No sugar in this house....weeellllll......
.....most of the time.
2 recipes:
This one is super quick and easy with pretty results: Puff Pastry Pinwheel Cookies. I needed something to take along to a friend's house this weekend, and used what I had on hand (I used marmalade in half of the cookies and apricot jam in the other half):
And here is an old standby of mine, which continues to please my Indo-Pak friends, so it must be something close to authentic. It's called Ras Malai, and be aware, it is sweetened ricotta cheese swimming in sweetened half-and-half. (I cannot bear the stuff from the restaurants and shops...it makes my teeth squeak.) My recipe is super simple, but it does take a while to boil and bake. No actual work, just time. It's a Southeast Asian dessert, so you might try it next time you're planning an Indian meal. It can be made a day or two ahead. (Any longer in the fridge and it begins to break down.)
Ingredients:
2 lb. ricotta cheese
1 quart half-and-half
2 cups sugar
4 whole cardamom pods
3 whole cloves
1 small bay leaf
1" whole cinnamon stick
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. of rose water (or to taste)
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 °F. Mix 1-1/2 cups of the sugar with the ricotta. Spread evenly in an 8" square baking pan coated lightly with unflavoured cooking spray. Cover tightly with foil and bake 50-60 minutes, until the cheese had become firm and turned a light golden colour on top.
Place all the whole spices, the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and the half-and-half in a saucepan and thicken by simmering over low heat. Simmer, stirring often, until the volume drops to about 2/3 of the original.
Cut the baked ricotta into 1" or 2" squares. Arrange in a container and strain the half-and-half mixture over the top (remove and discard the whole spices). Cool in the refrigerator before serving.
Wow this picture is exceptionally uninspiring. Needs a sprig of something, right? But you can get the idea of the level of browning on the top, and the texture the cheese should be at the end of baking:
2 recipes:
This one is super quick and easy with pretty results: Puff Pastry Pinwheel Cookies. I needed something to take along to a friend's house this weekend, and used what I had on hand (I used marmalade in half of the cookies and apricot jam in the other half):
And here is an old standby of mine, which continues to please my Indo-Pak friends, so it must be something close to authentic. It's called Ras Malai, and be aware, it is sweetened ricotta cheese swimming in sweetened half-and-half. (I cannot bear the stuff from the restaurants and shops...it makes my teeth squeak.) My recipe is super simple, but it does take a while to boil and bake. No actual work, just time. It's a Southeast Asian dessert, so you might try it next time you're planning an Indian meal. It can be made a day or two ahead. (Any longer in the fridge and it begins to break down.)
Ingredients:
2 lb. ricotta cheese
1 quart half-and-half
2 cups sugar
4 whole cardamom pods
3 whole cloves
1 small bay leaf
1" whole cinnamon stick
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. of rose water (or to taste)
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 °F. Mix 1-1/2 cups of the sugar with the ricotta. Spread evenly in an 8" square baking pan coated lightly with unflavoured cooking spray. Cover tightly with foil and bake 50-60 minutes, until the cheese had become firm and turned a light golden colour on top.
Place all the whole spices, the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and the half-and-half in a saucepan and thicken by simmering over low heat. Simmer, stirring often, until the volume drops to about 2/3 of the original.
Cut the baked ricotta into 1" or 2" squares. Arrange in a container and strain the half-and-half mixture over the top (remove and discard the whole spices). Cool in the refrigerator before serving.
Wow this picture is exceptionally uninspiring. Needs a sprig of something, right? But you can get the idea of the level of browning on the top, and the texture the cheese should be at the end of baking:
