Triple treat on a platter

I took to baking when I was around 12 years old. I would watch my mother make simple but amazing vanilla cakes. I loved making cookies then and baking became a favourite pastime.

I chose Home Science as my sixth subject during 11 and 12th standard in school. I liked this subject so much that even practical exams, for which I used to bake chocolate cakes, it were a lot of fun.

When I became a parent, baking was my biggest stressbuster. I would often spend my nights baking and experimenting in the kitchen. It was my go-to-place whenever I needed a
different perspective.

As time passed, orders started pouring in and I realised that this is where I belonged. And this is how Ashel’s Baking Heaven became a reality.

I am into fusion desserts. Creating such desserts is thrilling yet challenging.

The fact that one won’t be able to find the same elsewhere is exciting. But not all flavours mix and match well, so while making a fusion dessert, one needs to be really careful.

Once I had ordered a dessert from a food delivery app and that is what inspired me to make ‘Jamun Phirni Tart’.

I decided to put in the ingredients together and voila! I hope the ones who like to experiment yet love traditional recipes, will like this dish.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Tart crust
Phirni
Gulab Jamun

For the Tart crust

Ingredients

All-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Icing sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces - 130 gm
Egg (lightly beaten) - 1

Method

Add the flour, icing sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse it.

Add the butter and pulse it again or until the mixture looks like a oats flakes.

Slowly add the egg, keep pulsing it until the dough starts to clump together.

Turn the dough out onto a mat or a board. Quickly and gently knead the dough a few times until it comes together.

Press the dough into a greased tart pan with a removable bottom. Press evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the shell.

Prick the bottom of the dough several times with a fork.

Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 F°.

Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes.

If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Bake the crust about 10 minutes longer until it is firm and golden brown.

Let the crust cool.

For Phirni

Ingredients

Full cream milk - 1 ltr
Basmati rice/ red broken rice - 100 g
Sugar - 150 gm
Cardamom powder - ½ tsp

Method

Soak the rice in water for half an hour and grind to a smooth paste.

Bring the milk to boil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the rice paste.

Simmer the milk till it thickens while stirring continuously.

Add the sugar and cook for 5 mins. Add cardamom powder and remove from fire.

Chill it for six hours.

For Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

Sugar syrup:
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Powdered cardamom -3

Gulab jamun:
Milk powder - 9 tbsp
Maida / all-purpose flour - 3½ tbsp
Rava / semolina - 1 tbsp
A pinch of baking soda
Ghee - 1 tsp
Warm milk - 4 to 5 tbsp

Method

Make the sugar syrup by taking a heavy bottomed pan, adding 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water and boiling it.

Simmer it for 4 minutes till the sugar syrup turns slightly sticky. Keep checking for string consistency. Add the cardamom powder, cover it and keep it aside.

Take another bowl and add milk powder, maida, rava, a pinch of baking soda, ghee and crumble it well. Slowly add milk little by little and knead well. Knead kit to a smooth and soft dough. Make small balls from the dough, without any cracks.(Remember that the balls will double once in the sugar syrup and should be small enough to be put inside tart.)

Heat ghee in a kadhai and fry the gulab jamuns on a low flame.

Make sure you fry the balls uniformly to a golden brown.

Drop the hot jamuns into the hot sugar syrup.

Cover the lid and let it rest for 2 hours.

Final arrangement

Once the tart crust, phirni, gulab jamuns are all ready, take the tart crust, add 3/4 of the chilled phirni into the tart, followed by gulab jamuns on top.

Garnish it with pistachios and slivered almonds.

Ashel Dimi