Christmas Special recipe!

November was the month full of festivities, starting from Diwali and finishing off with ‘Bhai Dooj’.After November come December which is again full of festivity, the most important being the CHRISTMAS. Perhaps this is the only time of the year when the whole family comes together in celebrations and impending phone calls are made to the relatives living all across the world. And hence, today we present a special traditional sweet in our ‘From my Kitchen’ section for the pre-Christmas celebration.

With our new gen being experimental with their culinary skills, our very own Dr. Chef, Shivangi Sharma, brings us a Christmas Special recipe ‘Anjeer (fig) Rose Fantasy’ to surprise the family with the very desi ‘anjeer’ being the most important fruit in the delicacy.

Ingredients:

-Eggs 3, medium size
-Castor sugar 160gms
-milk 100 ml
-Unsalted Butter 55gms
-Vanilla Extract 1/2 Tablespoon
-Maida 1 cup
-Baking Powder 1tsp
-Salt – pinch

Instructions:

-combine the eggs and sugar over a double boiler and whisk constantly till sugar dissolves well.
-Take off stove and whip on high speed till ribbon stage and volume is tripled.
-Melt butter in milk on stove and keep aside. Add the vanilla extract to milk. Mix all the dry ingredients and sift well. Add them bit by bit to the egg mixture till mixed well.
-Take out about 2 cups of the cake batter into a separate mixing bowl, and with a hand whisk add the hot milk-butter to that. Mix well.
-Add this milk batter mixture back into the remaining mixture in the mixer bowl.
-Pour batter in one 8″ tin.
-Bake in preheated 350°f oven for about 40 minutes. Remove when cool.

For meringue:

-90 gms egg white
-180 gms icing sugar
-few drops of vanilla essence or colour as per desire

Beat egg whites. Once soft peaks start forming, add sugar bit by bit till stiff peaks are formed (this will take about 7-8 mins). If you want to add colour or flavour, add at soft peak stage. Fill a piping bag with this mixture and pipe small drops on a baking paper on a tray. (The mixture should hold its shape and be stiff). Bake in a preheated oven for 25 mins at 180 degrees.  They should be crisp on top and should come off with the base intact. If not bake for 15 mins more at lower temp (160 degrees). Once cool paint with an edible golden shimmer powder and set aside.

For Fig Mousse:

-6-7dry figs soaked overnight
-100 ml heavy whipping cream
-50 ml egg whites
-Few drops of edible pink colour (optional)

Mash the soaked figs after draining them. Whip the cream till stiff
peaks formed and add the figs and colour. In a separate bowl whip egg
whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites in the cream
mixture and refrigerate overnight.

To Assemble:

Cut the sponge cake in layers. Cut in round or square shape. Cut it in shape of a cube size 5*5*5 cms. Layer the mousse generously between the layers and on top as well as the sides. Place the meringues on top and sides in neat lines. They will stick easily due to the mousse. Take fresh organic rose petals and wash them well. Place them in
spaces between meringues.

SOUL tip: ‘Anjeer’ is a fruit which has lot of health benefits such as a treatment for sexual dysfunction, constipation, indigestion, piles, diabetes, cough, bronchitis, and asthma. It is also used as a quick and healthy way to gain weight back after suffering through an illness.

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