A former biochemist turned baker, Hetal Vasavada loves how the precision and accuracy of baking mixes with the freedom of creativity.
"Buttercream and cookie dough as my medium has brought me so much joy."
She hopes her new book, Desi Bakes, helps people embrace their inner artist and baker. Inspired by her Indian culture, handicraft, arts and experiences, the book’s recipes also reflect her American heritage.
Her food styling is influenced by bright pinks, yellow, orange, fresh flowers and edible gold and silver decor found at Indian weddings and everywhere on holidays like Diwali and Holi.
Both her parents grew up in homes where they were taught various Indian handicrafts like beading, embroidery, tie-dying, sewing, jewellery making and more.
"As I grew up they taught me how to create these art works, as their parents had taught them."
As with those handicrafts, the skills and recipes for cooking or baking are taught and passed down through the generations, changing as each generation advances and moves, but still rooted in the origin of the art or culture.
"It’s all about the process and really enjoying creating edible art."
She includes some basic tips to help eliminate some of the problems bakers face. Her main advice: use a scale and always bake in the middle of the oven, unless a recipe states otherwise. It is also important not to make substitutions for important ingredients like butter, sugar, flour or eggs.
"Feel free to have fun with flavours. Swap out vanilla for peppermint or almond extract. Change out the strawberries for blueberries — go for it. That is where you can have some creative freedom."
But at the end of the day she says, we should remember baking is supposed to be fun, not stressful.
"Take inspiration from the arts and crafts in the world around you and run with it."
The Book
This is an edited extract from Desi Bakes: 85 Recipes Bringing the Best of Indian Flavours to Western-Style Desserts by Hetal Vasavada, published by Hardie Grant Books. RRP $59.99. Photography: Hetal Vasavada.
Cardamom and brown butter sandwich cookies
When I gave these cookies to my husband Rhut to try while I was testing them, he said they tasted like the Dutch butter cookies in those blue tins. To be honest, he wasn’t too far off.
The brown butter frosting really gives these cookies a butteriness and butterscotch-like flavour.
You could also skip the filling and just make the cookies if you want to serve more people or make this recipe simpler.
Makes 12 cookies
Cardamom cookies
180g all-purpose flour
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp kosher salt
113g unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g granulated sugar
3 Tbsp (42g) dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 Tbsp applesauce
2 Tbsp heavy cream
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Brown butter frosting
7½ Tbsp (106g) unsalted butter
113g powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Optional decoration
2 Tbsp melted chocolate
Chopped pistachios
Edible flower petals
For the cardamom cookies
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom and salt.
In a bowl, with an electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar on high speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and add the applesauce, cream and vanilla and mix until well combined. Scrape down the bowl once again. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until just combined.
Roll the dough out between two large pieces of parchment paper until it is 6mm thick. Set on a baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.
Use a 7.5cm square scalloped cookie cutter to cut out cookies and arrange them on the baking sheet 2.5cm apart. Reroll the scraps to cut out more cookies. Freeze all the cookies for 10 minutes. This ensures that the cookies keep their shape.
Bake the cookies until the edges just start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.
For the brown butter frosting
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, stir the butter over medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes. The butter will melt and start bubbling. Continuously stir the mixture until the milk solids starts to caramelise, you see little brown specks in your pan, and it starts to smell nutty. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes. Pop the brown butter into the freezer for 15 minutes to help solidify it.
In a bowl, whisk together 90g of the brown butter, the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until well combined with a smooth frosting-like mixture. You want the thickness to be the same as buttercream.
There are two ways to assemble the cookies. You can use a table knife to spread the filling or use a piping bag (or small plastic bag) to pipe the filling on to the cookies. Flip half of the cookies over and spread/ pipe the filling on to them. Top with the remaining cookies.
If desired, decorate the cookies with a drizzle of melted chocolate and a sprinkle of pistachios and edible flower petals.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Strawberry and jasmine tiramisu
My mom has an intense green thumb, and her pride and joy is her night-blooming jasmine. Summer nights were spent sitting outside basking in the aroma of jasmine while eating freshly cut fruit from my dad.
This tiramisu is an edible version of those memories, and it’s made with ladyfingers that are soaked in a delicate jasmine tea and layered with ripe strawberries and a velvety mascarpone cream.
Traditionally, tiramisu is made with a zabaglione, an Italian custard made with eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese. In this recipe, I make it eggless by using a thick mascarpone whipped cream.
The tiramisu is then dusted with pink strawberry powdered sugar before serving.
Makes one 20cm square tiramisu
Dipping liquid
300ml hot water
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons (23g) jasmine tea (about 3 tea bags)
Mascarpone cream
300g mascarpone cheese, cold
60g granulated sugar
60g powdered sugar
320ml heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
⅛ tsp kosher salt
For assembly
36 ladyfingers
340g strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
5g freeze-dried strawberries
18g powdered sugar
For the dipping liquid
In a large bowl, stir together the hot water and honey until well combined. Add the jasmine tea and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the tea into a shallow bowl and set aside.
For the mascarpone cream
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat together the mascarpone cheese, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar for 2 minutes. Add the cream, vanilla, cardamom, and salt and whisk on medium-high speed until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth and fluffy.
To assemble
Dip each ladyfinger into the tea for 2 seconds and place it into a 20cm square pan. Repeat until the bottom of the pan is covered in soaked ladyfingers. Lay a single layer of sliced strawberries over the top of the ladyfingers.
Spoon half the mascarpone cream mixture on top and gently spread evenly. Top with a second layer of soaked ladyfingers and strawberries. Top with the rest of the mascarpone cream. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.
In a small blender, blend the freeze-dried strawberries and powdered sugar until fine. If you want to be a little extra fancy, you can add a pinch of edible glitter as well! Dust the top of the tiramisu with the pink powdered sugar before serving.
Raspberry rose lemon posset
My favourite kind of Indian desserts are custards and creams. I can remember savouring silky smooth shrikhand and rich warm kheer during big holiday dinners. Possets give me the same type of feel. They are a citrus-flavoured (usually lemon) dessert that has a texture similar to pudding or pot de creme but without eggs!
This posset would fit right in on a Holi dessert table, when desserts like rabdi (thickened sweet cream), thandai (milk mixed with nuts and spices), and ghughra (nut-filled hand pies) are typically served.
Possets are made possible by the reaction between the cream and acid from the lemon juice. The cream is first boiled so that a good amount of water content is evaporated, and the majority of the cream left is fat.
Then you add the acid, which will cause the protein in the cream to solidify, but the high fat content gets in the way of the protein and instead of curds you get a velvety, creamy texture!
Resting and straining the custard before pouring it into the ramekins ensures that you won’t develop a skin on your posset when you refrigerate it. If you do decide to make this for a make-ahead party, just pour the custard into small shot glasses and refrigerate overnight.
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
2 tsp grated lemon zest
118g granulated sugar
480ml heavy cream
60ml fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp raspberries, plus more for decorating
1/4 tsp rose water
Pinch of salt
For decorating
Whipped cream
Dried rose petals
Fresh raspberries
Edible glitter
Method
In a medium saucepan, combine the lemon zest and sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is wet and pale yellow.
Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Meanwhile, blend the lemon juice and raspberries together in a small blender until smooth. Strain the juice through a sieve to get rid of the raspberry seeds and set aside.
Remove the cream mixture from the heat and stir in the lemon/raspberry juice, rose water and salt. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.
Strain the mixture into a measuring cup with a spout and pour the mixture into 115ml ramekins.
Refrigerate the possets or 2 to 3 hours, or until set.
Decorate with whipped cream, dried rose petals, fresh raspberries, and a touch of edible glitter!
