulfi mix which is already flavoured with cardamom and saffron.

Made with just five ingredients in less than 15 minutes, this dessert is delicious!

No-Cook Frozen Srawberry 'Cheesecake'

Frozen Strawberry 'Cheesecake'

This dessert was inspired by a recipe I found on the Taste of Home website. I used sweetened strawberries and omitted the sugar from the original recipe. Also, instead of making a blueberry sauce, I served it with the juices from frozen strawberries. It's one way to satisfy a craving for cheesecake without having to heat up the whole house by baking in the oven for 2 hours. Transfer the frozen dessert from freezer to fridge a couple of hours before serving and slice with a serrated knife.

Peach Jello Blancmange

Peach Jello Blancmange

This recipe was inspired by one on the Taste of Home website. Blancmange (blah-manjh) is a French dessert that is made with milk and gelatin, akin to Italian panna cotta. This is made with Cool Whip instead and orange jello. It's very quick and easy to assemble, tastes divine, transports well and is a cool, velvety dessert for these dog days of summer.

Banana Nut Bread

Banana Nut Bread

Inspired by a recipe in a Crisco pamphlet, this is one of the first dessert breads I learned to make.  Over time and many tweaks later, I've perfected the recipe to my taste. 

Freshly Baked

Some ingredients in this recipe are more important than others. For example, I read somewhere that one teaspoon of baking soda (rather than half a teaspoon) produces a darker bread. Also, the recipe calls for a cup of white sugar, but I prefer using dark brown sugar which I believe helps give it a darker appearance. 

The First Slice for Tasting

The original recipe called for three-quarters of a cup of Crisco oil, which I switched to a cup of melted, unsalted butter which is more to my taste. Another change I make is to grease the pan with Pam butter flavoured spray and white granulated sugar in place of flour.  The sugar caramelizes during baking and produces a sweeter crust.

There can never be too many nuts

A happy mistake I made this time is going to be the norm from now on. I forgot to add the walnut pieces until after the batter had been poured into the pan. So I poured them all over the top and used a fork to push some into the batter. It worked better because when the nuts are folded into the batter, they tend to settle on the bottom and often burn. By inserting them right at the end, they remained towards the top which was a lot better.

After resting overnight

It's important to allow the banana nut bread to rest before slicing, but it's so hard not to taste it right away. Slicing it too soon causes the bread to crumble so it needs to be covered loosely with foil or Saran wrap and left on the counter overnight. Make sure not to tighten the foil/wrap so that the bread can dry out and not steam.

Best of all, this entire recipe can be prepared in one bowl by combining all the wet ingredients first and then sifting the flour and other dry ingredients directly into the mixing bowl and folding everything together with the help of a spatula.

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

The simplest and easiest macaroons you could make, they took just 2 ingredients and 15 minutes to bake. The recipe was posted on the internet and seemed like the macaroons would be unbearably sweet, but they were perfect! An ice-cream scoop makes them uniform but I didn't have one. I must put it on my shopping list for the next time.

A friend suggested that a couple drops of almond extract pumps up the action, but that was after I'd made them, so I'm adding it as an optional ingredient. If you're making this for an Indian get together, you can flavor these with cardamom powder and call them narkoler naru in Bengali. It's important to line the cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat to avoid a sticky mess. 

Remember that evaporated milk and condensed milk are not interchangeable.  Evaporated milk is unsweetened and not as thick as condensed milk; look for condensed milk when shopping for this recipe.

Store leftover macaroons in Ziploc bags in the refrigerator or freezer. They travel well and are suitable for picnics, potlucks or as a special treat in lunch bags. They're moist, chewy and totally satisfying!

Gajar (Carrot) Halwa

Gajar ka Halwa

Carrots are naturally sweet, so this dessert needs just a little added sugar. To get all the Indian flavours, Gits Kulfi Mix added at the end works wonders. I've also used Gits Rasmalai Mix with good results. Make your own at home by combining Carnation Instant Dry Milk with sugar to taste, cardamom powder, ground almonds and a few drops of Kewra Essence (extract from pandanus flowers) or 2 teaspoons of rose water.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

The grand-boys were delighted with these ice cream cone cupcakes which were  inspired by an idea on the Betty Crocker website. A chocolate cake mix was used to fill each cone halfway. Most children like to show off their creativity, and allowing them to frost and decorate their own ice cream cupcake makes it fun for everyone. 

Baked Cones in a Muffin Pan

It's important to find flat-bottomed medium sized ice cream cones. A muffin pan makes a great baking pan and foil was used to fill the gaps in the muffin cups to keep the cones straight while baking. The fear of the cones burning was completely misplaced. It was so amazing that they didn't even deepen in colour.

The Cones Filled in Nicely

The cake reached all the way to the bottom. It's fool-proof and almost impossible to make a mistake with this dessert.

Topped with
Ice Cream & Sprinkles

One option is to top the cone with ice cream. Serving ice cream in this way is mess-free and holes poked in the cake allowed the ice cream to seep all the way through to the bottom, so it's good to the last crumb. Another option is to pipe icing on each cupcake. In that case I would pour more batter into the cones because icing would stay more firmly in place.

Burmese KyaukKyaw with Sliced Peaches - Coconut Jello with Peaches

KyaukKyaw with Sliced Peaches

I've spent most of my adult life trying to achieve the perfect Kyauk Kyaw that has two distinct layers, one translucent and the other opaque. Finally the secret was revealed to me when my sister posted a video of it on Facebook. So thanks to Dany Kao for her instructions for a perfect dessert. The secret is to make this with a 1:5.5 ratio of coconut milk to water. I've modified her recipe to include more specific measurements pertaining to the size of cans and amount of agar-agar.

Agar Agar is a popular dessert ingredient in South East Asian countries where it is used as a substitute for gelatin. Agar agar, a seaweed extract, is a good vegan substitute for gelatin which is derived from animal products. Agar agar comes in several different forms - flakes, strands and powdered.  The powdered form of agar agar is much more potent than the flakes or strands. It takes 1 tablespoon of flakes or strands to thicken 1 cup of water, whereas 1 teaspoon of the powder is sufficient to thicken 1 cup of water.

Serve on its own or with canned fruit cocktail or peaches.

Sujir Payesh with Dried Apricots - Semolina Pudding with Dried Apricots

Sujir Payesh with Dried Apricots

Soft and creamy, this adaptation of a childhood comfort food appeals to young and old alike. Semolina or cream of wheat or suji is a familiar food in the breakfast aisle of the grocery store. The breakfast cereal packages contain semolina in its instant form which is not what is used in this recipe because when it is cooked in this way, it turns to a mushy paste. So visit an Indian market and get unprocessed large grains of semolina in a bag. Kept in a cool, dark place, the bag will last several years if kept in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

The semolina is first toasted in a skillet with butter until golden brown and fragrant. Meanwhile, milk is scalded with raisins & sugar in another pan and the two are combined to produce a smooth and creamy pudding. Just to be different, I decided to use coconut milk instead of regular milk and replaced the raisins with minced, dried apricots. 

A gentleman who loved to have this with heated tortillas for breakfast once told me that the semolina, sugar and butter should be used in a 1:1:1 ratio and the milk to semolina ratio should be 2:1. I admit this tastes heavenly, but not so good for diabetics or people with high cholesterol levels, so I toned it down significantly. A hint of cardamom powder gives this pudding a decadent touch.

Meetha Sev - Sweet Vermicelli Dessert

Meetha Sev

This dessert reminds me of Khan, our cook in Bombay in the early 1970s. He was an excellent cook who went to the market early each morning and based our menu on what was available that day. His food was in the Mughlai style and quite rich. This was his way of preparing toasted vermicelli and was quite unusual for us because we were used to the milky payesh that Bengalis generally make.

Toasted Vermicelli

Toasted vermicelli or sev is available at Indian markets. If it's not available in toasted form, it adds a step to making desserts because it has to be toasted in butter or ghee until golden brown. Coating sev with butter keeps each strand separate and prevents it from becoming mushy.

Baked Apple Delight

Baked Apple Delight

The smell of porridge in the air meant that it was a weekend in winter or spring in Darjeeling. This resort town in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, sits at an elevation of 6,700 ft. above sea level. It's backdrop is Mt. Kanchenjunga which is among the world's highest peaks.

During weekdays, our kitchen was the domain of Kanchi who arrived in the wee hours of the morning so she could make us breakfast before we left for school. The weekends were always special because Mum took over kitchen duties. Winters were spent in Calcutta, but we returned to the mountains in the early part of March while it was still pretty cold. Porridge made from old-fashioned oatmeal was a favourite part of breakfast because it warmed us up and was filling to boot!

Fast forward several decades to a time when consuming sugary desserts are a no-no so this combination of porridge and apples is a welcome addition to dinner. So easy to prepare, the memories of my childhood evoke images of my mother's nurturing nature, with the creation of this all-time favourite.