Why must desserts be last?

We serve dessert in small amounts at the end of any meal. Eating dessert last gives the body time to digest the more nutritional components of the meal and slows down any sudden changes of blood glucose levels in the body.

"The need for happiness is like the need for the dessert after a meal. While a meal is incomplete without a sweet dish, similarly life is scrappy without happiness."

No matter how much you eat, always keep room for dessert…!!!!

HOT CHOCOLATE SUNDAE

Ingredients

4 scoops vanilla ice cream

4 scoops strawberry ice cream

4 scoops chocolate ice cream

½ cup black grapes

½ cup green grapes

20-25 fresh strawberries

4 oranges

1 medium sized pomegranate

20-25 almonds

4 wafer biscuits

¾ cup chocolate sauce

Method

Select flat dishes for making the sundae and chill them in a refrigerator. Wash grapes, and fresh strawberries, and cut into two halves. Peel oranges, clean, and separate segments and split open into two. Cut pomegranates and separate seeds. Roast almond and slice thinly lengthwise. Cut wafer biscuits into triangles. Heat chocolate sauce in a double boiler, place a pan with a bigger mouth, half filled with water on heat, and keep the pan of chocolate sauce in it. Just before serving, take out one flat dish from the refrigerator and arrange one-fourth of the prepared fruits at the base. On it, place three scoops of ice cream of each flavour. Pour 1 tablespoon of hot chocolate sauce on each of them. Sprinkle sliced roasted almonds. Decorate with wafer biscuits and serve chilled immediately. Repeat the process for remaining sundae.

CRUNCHY MUFFINS

Ingredients

1½ cups refined flour (extra for lining the muffin tins)

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup corn flakes

1 tbsp butter

½ orange

½ cup butter/margarine

¾ cup brown sugar

1 egg

2-3 drops vanilla essence

¼ cup milk

For the topping —

¼ cup walnuts

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon powder

Method

Preheat oven to 180° C. Sift flour with baking powder. Lightly crush corn flakes and walnuts. Grease eight muffin tins with butter. Fill all the tins with flour till the edges, remove the flour and lightly bang the tins so that all the flour is removed from it except for a very fine layer. Grate the rind of orange. In a bowl, make cream by adding butter, brown sugar, and orange rind with a wooden spoon, till light and fluffy. Beat the egg lightly with vanilla essence. Add milk and egg to the butter-sugar mixture and mix well. Add the flour and baking powder mixture and mix. Mix in corn flakes. Correct the consistency, if required, by adding more milk. Divide the mixture equally between the muffin tins. Combine the crushed corn flakes and walnuts for the topping and sprinkle over the muffins. Bake in the preheated oven at 180° C for 15 to 20 minutes, or till the skewer come out clean from the muffins. Serve hot.

3-FRUIT STEAMED PUDDING

Ingredients

1 medium apple

2 medium chikoos (sapodilla)

2 medium bananas

2 eggs, 1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon powder

3 tbsp honey

Method

Wash, peel, and core apple. Wash, and peel chikoos, removing all seeds. Peel banana and grind to a fine paste, along with apple and chikoos. Break egg and separate yolks from whites. Reserve the yolk for some other use. Beat egg whites till stiff. Preheat oven to 190° C. Mix wheat flour with baking powder and cinnamon powder and sieve. Mix fruit puree, egg whites, and honey with a light hand. Add wheat flour and combine well. Pour into pudding mould. Cover tightly with silver foil. Put the pudding mould in a hot water container and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 190° C or till the skewer come out clean from the pudding. Serve warm or chilled.

STEAM CAKE WITH CUSTARD

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar, 1 cup ghee

8 eggs

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp vanilla essence

For custard —

4 eggs, 1 cup milk

½ cup sugar

Method

Beat eggs with vanilla essence and ghee. Mix flour with baking powder and powdered sugar. Add flour mixture into egg and combine well. Grease the cake mould. Pour the mixture into the cake mould. Cover tightly with silver foil, and put the cake mould in a hot water container and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 190° C or till the skewer come out clean from the cake. Transfer the cake on a flat plate and keep aside.

For custard —

Beat eggs, add milk, sugar, and combine well. Heat the mixture and stir continuously till it thickens. Pour the custard over the steam cake. Serve chilled.

NO-BAKE CHEESE CAKE

Ingredients

For the crust —

90gm digestive biscuits

45gm melted unsalted butter

For cheesecake filling —

200gm cream cheese, softened

60gm sugar

100gm greek yoghurt

100ml whipped cream

3 tbsp lemon juice

40gm water

5gm gelatine powder

Method

For the crust —

In a food processor or a ziplock bag, crush digestive biscuits into fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse until they combine. Press into the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan. Refrigerate while making the filling. For cheesecake filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, yoghurt, whipped cream, and lemon juice until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix gelatine powder with water. Bloom gelatine for a few minutes and microwave it for 20-30 seconds. Then, add 2 tablespoon of cheesecake mixture into the gelatine, and mix it well. Pour the gelatine to the cheesecake mixture until well combined. Pour the filling into the springform pan. Place in the freezer while making the topping. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or chill cheesecake until set.

TRIFLE

Ingredients

1 sponge cake square

4 tbsp sugar

1 cup plain thick curd/yoghurt

½ cup fresh cream

4-5 saffron string, 2 tbsp jam

4 strawberries, 6-8 cherry

¼ cup apple, chopped

¼ cup banana, chopped

¼ cup grapes, chopped

¼ cup pomegranate

Few springs of fresh mint

1 tsp milk

Method

Slice cake horizontally into two layers using a sharp knife. Cut strips of cake to fit the glass bowl. Make sugar syrup using sugar and one cup of water. Wash and slice strawberries and cherry. Wash and dry the fresh mint. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the jam and blend into a smooth paste. Soak saffron with 1 teaspoon of milk. Whip fresh cream, sugar and yoghurt/curd to soft peak consistency. Add saffron to the mixture. Sprinkle sugar syrup on cake strips and divide them into three parts. Line the glass bowl with one part neatly. Arrange a layer of half the quantity of fresh fruits and top it with a layer of one-third of fresh cream. Cover it with the second part of cake strips. Spread a thin layer of jam. Repeat the layers of fruits and fresh cream. Finally, cover with the remaining sponge cake strips and whipped cream. Garnish with strawberry, cherry, pomegranate, and mint or fresh fruits of your choice. Serve chilled. This trifle can also be set in individual glasses or cups.

Photo: LS archive/Sazzad Ibne Sayed