Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

I don't eat to live. I live to eat.

Dessert

Ras Malai Ice Cream

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Ras Malai is a traditional Indian dessert most often served at weddings. It consists of a sponge-like discs soaked in a sweet milk syrup flavored in cardamom and saffron. It’s got an interesting texture – some hate it and liken it to wet paper, others love it and find it incredibly addictive.

Well no matter how you may feel about ras malai, you are going to love this ice cream.

And no, this is not kulfi (which is made with khoya). I’ll save that recipe for another day.

And the best part is that it requires no ice cream machine at all!

I am not a fan of the three-ingredient no churn ice cream – sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, sugar that’s swept the food blogging world by a storm in the past few years. It tastes like sweet whipped cream to me. Not ice cream.

So instead, I decided to go with a lovely semifreddo base. Semifreddo in Italian translates into “Semi-frozen” and is a cross between gelato and soft-serve. To start off, I whisk egg yolks and sugar together over a double-broiler until it thickens and turns pale yellow. I then fold in heavy cream that’s been whipped into stiff peaks to give it a heavenly airy-like consistency.

Since this is ras malai, I of course added saffron and cardamom. But since most Indian desserts contain those two ingredients anyway, that in itself is not enough to get someone to recognize that this indeed is a ras malai ice cream.

My secret ingredient is ricotta cheese.

Okay, do not freak out. I know what you’re thinking. Ricotta is not found in Ras Malai whatsoever. 

But I’m telling you, It’s genius. Ras malai is made out of milk that’s been curdled and strained – the makings of cottage cheese or paneer. Ricotta gives this ras malai ice cream a very similar texture without giving a funny taste.

To round everything about, I add in a squeeze of lemon juice and stir everything together. I pour it all into a tubberware container with a lid on it (or if you want to go that traditional semifreddo shape, you can use a loaf pan) and plop it straight into the freezer. This ice cream takes about 6 hours to freeze or preferably overnight.

And there you have it, a super fun ice cream that is sure to wow all your guests! It’s bold, it’s sweet, it’s creamy, and is the complete embodiment of an Indian summer in a cone.

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Ras Malai Ice Cream

A no machine ice cream using a semifreddo custard base flavored with saffron and cardamom

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5-7 saffron threads
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (or to taste)
  • 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (full fat)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp crushed almonds and/or pistacchios optional

Instructions

  1. Set up a double broiler. Add an inch of water to a pot. Bring to a boil. Find a bowl that fits over the bowl without touching the water. 

  2. In the bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Add on top of double broiler. Lower the heat. Whisk vigorously for five minutes, or until mixture has turned a pale yellow. Do not let eggs overcook and scramble or else you will have to start over!

  3. Remove custard from double boiler and allow to cool. 

  4. Using an electric or hand-held mixer, whip up the heavy cream until you get stiff peaks. Once custard has cooled, fold it into the mixture.

  5. Soak the saffron strands in 1 tsp of hot water. Add to the ice cream. 

  6. Add in your ricotta, lemon juice, cardamom. Combine thoroughly. 

  7. Pour into container and cover. Let it freeze for at least 6 hours or ideally overnight.

  8. When serving garnish with chopped nuts (optional). 

Cardamom Pistachio SemiFreddo

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I absolutely love ice cream and all of its variations – gelato, kulfi, frozen yogurt, vegan ice cream – you name it. And that includes semifreddo. A cross between ice cream and custard, semifreddo in Italian means “Semi-frozen”. It’s luscious, rich, and unbelievably easy to create.

What’s convenient about this recipe is that it does not require an ice cream machine at all. (Although I honestly think it’s high time that I do invest in one. After all, I claim to be an ice cream aficionado amongst my friends.)

The base consists simply of egg yolks and sugar whisked vigorously in a double broiler until a lovely pale yellow custard is formed.

The second item required in a semifreddo is fresh whipped cream. This gives the semifreddo extra creaminess and allows you to forgo the churning process altogether.

Along with vanilla bean and almond paste, I wanted to add a bit of a South Asian twist to this Italian classic – so I added in some cardamom and ground pistachios.

 

Semifreddo is usually made in a loaf pan; thus giving it a signature shape.

 

Finally, I topped the semifreddo off with Rooh Afza – a bright and brilliant rose-flavored syrup with an aroma unique to the region of Pakistan. You can usually find it at any Indo-Pak grocerty store.

To cut the sweetness, I added a squeeze of lemon juice before adding to the semifreddo. (In a future Ramadan blogpost, I’ll show you guys how to make Rooh Afza lemonade.)

And there you have it – a show-stopping Italian-Indian fusion dessert. Make this for a spring-time dinner party and your guests will surely be impressed!

 

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Cardamom Pistachio Semifreddo

An Indian twist to an Italian semifreddo

Servings 5

Ingredients

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond paste or extract
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp chopped pistachios (divided)
  • 2-3 tbsp Rooh Afza syrup
  • 1-2 squeezes lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Set up a double broiler. Add a few inches of water to a pot and bring to a simmer. Find a clear bowl that fits on top of the pot. Make sure the water doesn't hit the bowl.

  2. In the bowl add your egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Whisk until well combined.

  3. Bring the bowl over the pot and whisk vigorously for about 10 minutes. Make sure the eggs do not scramble and that the water does not touch the bowl.

  4. The custard should turn pale yellow. Remove from double broiler. And allow to cool.

  5. In the meantime, using a hand-held mixer or standing mixer, beat the whipping cream until you create soft peaks. An easy way to know you're done, is to flip the bowl upside down. If nothing falls out of the bowl, then your whipped cream is ready. If it's a little runny, keep beating. Make sure you do not overbeat or else you will make butter!

  6. Combine the custard and whipping cream. Add in your vanilla and almond pastes/extracts, cardamom powder, and 2 tablespoons of ground up pistachios. Save the remaining tablespoon for garnish.

  7. Take a loaf pan and line it with plastic wrap. Add your custard mixture into the loaf pan and cover. Place in freezer for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.

  8. Before serving, take your Roohafza syrup and add a few squeezes of lemon juice.

  9. Take your semifreddo out of the freezer and drizzle over the Roohafza. Top with the remaining pistachios.

Holiday Biscotti

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Everybody complains about the short days and long nights of winter. But I absolutely love it! (Of course, minus the part where I have limited time to take blog pictures that require natural lighting.) In fact, I hate summer. Prolonged sunlight makes me feel as though time is moving at an excruciatingly dull rate and that life is sad and mundane. Winter evenings, on the other hand, are cozy and if you have the right people around you, can be indeed lively and fun.

Around this time of year I always make a few batches of biscotti. Some to give to friends as edible gifts, some for the family to snack on throughout the day, some for myself to have with a hot cup of chai.

For this recipe, I use dried cherries, coconut flakes, orange zest and almonds. The bright red dried cherries give the cookie a beautiful festive look, and the coconut gives a wonderful yet subtle flavor. Of course, it isn’t quality biscotti if you don’t add in a heaping serving of nuts. I kept it classic with some slivered almonds.

What makes this extra flavorful and not a sad, dry, and bland cookie is the orange juice and zest as well as the addition of almond and coconut extracts. The orange gives such a wonderful aroma and the extracts deepen the flavors, making this holiday biscotti absolutely divine!

So go ahead and buy a few  Christmas tins, and give these away generously. Your friends will be delighted!

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Holiday Biscotti - with cherries, almonds, and coconut

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c coconut oil
  • 2 c flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 c slivered almonds
  • 1 c shredded coconut (unsweetened!)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp coconut extract (you can leave it out if you don't have it)
  • 2/3 c dried cherries or cranberries
  • 2/3 c sugar
  • zest of one orange
  • juice of 1/2 of the orange

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 300 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

  2. Pop your coconut oil into the microwave for about 30 seconds to melt it. Allow it to cool.

  3. In your electric standing mixer with your paddle attachment (or with a simple mixing bowl and spatula), combine eggs, sugar, coconut oil.

  4. Add in your extracts and orange zest. Make sure to measure out the almond and coconut extract before adding because they are quite strong!

  5. Now add in your dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, and salt in slow increments. Make sure everything is well combined.

  6. Once a dough is formed add in your nuts, dried coconut, and cherries. Combine until everything is evenly incorporated. Note - If you only have sweetened coconut on hand, then make sure to decrease the amount of sugar you use in the recipe by a tablespoon or two.

  7. Now you will form a log with the dough. It will be loose and sticky but that's okay! Just work slowly and add the dough to the middle of the parchment paper. Using a spatula try to get the log as even as possible into an oval shape. It doesn't have to be perfect.

  8. Once your logs are formed, put your baking sheet into the oven and remove when the edges start turning brown. This can take about 35-40 minutes.

  9. Remove from oven and let the logs cool. Do not touch or cut right away!

  10. After the logs have cooled to room temperature, you will cut them into pieces. Use a serrated knife and cut at a sharp angle for long pieces.

  11. Now take your biscotti pieces and put them back on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Increase the temperature of your oven to 350 and bake for about 6-8 minutes.

  12. Take the baking tray out of the oven, turn the cookies over and bake for anoter 6-8 minutes.

  13. Remove the biscotti. Once cooled, it is ready to be devoured!