Cheese and chocolate layered dessert with egg meringue

About the food:

This is a fusion between cheese & cream truffles and the classic french dessert oeufs a la neige au chocolat (eggs on top of the chocolate mountain), and it is absolutely heavenly and as sinful as any food could be!

Different tastes are revealed at each layers: The topmost layer chocolaty, decorated with egg meringue (poached egg whites in milk) followed by the lemony and creamy cheese layer.

It uses Italian ameretti biscuit in the last layer, which are hard and brittle with a bitter-sweet taste. It is the last one to be tasted. The last spoonful would be a bit strong in taste, with the bitter-sweet biscuity flavour. This needs an acquired taste, but once you have gathered it, you would love it, and which is like heaven!

Cooking time: 1 hrs.

Ingredients: (serves 5)

6-7 Italian Amerreti biscuits, roughly crushed in a mortar. (If you cannot get them, any chocolate wafers, like Kitkat could be used).
1/3 tbsp coffee
2 tbsp cointreau or brandy
2 egg whites
100 gms caster sugar

Chocolate custard:

400ml milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp caster sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Cream Cheese Filling:

1/2 tsp gelatine
2 tbsp water
125 gm cream cheese, at room temperature
75 gm caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
150ml cream

Methods:

1.Line up 5 tall glasses, and divide the biscuit mixtures among them. Pour 1/2 tbsp brandy in each. Mix 1/2 tbsp coffee in 1/4 cup of hot water, let it cool. Pour 1/2 tbsp coffee mixture in each of the glasses.

Cream cheese filling:
2. In a heat proof bowl, mix the gelatine and water. Place it on top of a pan of boiling water: the water should not touch the bowl. Mix it well by whisking it. Take it off from the pan and let it cool.
3.Put the cheese, sugar and lemon juice in a whisking bowl and whisk until well mixed and fluffy. Fold in the cream and whisk again. Mix the gelatine.
4.Pour the filling into each of the glasses, filling the glasses half through.Refrigerate for 15 mins.

Chocolate custard & egg meringue:

5.Add 2 tbsp of sugar to the egg whites.Whisk until white peaks are formed. Add the remaining sugar (from 100gms) and whisk until smooth.

6.Mix and boil the milk, vanilla and 3 tbsp of sugar. Poach the above meringue mixture in the milk, by dropping spoonfuls of them and cooking them for 4-5 mins, and gently turning them. Take them out on a kitchen paper when they are firm. Continue with all the mixture.

7. Take a heat proof mixing bowl and mix the above milk, cocoa powder and the egg yolks. Whisk them until smooth. Simmer them by putting in on top of a pan of boiling water: continue cooking until thick, and continuously stirring the mixture. Cool the mixture for 10 mins.

8. Pour the custard to fill the rest of the glasses, and top them up with the egg meringue.

9. Chill for 2 hrs; sprinkle with cocoa powder before serving.

Rice pudding (Payesh)

About the food:
This is a traditional Indian dessert. What a birthday cake is to the western world, the rice pudding is to the states in south-east India, specially among the Bengalis. This dish has a special place in the hearts of the Bengalis: I cherish the memories when my mom used to make the payesh, as what it is called in bengali, on my birthdays. Having stayed abroad, I miss this occasion even more and my heart aches to get a bowl of payesh made by my mom on the special day.

I have used govindabhog rice for this dish, but unfortunately I did not find it anywhere in London. So every time I go to India I bring my supplies of rice. When I am out of the stock, I have to rely on my kind friends and relatives flying here from India. So, assuming you might not get this rice, go for the pudding rice which are available in all supermarkets.

Preparing this dish needs much patience and is laborious. One has to constantly stir the milk, making sure it does not stick to the base of pan, burn or spill out of the pan. This means you cannot leave the hob for a moment until it is done. Making a payesh without spilling the milk out of the pan demanding, and I admit, I have never been successful in that! But do not worry, other than this bit, it is fairly easy to make. only the other trick lies in the quantities of rice to milk, and the rice when done, should not be hard and yet not too soft.

Preparation time:10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hrs

Ingredients: serves 5

1 litre whole milk
Two small handful of govindabhog rice or pudding rice
2 bayleaves
5-6 cardamom
1/2 bowl cashew nuts, chopped in small pieces
10-12 pistachhio nuts, chopped in small pieces
5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp kewra water
1/2 small bowl raisins, washed

Method:

1. Pour the milk in a big pan, and bring it boil. Add the bayleaves and the cardamoms. Lower the flame, uncover and keep it simmering. The milk should reduce to less than 1/2 of its original volume. Keep in stirring, so that it does not stick to the base of the pan.

2.Meanwhile, wash and drain the rice. When the milk has been halved, add the rice. Add the raisins, sugar and the kewra water. Keep it on low flame, stirring every now and then, until the rice has been cooked. Be aware that the pudding would thicken when cooled.

3. Add the cashew nuts, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Put it in a serving bowl immediately, as the pudding would thicken and you might not be able to serve without breaking the pudding in pieces. chill in a refrigerator for 2-3 hrs.

5. Garnish with the pistachhio nuts and serve chilled.

Deep fried ice-cream

About the food: This is an amazing and most delicious food I have ever tasted. I was bewildered to learn about the food when I was in high school. Ever since I always thought of it, but did not get an chance to taste it. It is only recently I had a variation of this food at one of my friend's place, and I promised myself, that I have to explore this dish..and with a bit of research here and there, and voila..here it is! Preparation time: 10 mins cooking time: 10mins Ingredients: serves 4 1 box of two-in-one vanilla-strawberry icecream (or your favourite flavour) 1 pound sliced white bread vegetable oil for deep frying 3 heaped tbsp of cornflour 3 heaped tbsp of plain white flour Method: 1. Mix the cornflour and the white flour in a bowl. Add water to make a smooth batter. 2. Discard the side crusts of the bread slices by carefully cutting it with a knife. Put a bowl of water ready and deep a bread slice, and take it out immediately and sqeeze the water out by pressing it flat on the palms of both hands. One fried ball would need 2-3 bread pieces, so keep them ready. 3. Scoop out a big ball of ice-cream and put it at the centre of a bread slice. Make a circular mould with it, cover the top of the ice-cream with the other slice, and make a round mould as perfect as you can. 4. Deep the balls is the batter and cover all its sides. 5. Heat oil in a pan or a deep frier. Start to heat up before you are ready with the ice-cream balls, as frying process has to be very fast, and the ice-cream balls should not wait for the oil being heated. This is very crucial. Deep fry the balls in the pan, turning it on both sides for about 30 seconds. The flame should be high and any time more than this might melt the ice-cream inside. 6. Serve it immediately. You might garnish it with chocolate sauce.

Malpowa

About the food:

This is a traditional Indian sweet dish, served as a dessert or as a snack.

Preparation time: 30mins
Cooking time: 30mins

Ingredients: ( serves 6)

2 cups of white flour
1/2 cup semolina
200ml evaporated milk (or condensed milk)
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp rose water
whole milk 200ml ( if needed)
1 banana, finely mashed
seeds of 6 cardamom pods
Vegetable oil for deep frying


Method:

1.De-seed the cardamom pods and finely crush the seeds in a morter and pestle. Keep it aside.

2.Put the flour in a big mixing bowl. Add the semolina and the cardamom powder to the flour.Mix the evaporated milk and make a smooth paste. Add the mashed banana and mix it well. The paste should not be too thick or too watery.A caution: do not mix all the evaporated milk to the flour, start mixing it slowly, and add as much as it takes for a smooth paste. You might use a portion of the whole milk if you need.

3.Boil 1 litre of water.Add the sugar and let it simmer to obtain a thick syrup. Add the rose water. The syrup should be 1 thread thick (i.e. the syrup should be 1 thread thick when taken between two fingers and stretched). Let it cool.

4.Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Pour 1 big serving spoonful of the mixture to the oil. The mixture would dip to the base of the pan, and then would rise up. when one side is done, fry the other side by tossing it over. The pancakes would be crispy and dark golden in colour.

5.Drain the oil from the pancakes on a kitchen tissue and transfer them to the bowl of sugar syrup. Soak the pancakes in the syrup for about 10 mins and transfer them in a serving bowl.

6. The malpowas are now ready to serve.