Food and festivities go hand in hand and it’s great to see how India celebrates each festival with so much gastronome delight. With numerous festivals that is celebrated in India, there’s no dearth of mouth-watering sweets and meals and with Holi round the corner the festival sees delicacies like Dahi Bhalla, gujiya, malpua, and more celebrate with their loved ones.
And keeping up with the spirit, here are two exclusive recipes by Chef Ravi Kumar Nayak – Executive Chef, THE Park Navi Mumbai and Chef Siva Kumar - Chef De Partie, THE Park Chennai
Recipe by: Chef Ravi Kumar Nayak – Executive Chef
Dish name: Vegan Rasmalai Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
For Cake:
• Almond milk – 28 gms
• Coconut Yogurt – 10 gms
• Apple cider vinegar – 11 gms
• Avocado oil – 30 ml
• Vanilla extract – 5 ml
• Almond extract – 5 ml
Dry Ingredients:
• All-purpose flour – 17.36 gms
• Almond flour – 3.33 gms
• Sugar – 7.78 gms
• Baking powder – 5 gms
• Baking soda – 5 gms
• Salt – 3 gms
For Rasmalai:
• Pistachios – 10 gms
• Cashewnut – 10 gms
• Full fat coconut milk – 14 ml
• Soy milk or oat milk – 7 ml
• Water – 15 ml
• Sugar – 30 gms
• Saffron – 1 gms
• Cardamom pod – 10 gms
For Whipping Cream:
• Thick coconut cream – 55 ml
• Powdered sugar – 10 gms
Method
To make the Cake:
• In a bowl, add all the wet ingredients and mix well.
• In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Then combine the two until you get a cake batter. You don't want the cake batter to be too liquid but also don't want it to be too muffin-like. If it's too thick, add in 1 tablespoon or so more of non-dairy milk. If it's too thin, then add in 1 or 2 tablespoons more flour
• Grease an 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch pan, then transfer the batter to the pan. I used a glass pan for this cake so that it doesn't brown too much.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) and then bake the cake for 30 minutes. Check the 25-minute mark if the cake is done and continue to bake for another 5 if needed.
To make the Rasmalai:
• For the coconut milk, refrigerate a can of full-fat coconut milk for half an hour. You can do this before you start making the cake for it to chill by the time you need it.
• Then scoop the coconut cream part out of that coconut can and put that back in the fridge to make the whipped cream later.
• Out of the thin part of the coconut milk, use half a cup. Add coconut milk to a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients for the milk mixture to a blender and blend it for a minute then let this mixture sit for 5 minutes for the nuts to soak so that they can blend smoothly then blend again. Repeat once or twice until the texture is really smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness if needed.
• Let it sit for 5 minutes to cool then use a toothpick or a skewer to make holes all throughout the cake. Then pour a third of the milk mixture all over.
• You will need to pour the liquid over the cake in batches. So pour a third of the milk mixture then let it soak for 15 minutes, and then pour another portion of the remaining mixture and let it soak.
• If the cake doesn't soak up anymore, you can reserve the remaining third/quarter of the mixture to serve on the side.
For the whipped coconut cream:
• Take the coconut cream out from the fridge and use a whipping attachment in your hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip it until getting light.
• Add the sugar, and continue to whip until it's light and fluffy. You can also add in a bit of vanilla to the whipped coconut cream or some cinnamon.
• Once whipped, spread this coconut cream over the cake which is by now soaked with milk. Then top it with crushed or chopped raw pistachios and serve.
Recipe by: Chef Siva Kumar - Chef De Partie
Dish name: Mascarpone, Rose Petal and Honey Bundt Cake
Ingredients
• Flour – 175 gms
• Honey – 50 ml
• Sugar – 100 gms
• Unsalted butter – 170 gms
• Milk – 40 ml
• Vanilla essence – ¼ pod
• Eggs – 3 nos.
• Baking powder – 5 gms
For the icing
• Mascarpone cheese – 100 gms
• White chocolate truffle – 50 gms
• Rose petals – 25 gms
Method
• Cream butter, sugar and honey until light and fluffy and all the sugar is dissolved
• Add the beaten eggs, milk, vanilla essence and baking powder and mix well.
• Fold in the flour and incorporate it well. Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius.
• Pour the batter into the Bundt cake mould at bake for about 40 minutes.
• Check for doneness by sticking a knife, it should come out clean.
• Once done, set it aside and allow it to cool. Get ready for the mascarpone icing.
• Melt the white chocolate truffle, and add the creamed mascarpone cheese and a part of the rose petals to it.
• Pour it over the cake in a rustic way and garnish with remainder rose petals and a few gold leaves to add that sparkle of festivity!
