Top 5 dessert recipes to indulge and wow your guests with this Eid

FOR THE SUGAR SYRUP

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 or 2 sticks cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tsp rose water (optional)

 FOR THE KNAFEH

• 1 packet of knafeh dough (you can find this at many Middle Eastern grocery stores)
• 6 tbsps butter/ghee
• Orange powder food colouring (optional)
• 1 litre milk
• 4 heaped tbsps corn flour
• 250g ricotta cheese
• 200g mozzarella
• Handful of pistachios

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C
2. Begin my adding the ingredients for the syrup to a pan and heat over a medium flame for about 10-15mins. Set aside and leave in the fridge until later.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of butter/ghee to knafeh dough/pastry and mix with your hands so that the butter/ghee is spread evenly throughout the dough.
4. Divide the dough in 2 halves.
5. Spread 2 tablespoons of butter/ghee onto a 12” round baking tray. At this point you can add the orange food colouring to the ghee so that the top of the knafeh has an orange colour (optional).
6. Spread one half of the dough onto the tray and press it down firmly.
7. Place in the oven for 10-15mins until golden.
8. For the cheese- heat 750ml milk in a non-stick pot and keep stirring so that it doesn’t burn.
9. Mix 4 heaped teaspoons of corn flour in a separate cup of 250ml cold milk until it dissolves and add this to the milk in the pot. Keep stirring until the milk thickens to a custard-like consistency (add more corn flour if needed).

 10. Once the milk has thickened, add 250g of ricotta cheese  and 200g of mozzarella.

 11. Once the cheese has melted, use a hand held blender to  smooth the mixture.

 12. Pour the cheese over the dough that was in the oven and  leave the edges free of cheese to prevent burning.

 13. Place the other half of the knafeh dough over the cheese  and press down gently.

 14. Put in the oven again for 15mins until golden.

 15. Once done, pour the syrup over the knafeh and decorate  with nuts of your choice – I used pistachios.

Notes

• You can find the knafeh dough and knafeh powder food colouring at Middle Eastern supermarkets

Kalakand
A creamy sweet type of Indian sweet

Ingredients

• 1 tin condensed milk
• 400g paneer
• 3/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp sugar (optional)
• Handful of chopped nuts to decorate - e.g almonds and pistachios

Instructions

1. Line a square baking tray with grease proof paper and set aside.
2. Finely grate the paneer.
3. Add the grated paneer, condensed milk, cardamom powder and sugar to a pot and heat over a medium flame.
4. Mix constantly to prevent burning for about 7-10 mins. Once the liquid starts to reduce and the mixture moves away from the pot remove from heat immediately.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and top with nuts.
6. Once cooled, place the tray in the fridge overnight to set.
7. The next day, cut the kalakand into squares and serve.

Notes

• This recipe makes 12 large squares of kalakand.

Strawberry mousse
A refreshing summer strawberry dessert