eggless Archives - Sugar et al

Pistachio Nankhatai Biscuits (Eggless)

24|10|2024

If you haven’t heard of Nankhatai biscuits before this, they are shortbread biscuits popular in India. The fact that they require only a few ingredients, are eggless and flavoured with spices and/or nuts makes them irrestible.

The chickpea flour and semolina add to the bite and melt in your mouth texture of the Nankhatai biscuits but you are free to use plain flour instead. To keep them authentic, I’ve used ghee but unsalted butter is a great substitute. Giving in to the craziness of pistachio and pistachio based treats, I got my hands on some pistachio paste that I knew instantly I wanted to use in these biscuits. I used this one but i’ve heard that the same brand is cheaper at Costco. If you want to make your own, the Internet is flooded with recipes of pistachio paste.

The unique taste of pistachios paired with a hint of rose and cardamom not only makes them perfect for those who celebrate Diwali but with the upcomng holidays, they would make lovely edible gifts or the most beautiful treats to share with friends and family.

If you love pistachio recipes, you will love these Mini pistachio cakes

Pistachio Nankhatai Biscuits
Makes 18-20 biscuits

1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup chickpea flour/besan (or use plain flour)
1/4 cup semolina
1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamom
1/2 cup ghee (or unsalted butter)
3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoon milk (more if needed)
1/2 cup pistachio paste (home made or store bought)
Extra pistachio paste, to top
Dried rose petals, for garnish

Method : Place the plain flour, chickpea flour, semolina nd cardamom in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the ghee and sugar until the mixture is smooth.

Add the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add milk and pistachio paste and mix well to bring the dough together. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll out uniform sized balls, place them on the tray I cm apart. Slightly flatten them with your hands and top them with the extra pistachio paste (about a tsp), if using.

Place tray in the oven and bake for 20 mins or until the base of each biscuit starts to brown. Remove from the oven, allow to cool. Decorate with rose petals. Once cooled completely, store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies

22|09|2024

I started my cookie baking for the festive season early, this year. Almost every year I end up with a bunch of recipes that I worked on but are too late to post as it’s almost January by the time I can get to it. These Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies are simply amazing. Not only do they come together in minutes, they are egg free, require no chilling of the dough or any rolling out and so on. They are extremely addictive due to the nuttiness of the hazelnuts that are complemented by dark chocolate.

I have used molds to create the design but if you don’t have a mold, use could use a sillicone muffin pan or simply bake the biscuits and then dip them in chocolate. Or you could create thumbprint cookies by filling the centres with chocolate. The possibilities are endless with these Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies
Makes 10-12 cookies

125 g (approx 1/2 cup +1 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (60 g) icing/powdered sugar
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
3/4 cup (94 g) plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Spray your cookie mold with non stick spray. Alternately, line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the hazelnut meal and flour until combined and a dough is formed that is almost firm and can be rolled into balls easily. Add a little more flour if required.

Scoop 1 tbsp of dough and place in the hole of each mold. Using the back of a spoon or with your fingers, press the dough lightly to take the shape of the mold. You don’t have to be perfect as the dough will rise and spread slightly to fit the molds. If not using a mold, simply roll the dough into balls and place on the baking sheet 1 cm apart. Make a small dent in the middle with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and feel firm to touch. Remove from oven, allow to cool in mold for 15-20 mins, then gently turn the mold tray over for the cookies to slide out. Allow to cool completely before coating with chocolate. If you’re baking the cookies on a sheet, allow to cool and fill up with melted chocolate or ganache.

Pipe (or spoon) small amount of melted dark chocolate into a clean mold. Place cookies over the chocolate, allowing some of it to come up the sides. Place mold tray in the fridge to set. Repeat with remaining cookies. Cookies should easily come off the molds.

Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu

31|08|2024

Since you guys loved my Lychee & Raspberry Cheesecake so much, I decided to create the same flavour magic in a Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu. After all it is such a delicate and beautiful combo. the best part about this Tiramisu is that it does not require you to add eggs other than the store bought ladyfinger biscuits that may have eggs in them.

To get a strong lychee flavour, the spongefingers are dipped in the lychee syrup from the can of lychees. How convenient is that! There is no wastage and saves you the time to make a syrup from scratch. The raspberry puree in the Lychee and Raspberry Tiramisu is a wonderful contrast to the creamy mascarpone and sweet lychee soaked biscuits.

Overall it is an elegant dessert, a delicious twist to a classic Tiramisu and very easy to put together. It can be made ahead and perfect for a crowd.

Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu
Makes a 9 inch dessert (if round)

18-20 Ladyfinger biscuits, depending on the size of your pan
1 can pitted lychees in syrup (560 g)
1 tbsp frreze dried powdered raspberries
Raspberry Puree Layer (recipe below)
Mascapone Layer (recipe below)

Raspberry Puree
1 cup frozen raspberries (can use fresh too)
1/4 cup castor/granulated sugar
2 tbsp lychee syrup from the can

Mascapone filling
250 g mascapone cheese (or use cream cheese if mascarpone is not available)
1/3 cup (66 g) castor/granulated sugar
1 cup (240 ml) cold thickened cream/heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the lychees and lychee syrup : Place the syrup from the can in a shallow dish, reserving 2 tbsp for making the raspberry puree. Chop lychees into quarters. Set aside.

Make the raspberry puree : In a medium saucepan, place the raspberries, sugar and lychee syrup. Over low-medium heat, cook until raspberries break down and mixture has thickened. Approx 10-12 mins. Remove from heat, allow to cool down.

Make the mascarpone layer : With an electric mixer or by hand, beat the mascarpone and sugar until light (about 2 min). Pour the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until almost stiff peaks are formed. Cover bowl with cling wrap and store in the fridge until needed.

Assemble : You could use a 9 inch cake pan or pie dish or an 8×8 square cake pan. Working one at a time, dip about half the quantity of ladyfinger biscuits in the lychee syrup and place in a single layer in the bottom of pan. Make sure to do it quickly, not letting them soak too long or they may fall apart. Break ladfingers in half and quarters if needed to fill up gams until you have an even layer.

Spoon half the raspberry puree and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Scatter half the chopped lychees over the raspberry layer.
Dollop about one-thirds of the mascarpone filling over the lychees and even out with an offset spatula.
Repeat the process with the remaining ladyfingers, raspberry puree and lychees. For the last layer, place the mascrpone filling into a piping bag and pipe kisses or you could just spread it with a spatula if you don’t want to use a piping bag.

Dust with raspberry powder. Cover the dish with cling wrap taking care not to smudge the piped mascarpone. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours, preferably overnight.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

24|01|2024

This is the most delicious, moist and easy eggless chocolate cake recipe that is made basically by throwing in all the ingredients into a bowl. The chocolate decorations may look complex and seem like a lot of work but actually they’re just melted chocolate made to set in different molds. I used these.

With valentine’s day around the corner, I was looking for an excuse to use my heart shaped cake pan that was gathering dust. If you don’t have one, just use a 7 inch round cake pan. If you want to keep things simple, feel free to top the cake with raspberries or strawberries. The cake underneath is so rich and divine, it could be eaten on it’s own.

Eggless Chocolate Cake
Makes a 7 inch round cake

1 cup (125 g) self raising
3/4 cup (150 g) castor/granulated sugar
1/4 cup (22g) dutch processed cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (120 ml) oil
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
1/4 cup (60 ml/g) Greek yoghurt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup (57 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz (115 g) cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
2 tbsp (11 g) Dutch-processed cocoa

Make the cake : Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease the base and sides of a 7-inch (18-cm) heart shaped pan and line the base with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, place the self-rising flour, baking soda, sugar and cocoa. Mix together to combine. Make a well in the centre and add the oil, water, yoghurt and milk. Fold until combined (don’t over mix).

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean.  Remove the cake from the oven. Leave it aside for 10 minutes, then gently run a blunt knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Carefully turn it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the cream cheese frosting: Using a hand mixer or an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and the butter together until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup (60 g) at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and beat till well blended.

Assemble : Place the cooled cake on a cake stand or plate. Spread the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. Fill up a piping bag fitted with a star tip with the frosting. Pipe swirls to form a border around the cake. Decorate with chocolate decorations or berries.

If you like rich chocolate desserts check out this Chocolate Tart