There is a cherry on top of every pie but for some of us desserts serve as the cherry on the whole meal. In fact, it even becomes the best part of your day if you are a proud possessor of ‘sweet tooth’ – both figuratively and literally. Having a sweet tooth means someone having the craving and extreme liking for sugary foods and all kinds of confectionery.
If you are that special someone, here are some easy-to-make desserts from vegan to dairy-rich and fruity recipes. A few could be eaten hot while others are preferred cold or completely frozen. Let’s begin salivating reading these and gather all the motivation not to drool while reading.
A better way is to order them through a reliable meal delivery service that drops the exact food items at your doorstep along with a recipe note to make the experience sweeter. A fine collection of such services is listed here. If you love cooking, these recipes are a must-try but going to the supermarket to get all the ingredients can be a hassle.
1. Coconut Rice Pudding (Vegan) – Kheer
This is one of the most indulgent comfort foods originating from the subcontinent (locally known as Kheer) with the simplest ingredients. Many may recall it from the childhood days when mothers would put the large container with milk and rice simmering for hours to bring out the creamiest of textures. Good for a quick snack as well as for a recovering patient as a means of nutrition and great taste.
This particular version of the rice pudding is vegan and has coconut in it, with a lot of room to improvise with the addition of raisins, blueberries, roasted almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans. These nuts and berries would increase the nutritional balance of this dessert. If you are conscious about caloric intake, try brown rice instead of white rice. Similarly, to replace white sugar, you can add brown rice syrup, vegan honey, maple syrup, agave or coconut nectar to further reduce calories. If cooked to the right consistency, this has the potential to become everyone’s favorite dessert.
Ingredients:
- 1-15 oz can of full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup of white or brown rice
- ¼ cup of maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons of powdered cinnamon (to taste)
- 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
- 1 pinch of salt (optional)
- 1 cup of raisins (optional)
- ½ cup of blueberries (optional)
Recipe instructions
- Take a medium-sized deep pan, fill it with all the contents of a full-fat coconut milk can and put it on the heat for boiling.
- Wash and drain the rice before adding to the boiling coconut milk.
- Keep the flame high for it to boil and then lower heat to medium flame till it starts to simmer.
- After 20 minutes of simmering, stir in almond milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla extract and if you like, all the berries and nuts as well.
- Keep stirring for another 15 minutes till the consistency becomes thicker, smoother, and creamier.
- Lower the heat to low flame and stir constantly otherwise the rice would start sticking to the bottom.
- When you feel the ingredients have come together fully, remove the pan from the flame and let it cool a bit.
- The rice pudding is ready to serve – hot or cold – with your favorite toppings (cinnamon, blueberries, grated coconut, coconut cream, shaved roasted nuts, etc).
You can find healthy vegan snacks like dandies vegan marshmallows along with desserts for every occasion here.
2. Sweet Dumplings (Gulab Jamun)
Another sweet offering from the subcontinent – these sweet dumplings (or locally called gulab jamuns) – are syrup-soaked balls of dough. They are a staple for every marriage or happy event in the subcontinent and most celebrations are incomplete without them. This one would tilt towards the indulgently sugary variety of sweets so caution must be exercised when you see a bowl with a half a dozen of these.
Ingredients
- 500 grams of dried condensed milk (khoya)
- 50 grams of refined flour
- 1 small egg
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of water
- 2 powdered cardamoms
- ½ teaspoon of baking powder
- 2 liters of oil (for deep frying)
Recipe instructions
- Pour water and sugar into a deep pan and put it on medium flame.
- Add powdered cardamom to the sugary mix and let it boil for 10 minutes.
- When a light syrupy consistency is achieved, turn the flame off.
- Now take a bowl and mix dried condensed milk, refined flour, baking powder, and half of the egg.
- Knead the mixture into the dough and make small balls out of it.
- Put oil into the frying pan and let it heat on medium to low flame.
- Once the oil is evenly hot, put in the dough balls and let them fry till golden.
- Dip the fried balls into the sugar syrup and let them soak for two hours.
- Garnish with roasted nuts or cardamom powder and serve.
3. Milk Dumplings (Ras Malaai)
Milk dumplings – or known as Ras Malaai– literally mean “nectar of cream”. It is a traditional dessert made with milk both in dry and liquid forms with lots of sugar, cardamom, and nuts. This sweet dish is best served cold so that those delectable balls of dough, soaked with sweet milk with nuts could melt in your mouth when the time comes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of dry milk
- 1 small egg
- 1 liter of fresh milk
- ½ cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon of powdered cardamom
- ½ cup of chopped almonds and pistachios
Recipe instructions
- Take a bowl and mix egg, dry milk, baking powder, and half of the cardamom powder.
- Knead the mixture into a soft dough.
- Make small balls out of the dough and place them to rest on a plate.
- Pour all the fresh milk into a deep pan and let it boil.
- Add sugar and rest of the cardamom powder, along with almonds and pistachios, into the milk and let it boil for 5 minutes.
- Add the dough balls into the boiling milk and lower the flame.
- Let the balls get doubled in size and soak the milk completely, with some milk still left to float in.
- Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes and then turn the flame off.
- Pour the contents into a deep bowl and chill before serving.
4. Sugar Syrup-soaked Donut (Jalebi)
Jalebi is the queen of sweets in the subcontinent and every celebration has at least one house in the neighborhood with a huge fryer and a canister of sugar syrup to store this most delectable sweet.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 pinch of baking soda
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
- ½ teaspoon powdered cardamom
- 1 cup of water
- ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder (optional) or 2 drops of orange food coloring
- 1 cup of sugar
- 3 strands of saffron
- ½ teaspoon of lemon juice
- 1 liter of oil (for deep frying)
Recipe instructions
- Take a large bowl and mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, yogurt, water and if preferred, turmeric or food coloring.
- Whisk the batter into a thick pancake batter consistency. Add to reduce water as required.
- Let the batter ferment for 12 hours until bubbles develop on the top layer of the batter.
- Take a deep pan and mix water and sugar in it on medium heat.
- Mix in cardamom, saffron strands, and lemon juice to the sugar syrup and let it boil for 10 minutes.
- When the syrup becomes a thicker consistency, lower the flame and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- When it becomes stickier, turn the flame off.
- Now whisk the fermented batter and transfer the mixture into a piping bag or squeeze bottle.
- Take a deep frying pan and heat the oil on medium flame.
- Once the oil becomes evenly hot, squeeze the batter into overlapping circular shapes.
- Gradually increase the heat so that the dough becomes crispy from the outside but still a bit chewy from the inside.
- Take the fried dough out of the oil and put it into the sugar syrup.
- Let it soak the syrup for 10 minutes and then serve hot.
5. Mango Milky Bar (Kulfi)
Kulfi has its origins in the Persian Empire spanning from the Middle East to Asia along with its local variants in the adjoining regions. Traditionally it is made with only milk and sugar but fruity variants such as mango kulfi have gained much popularity among the food aficionados. Here’s a quick and easy recipe for Mango Kulfi.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of double cream
- 1 cup condensed milk
- 1 cup of mango puree
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of chopped pistachios
- 2 tablespoons of grated coconut
Recipe instructions
- Take a large bowl and whisk double cream till soft peaks form.
- In another bowl, pour in condensed milk, mango puree, and lemon juice and mix into a smooth consistency.
- Now fold in the two mixtures together without overdoing it so that the air stays within the whisked peaks.
- Pour the final mixture into small kulfi molds, each about 4-5 cm in diameter and 10 inches long. You may put a stick in so that the final product becomes like an ice-lolly.
- Place the filled molds in the freezer for at least three hours.
- Once completely frozen, take the mango kulfi out of the molds and place them on a plate with a generous garnishing of grated coconuts and chopped pistachios when serving.