Have you prepped for today? Lights set, rangoli done, outfits check and mithai…. disappeared. We totally understand how difficult it must get for you to resist the stacks of sweet boxes that start piling up a week before Diwali. Every time you go to the kitchen, no matter how hard you try, you would pop in at least one sweet tid-bit in your mouth when you return and well, this goes on. Come Diwali, your mother is looking for that box of mithai she had kept hidden so that it could be used for puja but your nose dragged you to that unknown corner one fine night.
Don’t fret, it’s not such a big deal. Why we say so? That’s because we’ve got a decadent dessert recipe coming your way. This fusion dessert is an interesting mesh of desi and foreign flavours. Ever imagined the much-loved Kaju Katli in a cheesecake? No, right? We didn’t either until we came across this delectable recipe by the self-taught baker and blogger Shivesh Bhatia.
Ingredients
For the base
• 2½ cups (250gms) crushed biscuit
• ¼ cup (25gms) powdered cashews
• ⅔ cup (130gms) melted ghee
For the filling
• ¼ cup (50gms)cashew paste
• ¾ cup (180gms) heavy cream
• 1.5 tbsp (18gms) cornflour
• 2 cups (360gms) cream cheese
• ¼ tsp (1gm) cardamom
• 1½ cup (484gms) condensed milk
Instructions
1. In a bowl, add in crushed biscuits, powdered cashew, and melted ghee. Mix all of these till everything is coated in ghee evenly.
2. Transfer the biscuit mixture to your spring form pan. Use the back of a glass to push down and cover the base of the pan with the biscuit mixture. Set it aside in the refrigerator.
3. For the cheesecake filling, to make the cashew paste, blitz your cashews in a food processor till you get a smooth bowl. Set it aside.
4. In a small bowl, add heavy cream and corn flour and mix this till it’s lump free. Set it aside.
5. In a large bowl, add softened cream cheese. Use a spatula to smooth it out. Add in cardamom and mix well.
6. Now add in the corn flour slurry that was kept aside, along with the cashew paste and condensed milk. Bring everything together till there are no large lumps.
7. Bring out the spring form pan from the refrigerator and transfer the filling over your biscuit base.
8. Prepare a hot water bath and put the cheesecake in a preheated oven at 170 degree C for 40-45 minutes.
9. Let it cool down completely.
10. Slice and enjoy!
Is your sweet tooth tickling already? Well, in that case, we won’t keep you waiting. Go and whip up this scrumptious dessert and have a Happy Diwali!
