Interesting Dessert with Carrots

Some would immediately say "Ewww", yet we do eat carrot cake! With spices added, and a little sugar, lots of things become not only palatable, but downright delicious. And so it is with this, another Indian recipe for Gajar Burfi, or in other words, a carrot fudge.

Gajar Burfi or Carrot Fudge with Edible Silver Leaf

I have encountered many interesting blogs with Indian recipes, and one of them is www.vegrecipesofindia.com. I have not made too much from this site, but it is a veritable treasure trove, if you love Indian food. Since I have an Indian Dinner scheduled next week, I was looking for a dessert - not Gulab Jamun, since I served that to two of the guests last time! The stricture of "no nuts" was a trifle limiting, since so many desserts and other Indian foods use nuts as a matter of course. And then I came upon this recipe for Gajar Burfi. As usual, I looked at a slew of other recipes for this same dessert, and settled with this one as it sounded easy enough. 

Before making it for guests, however, I thought it expedient to at least try it out and see if it was something that tasted good. My husband is a little sketchy on carrots. He will eat them if they are in something like a vegetable soup, or shredded into a stir fry, but not so much blatantly on their own! I am not sure if he will eat this or not, but I am going to hazard a guess that he just might, if he can get past the thought of eating CARROTS for dessert. ;-)

Gajar Burfi or Carrot Fudge

So with that in mind, I set about making half of the recipe - partly as I didn't have enough of the whole milk powder on hand to make the whole recipe, and partly because....what if we don't like it? So, the recipe is pretty much straight from this blog site mentioned above and I would encourage looking through that site.

The recipe is detailed in very large step by step photos on this website, so mine will be just enough to give the idea. Truly, it is a simple recipe. The whole milk powder is not available everywhere - certainly not in this town, to my knowledge. Amazon is my go-to place. The recipe uses a small amount of ground cardamom, but I do encourage you to invest in the whole cardamom seeds and grind them yourself rather than get pre-ground powder. I have tried both, and the powder, which is often the seeds ground along with the husks in the interest of cost, just barely has any flavor in comparison. And who would have known that carrots and cardamom would go so well together? 

One thing about Indian recipes: they rarely will tell you how much a thing makes, or what size of pan to use. When I started this recipe this morning, I greased a 7 x 7-inch pan, thinking this would work for half the recipe. As I got closer to the end of cooking I realized this was far too large a pan. I couldn't find anything else on short notice but a 6-inch diameter round cake pan. Even that is larger than I would have liked for this half recipe I made. So, I believe the 7 x 7-inch pan would accommodate the whole recipe (as written below) just fine, giving a slightly thicker final product. My burfi turned out rather flatter than I'd hoped, and with the round pan, I cut it into wedges rather than squares. All that said, the bit I ate was out-of-this-world good!

This is what to do:

Gajar Burfi or Carrot Fudge

Gajar Burfi (Carrot Fudge)

Makes one 6 x 6 or 7 x 7-inch square pan

2 tablespoons ghee
4 cups finely grated carrots
pinch of salt 
1 cup whole milk powder
⅓ cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
pistachios (or raisins) for garnish

Grease a 6 x 6 or 7 x 7-inch square pan or tray and set aside.

In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, melt the ghee and add in the grated carrots and the pinch of salt. Use a silicone spatula to toss and stir the carrots over medium to medium low heat for 7 to 9 minutes. The carrots will cook and also dry out considerably in this time.

Take pan off heat and dump in the powdered milk, stirring quickly to combine with the carrots. Return to the heat and add the sugar and cardamom, stirring quickly and scraping the bottom often. There will be some sticking, but most can be avoided by keeping focus on the mixture. The sugar as it melts will loosen the mixture somewhat, but it quickly dries out and the carrots will come together into one mass. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it to the edges.

cooking carrots      |  whole milk powder added  |      sugar goes in      |      cooked to a ball      |     turned into pan to mold

Allow to cool, then cut into squares (or wedges if you've used a round pan). Garnish with chopped pistachios or with (white) raisins to serve. 

I believe that the half recipe I made would nicely serve 3 people, with two small, thin wedges constituting a serving. So this whole recipe as it stands above would serve 6. If you are more conservative in your serving portions (I have no willpower!), then the recipe might serve 12.

Then of course, in the interest of making a good thing better, since the main course for my dinner next week is a Royal Biryani, I felt I should invest in some edible silver leaf (varq or vark) to adorn the dish, as is often shown in cookbooks. It so happens that I ordered it over the weekend and it arrived this morning! I got it out, believing (and rightfully so) that it might require a bit of a learning curve to set the silver leaf in place, I got out one of the sheets and experimented. The first photo above shows my very first time with silver leaf! (From Amazon, of course!)


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Holiday Recipe Ideas

Cookie Plate 1

I finally got all my cookies finished, just in time to make up all the gift plates for handing out as gifts to family. I ended up making more varieties of cookies than usual, and certainly more iced cookies than usual. I created 3 new cookie recipes and one new fudge recipe. The new cookie recipes are Gingerspice, Cardamom Almond and Chocolate Hazelnut Pepperballs, (these last recipes were featured in my last blog post). The new fudge recipe was for Pecan Praline Fudge, though that was a last minute switch. I originally meant to make it maple and walnut flavor. I just happen to have Pecan Praline flavoring in my cupboard so I used that, but either way it would be excellent. Other cookies I made were Springerle, Rolled Butter Cookies, Miracle Peanut Butter Cookies, Cherry Bon Bons and Pistachio Tea Cookies. I also finally got around to making my Grandma's Nut Pita recipe. This is not a terribly sweet pastry, but delicate and delicious nonetheless.

Grandma Hromish's Nut Pita

Makes two 9 x 13 inch pans

Dough:
4 cups flour
1 package dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
½ pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)

Nut Pita

1 cup cream, (evaporated milk will work)

Filling:
12 large eggs, separated
4 cups ground walnuts
2 cups sugar
¼ cup whiskey
Vanilla for brushing
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Mix the yeast into warm water to soften. Mix together and blend well (by hand or machine) all ingredients for dough and then divide dough into four parts. Roll out one part and line a 13 x 9" pan.

Make the filling by beating together all of the egg yolks plus 2 of the whites, the sugar, whiskey and nuts. In a separate bowl, beat the rest of the egg whites and fold this into the yolk mixture. Pour half of this mixture into the dough-lined pan.

Now roll out the second part of the dough and lay it atop the filling. Repeat with the other portions of dough and filling in a second pan. Slash tops of dough with a knife or prick with a fork and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until done. When done, sprinkle the top with vanilla, or use a pastry brush. Slice into diamond shapes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

NOTE: If you want to try this, but 2 (9 x 13-inch) pans seem too much, I split the recipe in half, using these measurements:

DOUGH: 2 cups flour, 1¼ teaspoons instant yeast, 2 tablespoons water, 1 stick unsalted butter and ½ cup cream or evaporated milk. Divide dough into only 2 parts. 

FILLING: 6 large eggs, separated, 2 cups ground walnuts, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons whiskey. Follow the same directions as above, using one of the whites with all the yolks, then beating the rest of the whites for the meringue.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cookie Plate 2

All that done, I had to put my thoughts on what to make for Christmas Eve. In our house, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are both times for lots of little nibblies. Tidbits and appetizers of all sorts are set out and we graze the evening away. This year I made a few things; some new and some old. I set out a cheese and salami tray, with an applewood smoked Gruyere and some Swiss cheese. I also set out a little round of Boursin with garlic and herbs. This is such a spectacular flavored and textured cheese, though it is 60% butterfat. Be prepared. I had made some quince paste a month or so ago so I also set out some Manchego cheese with slivers of the quince past on them. Cheese seems to play a large part in appetizers, for sure, and it didn't stop there.

I made my Bean and Cheese Dip as it is my husband's favorite (and just plain GOOD).

Bean and Cheese Dip

Bean & Cheese Dip

Makes about 3 cups

1 (11.5 ounce) can Bean & Bacon Soup
1 (5-ounce) jar Kraft Processed Cheese (Bacon flavor is great)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
¼ teaspoon hot sauce, optional
1 cup sour cream
 
In a deep 1-quart casserole, combine soup, cheese, brown sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, onion and hot sauce (if used). Cover and microwave at high for 4 - 5 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring twice during this time.

Stir ½ cup of bean mixture into sour cream, mix, then return all to the casserole and mix in well. Cover again. Microwave at medium low (30%) for 2 minutes or until heated through, stirring once. Serve with crackers of your choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also made were: Smokies in Puff Pastry, a ready-made pizza flat bread with Spinach Dip spread over top and then covered in a mixture of shredded cheeses and baked. I first learned of this at my sister's house in October, where she used a Boboli crust. Where I live no store carries Boboli, but there are other brands available. She also had made an appetizer using those little bags of Mini Sweet Peppers. I liked the concept, so what I did instead is to make what started off as a cheese ball, but then I thought of just stuffing the little peppers (cut in half, stems and seeds removed) with the cheese ball mixture. So, that cheese ball never made it to a ball shape after all, though it is simple enough to roll into a ball and then in some nuts or herbs and chill. This is the mixture I made for my cheese ball:

Cheese ball mixture in Sweet Pepper halves

A Cheese Ball Variation

2 (8-ounce) blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature
6 ounces freshly shredded Parmesan and/or Romano cheeses
2 teaspoons dry onion soup mix
1/3 cup caramelized onion (or substitute with chopped scallions)
4 slices (thick-slice) bacon, fried, drained, chopped finely
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup pecans, chopped
3/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)

Place the cream cheese and Parmesan/Romano into a large bowl and add the dry onion soup, caramelized onion (or scallions), bacon, rosemary and Worcestershire. Using a mixer, combine these ingredients. Add in the pecans and craisins until well blended. If making this into a ball, chop more pecans or fresh herbs and roll the cheese ball into this and then wrap in plastic wrap and chill until needed. If using this mixture to stuff the mini sweet peppers, you will need about 1 pound of them. The bag I bought was a 1-pound bag and it was just about perfect for the amount of cheese ball mixture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, if you, like me, dislike the fact that all the dry soup mixes and bouillons seem to have MSG, I created my own mixture of a Dry Onion Soup Mix. I use the stuff in things like oven roasted potatoes, Herbed Onion Bread, and now the cheese balls (plural, because I made some to take to my sister-in-law's for Christmas Day snacking). The recipe is simple, and far more flavorful than store-bought dry onion soup. It makes about 1/4 cup worth, which is equivalent to one pouch of store-bought. It is simple to make multiples of the recipe, though be careful to stir it well before using smaller portions, such as the 2 teaspoons called for in this cheese ball recipe. The onion flakes tend to accumulate at the top of the mixture, and the other spices settle. Just mix all the ingredients together and store in a tightly sealed glass jar. I did not use any bouillon in the mixture, as most of them have MSG, which I am avoiding. To make this into a soup, either buy a good stock or make your own to use as the liquid base.

My 2013 Christmas Eve Table

Dry Onion Soup Mix

3 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon celery seeds, crushed or ground
¼ - ½ teaspoon black pepper


I hope I have given some ideas for making creative appetizers for the holidays or for any party. I love making all these little things. With help it is even more fun. I wish all of you the very best of the holiday season.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Merry Christmas to All

As the day is ending, I cannot but be thankful for family, extended family and all the blessings I have in my life. We spent our day with family in a small town in South Dakota, and the weather was frigid but fine, and family was warm and welcoming as always. Some of the family could not all be there at the same times, but came in and out as they were able. We missed those absent.

Cookie Selection

As I write blogs about everything food related, today was certainly what all the food work and research is all about. Recipes for foods and goodies of all kinds abound over the holidays. We get to try others' dishes and trade recipes, enjoying, indulging (and even overindulging). Children run around ecstatic with their new gifts and toys. The hustle and bustle of happiness is everywhere.

I have always been lucky to be a part of wonderful and loving families and extended families. Last night I invited 4 people to share in a little feast of appetizers and goodies. Most of the foods I made are not yet posted on my website, but will be soon. I made gougeres, for the very first time. If you have not tried them, they are a savory version of a cream puff, usually made with cheese in the batter. I made little Spanakopita, which are always a hit. I had a simple bean dip I have been making for just the longest time, and which my husband particularly loves. I made No-Knead Bread, and did my usual, slathering slices with pesto, then sprinkling generously with shredded Parmesan. I broil these until the cheese is melted. My sister-in-law is particularly fond of those. Little smokies wrapped in puff pastry dough are another treat my husband loves. Of course there was a plate of salami slices, an olive selection, cheese slices, and crackers. 

Then came the sweet treats. I have been making cookies up to just a couple of days ago, and set out a bit of all of the varieties. I have written here about most of them, and have been placing recipes on the website as I went. This pictured selection consisted of Bourbon Balls, Ginger Brandy Logs, Rolled Butter Cookies, Pistachio Tea Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Cherry Bon Bons, Gingerbread Cookies, Kifli, and Nutritious Delicious Fudge. The cookies all look so lovely set out this way.

Rolled Butter Cookies

Rolled Butter Cookies

2¼ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift together first 4 ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Lightly beat egg and add to crumb mixture, along with vanilla. Mix well and chill dough. This dough may be made well in advance and frozen until needed.

Roll out and cut cookies into desired shapes. Bake @ 350 for 10 - 12 minutes.

NOTE: These cookies may be iced using a simple confectioners' sugar and water glaze. Mix until the icing barely puddles when dropped from a spoon; neither too thick nor too thin. Dip tops of cookies into glaze, allow to drip and set to dry on waxed paper. Best to allow 24 hours for icing to be completely dry, otherwise they may stick together when stacked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bourbon Balls

Makes about 4 dozen

Bourbon Balls

3 cups finely crushed Vanilla Wafer cookies
1½ cups finely ground pecans
1¼ cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons honey
6 tablespoons bourbon

Place the finely crushed Vanilla Wafers in a large bowl. Add the ground pecans and stir; set aside. Mix together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder. Set aside. Mix together the honey and Bourbon.

Mix the honey / Bourbon mixture into the confectioners' sugar / cocoa mixture until it is syrupy. Blend this mixture into the crushed cookie and nut mixture until well combined. Form about 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar.

NOTES: As stated, other liquor may be substituted. Other nuts, such as walnuts that grind finely may be substituted. The little cookies may be rolled in confectioners' sugar rather than granulated.

With all these possible substitutions, it would be festive to make 2 or 3 different varieties.

MORE VARIATIONS:
Substitute different types of liquor. Try using rum, or Malibu Rum, or spiced rum. Try a type of liqueur, one that is not too sweet, such as Cointreau for a chocolate orange flavor.

Change the type of cookie used. Try using gingersnaps to make the crumbs, or even a chocolate wafer cookie. Any cookie that makes good crumbs would work.

Vary the kind of syrup. You may use honey, a more natural sweetener, but corn syrup works great also.

When you first start making changes to a basic recipe, try to stick to very similar ingredients and swap one to one.

1. If using an alternate alcohol, use a dry alcohol such as bourbon, whiskey or rum.

2. If using a different cookie to make the crumbs, try cookies that are very similar in texture, such as other hard wafer cookies.

3. If choosing a different kind of nuts, choose nuts that are easy to grind, unless you want a more textured cookie.

4. If substituting the kind of syrup, remember that honey or corn syrup are quite thick and very sticky. This helps the cookies stay together; trying to alter the syrup too radically may result in crumbling cookies.

Once you have the recipe down, try other possibilities:

1. Try using a sandwich type cookie, keeping in mind that you may need less syrup or honey to bind, as the filling adds both moisture and sweetness.

2. Try a different liqueur, keeping in mind that too much sweetness may be cloying.

3. Vary coatings: try colored sugar, colored sprinkles or little jimmies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nutritious, Delicious Fudge

Nutritious, Delicious Fudge

makes one 13-x 9-inch pan

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed well
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped

Spoon the beans into an electric food processor and process until smooth. Add the cocoa, butter and vanilla and blend until well mixed and beans are totally pureed.

Place the confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Add the bean mixture. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a buttered 9 x 13-inch pan and refrigerate until set.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My little group enjoyed themselves immensely, I am thrilled to say, and we all ate and drank amid great laughter and conviviality, and still got to bed early enough to get an early start this morning. I hope all my readers have enjoyed this holiday as much as I, and if this holiday is not your holiday, I still pray all have enjoyed happiness and peace of family at this time of year.  Blessings to all. And to all a Good Night!

My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.

Nutritious Fudge?

Well, maybe it's not totally nutritious, but it sure has one healthier ingredient.  Can you guess?  How about pinto beans?

I found this recipe around 30 years ago. I believe it was a newspaper clipping I kept.  It was at a time when I was looking for how to get more fiber in the family's diet, and what better way than with beans?  I tried this recipe, not telling anyone how I made it. Can you imagine the kids going, "Eeeewwww!" No one knew any difference from any other fudge. This fudge tastes really good, looks fantastic, takes very little time to set up and doesn't require any cooking at all.  All you need is a strong food processor to get the beans nice and smooth and an electric mixer.

Nutritious, Delicious Fudge

Nutritious, Delicious Fudge

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed well
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped

Spoon the beans into an electric food processor; process until completely smooth.  Add the cocoa, butter and vanilla and blend until well mixed and beans are totally pureed.  Place the confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl.  Add the bean mixture.  Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes.  Stir in the pecans or walnuts.  Pour into a buttered 9 x 13-inch pan and refrigerate until set.

I made this fudge just this morning and took photos this afternoon.  I added nuts to half the recipe, and left the other half plain.  I have not fiddled with the recipe, because it is really good.  However, I do believe that since there is a whole tablespoon of vanilla in there, some of that could be swapped out for other flavors, such as orange, or mint.  Nuts could be changed out.  Pistachios might be good with some almond flavoring.  Raisins or craisins could be added in, also. Try it out, just as written the first time, just to get the feel of it.  Then, have fun with all kinds of flavor variations.



My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.