It is adapted from my Perfect Plain White Burfi recipe and it’s completely foolproof. Each square of burfi is perfectly crumbly and melts in the mouth. Indian sweets have never been so simple!

Easter Chocolate Burfi: The perfect kids Easter project!

If you have a glut of leftover Easter chocolate to use up, or want to make something fun for Easter with kids, this is the ideal recipe. Little ones will love decorating the slab of chocolate burfi. My little one loves adding chocolate bunnies.

What type of chocolate to use for chocolate burfi

I use milk chocolate Easter eggs for the shiny chocolate topping. Mix it with a small amount of butter to ensure it melts nicely and cuts without snapping or breaking. Be sure to use a sharp knife to cut your burfi into squares.

If you like, you can use regular chocolate bars mixed with butter, or even easier is to use cooking chocolate. This already has fat added so the chocolate burfi cuts perfectly. Indian sweet shops traditionally use cooking chocolate for their chocolate burfi. It’s pretty cheap stuff but I think it’s all part of the charm!

What does Burfi mean?

The word burfi or barfi is a Hindi word which stems from the Persian barfī, which literally means ‘icy’ or ‘snowy’. Baraf is the Hindi word for ‘ice’.

This traditional Indian sweet carries the name Burfi because of it’s cool, melt-in-the mouth texture. If you’ve ever tried the western retro sweet, coconut ice, you’ll be familiar with this concept.

How to make Burfi with milk powder

My recipe here calls for milk powder. In many cases, people use mawa (milk solids) which you can make by reducing full-fat milk. Indeed, you can also buy mawa in many South Asian food shops.

I like to use full-fat milk powder because it is readily available in most shops or online.

What if I can’t find full-fat milk powder?

If full-fat milk powder proves to be elusive, you can use skimmed milk powder and simply replace the milk in this recipe with an equal measure of double (full-fat) cream. This simple switch will produce a delicious, creamy Burfi.

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Other types of Burfi to make

• Pistachio Burfi
• Birthday Cake Burfi
• Cookie Dough Chocolate Burfi
• Plain White Burfi

Why won’t my Burfi set?

If you undercook Burfi, it will not set. Watch my step-by-step recipe video to see what the Burfi mixture should look like before you place it in the tin. If the mixture is too runny, the Burfi won’t set and the texture will be sticky to eat.

Why is my Burfi chewy?

Burfi can turn chewy if you overcook it. Be sure to cook the Burfi mixture over a very low heat. Stir constantly without stopping. Keep an eye on the texture. It is ready when the mixture forms a cohesive mass that comes away from the sides of the pan. It should look a bit like mashed potato!

Easter Chocolate Burfi recipe

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Easter Chocolate Burfi

This super-duper chocolatey take on Indian Burfi puts Easter chocolate to work for a totally cute springtime sweet! Easy and quick to make.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Keyword burfi, cardamom, indian sweets, milk, mithai, pistachio, saffron

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Author Sanjana

Equipment

• L30 x W20 x D5cm (13"x9") rectangular traybake pan

Ingredients

• 240 g sugar
• 300 ml whole milk
• 130 g salted butter
• 595 g full-fat milk powder
• 1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
• 12-15 saffron strands
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon juice

For the chocolate topping:

• 250 g chocolate I used Easter eggs
• 50 g salted butter
• 100 g your favourite Easter chocolate, to decorate I used Mini Eggs, Malteaser bunnies, KitKat bunnies, Smarties, Milkybar and Kinder eggs

Instructions

• Line a L30 x W20 x D5cm (13"x9") rectangular traybake pan with baking parchment.
• Heat the milk in a large, non-stick pan. Add the butter and allow it to melt.
• Add the sugar and stir until it has completely melted and you can no longer feel the crystals at the base of the pan.
• Tip in the milk powder and stir well to combine. The mixture will become thick, like mashed potato in appearance.
• Cook the mixture over a very low heat, stirring all the time to ensure it doesn't catch and burn on the base of the pan.
• Once the burfi mixture begins to come away from the sides, at about the 5 minute mark, add the lemon juice, vanilla extract, cardamom and saffron. Continue to stir for a further 2 minutes.
• Around the 8 minute mark, the burfi mixture should be thick. Once it forms a soft mass that comes away from the sides of the pan and into a ball, it is ready.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin lined with baking parchment and pistachios. Press the mixture in with a rubber spatula, ensuring the surface is as even as you can get it. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Break the chocolate into small pieces and microwave in short bursts, stirring gently in between until the chocolate has fully melted. I did 4-5 20-30 second bursts. Pour the chocolate over the burfi and spread into an even layer. Top with your Easter chocolate decorations. Allow to set in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Cut into squares using a sharp knife and serve at room temperature.

Video

Notes

• If your burfi begins to develop brown spots in places, it means either the heat is too high or you’re not stirring it enough. Keep it moving all the time to prevent burnt milk flecks.
• This burfi keeps well in an airtight container for up to a week. Keep refrigerated and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
• Burfi served cold from the fridge will be much firmer in texture.

If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Hot Cross Bun Mac & Cheese!

Love Sanjana

The post Easter Chocolate Burfi appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

In an attempt to create all that I seek in a good brownie, I’ve tried no fewer than 25 variations of this recipe before . My aim? To strike the perfect balance between fudgy and cakey, chocolate-rich but not overwhelmingly so, and of course, to produce the highly-coveted glossy, crackly top.

The entire process has been as intense as the cocoa solids in the chocolate I was baking with.

A great vegan brownie recipe

My final bar is everything I look for in a truly wicked brownie. Squares of dense chocolate fudge, 2.5cm deep, encased in light chocolate cake, and crowned with a glossy, paper-thin “meringue-ish” patina. They’re moist, but not so much that they don’t benefit from being washed down with a glass of cold milk. And most importantly, they’re not so intensely flavoured that they feel too grown up to be a nostalgic treat.

Brownies will only be as good as the chocolate you use

Brownies made with dark chocolate will produce a brownie with more more bitter notes than brownies made with milk chocolate. I follow the school of thought that advocates the use of the best quality chocolate you can afford. After all, brownies are all about showing off great chocolate.

I’m yet to find a vegan milk chocolate I love, so I stuck to my two favourite dark chocolate brands in this recipe. If you do makes these brownies with milk chocolate, note that the recipe will result in brownies that are lighter in colour and much sweeter than the original.

My best advice is to choose the chocolate brands you actually like the taste of. It sounds silly but this is an easy thing to overlook. Having said this, feel free to mix things up with a couple of different brands. Baker extraordinaire, Stella Parks suggests blending multiple chocolate brands in her fabulous cookbook, Bravetart. Using multiple varieties allows you to build depth of flavour in your brownies. It works.

These vegan brownies are the ultimate balance between fudgy and chewy, chocolatey and sweet.

Finding your flavour inspiration

Whilst the most important flavour of any brownie comes from the chocolate, there is a simple beauty in being able to customise them to your taste.

Some great brownie mix-in ideas

• Chopped nuts
• More chocolate (your favourite candy bar, for example)
• Crushed cookies or cookie dough
• Fruits like cherries or raspberries
• Spices. If you know me, I’m all about masala magic

My midnight brownies are flavoured with star anise and orange zest. It’s a truly breathtaking combination that was meant to be paired with chocolate.

The eight-pointed star releases a delicious liquorice aroma when ground into a fine powder. Muddling it with the zest of an orange mellows it down for Asian vibes your brownies will welcome.

Baking for relaxation

Do you ever get an itch to wander into the kitchen and bake? I do. It’s an inexplicable longing to make magic for the people you love (including yourself because self-love is important too).

It’s not often I go in to the kitchen completely sure of what I’m going to make. I’ll have something in the fridge or cupboard I know I want, then I forage about until I find the perfect partners for what I fancy and they could be totally bizarre combinations I’ve never tried before.

If I’ve learned anything from all my years of experimental cooking is that you have to be fearless. FEARLESS. Yeah sure, sometimes things don’t turn out the way you plan but that’s what takeaway pizza and shop-bought ice cream is there for.

Ingredients you’ll need to make my Vegan Crackled Midnight Brownies

• Plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• Icing sugar
• Cornflour
• Cocoa powder (not hot chocolate mix)
• Baking powder
• Ground flax seeds
• Aquafaba (water from a can of unsalted chickpeas or beans)
• Water
• Refined coconut oil
• Dark chocolate (1-2 of your favourite brands)
• Light brown sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Ground star anise
• Orange zest
• Fine salt

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Vegan Crackled Midnight Brownies

Named so because of all the nights I stayed up until midnight trying to perfect the recipe! These vegan brownies are the ultimate balance between fudgy and chewy, chocolatey and sweet.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword baking

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Author Sanjana

Equipment

• 20cm x 25cm x 10cm-deep (8" x 10" x 4"-deep) non-stick baking tin or 9" x 4"-deep square

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 120 ml aquafaba hot
• 100 g plain flour
• 50 g cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 125 g dark chocolate chopped (I used a blend of two of my favourite brands)
• 60 g coconut oil
• 200 g icing sugar
• 50 g light brown sugar
• 60 ml hot water
• 1/4 tsp ground star anise
• Zest of 1 medium orange

Instructions

• Grease and line a 20cm x 25cm x 10cm-deep (8" x 10" x 4"-deep) traybake tin with coconut oil and baking parchment. Leave an overhang at either side to lift the brownie out easily later.
• Pre-heat the oven to 175°C/350°F.
• In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax seeds and hot aquafaba. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cornflour, baking powder and salt.
• Place the chocolate and coconut oil over a bain-marie and allow it to melt, stirring gently. Once melted, remove from the heat and set aside. You can also microwave them in a glass bowl on high power in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir gently between each blast. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add the icing sugar, brown sugar, flax-aquafaba mixture, hot water, orange zest and ground star anise. Whip for 2-3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients and whisk again until smooth and glossy, about 90 seconds.
• Pour into a lined pan and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely in the tin before slicing for perfect squares.

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If you like this recipe, you’ll love these Vegan Rice Krispie Treats made with REAL vanilla!

Love Sanjana

The post Vegan Crackled Midnight Brownies appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

I’d like to apologise in advance because once you try these, there’s NO going back. Don’t @ me when you’ve eaten half the mixture out of the bowl before even pressing it into the tin. 

I’ve been tinkering with this recipe since Napoleon Dynamite was playing on the big screen (i.e. a long time ago). I spent hours making my own marshmallows and marshmallow fluff with varying degrees of success. I had a lot of failures; they consisted of marshmallow glob on the ceiling, two broken stand mixers and a LOT of sugar syrup. None of my attempts were as quick and easy as this one and that’s because I’ve left the sticky, tricky marshmallow making to the experts. Yep, all you need are a few bags of your favourite shop-bought vegan marshmallows, vegan margarine, rice cereal, vanilla and sprinkles. That’s it. You’re only five ingredients away from vegan rice krispie square heaven.

These chewy, gooey vegan rice krispie treats definitely get better with age. Is it weird that I like them the day after they’re made, after they’ve had time to absorb all the marshmallow goo and vanilla flavour? I like to be able to pull them apart with my fingers and nibble a little at a time.

How do I make quick vegan rice krispie squares?

The trick to gooey, chewy vegan rice krispie treats is ALL in the combo of vegan marshmallows to dairy-free margarine. Melt them together slowly and stir gently until the mixture is smooth and your arm feels like it might fall off (just kidding, it will take between 5-10 minutes). Be sure to stir GENTLY. Don’t beat it. The temperature should be low for slow and even melting. If it starts burning, the pan is too hot. Turn it down.

Use a silicone spatula to fold the rice krispies into the vegan marshmallow mixture while it’s still hot. Start by folding from the outside of the bowl to the centre. This will avoid unnecessary rice cereal smushing. Nobody likes unnecessary smushing, right?

Make sure your tin is greased and lined REALLY WELL for easy unmoulding when it comes to slicing the vegan rice krispie treats.

I use a tin at least 5cm deep because I can’t resist extra-thick vegan rice krispie treats. Use a shallower tin for thinner bars and more squares if you prefer. You can cut them to any size or shape you like. Tiny, bite-sized pieces are great for parties!

Scoop the mixture into the tin and use the flat surface of the spatula (greased with vegan margarine) to gently flatten the surface. You could also use the back of a spoon for this. Some people also use their hands (wet) but touching hot marshmallow gloop with bare hands isn’t something I recommend.

For a bigger marshmallow kick, toss an extra bag of mini marshmallows into the cereal mix. I love the ones by Freedom Mallows (not an ad, just a genuine recommendation). It’s such a treat, especially if you can find those mini pink and white vegan marshmallows.

How do I store these delicious vegan treats?

Once set, keep these vegan rice krispie treats in an airtight container and store in a cool place. They will soften over time so they’re best eaten within 48 hours of making them. The hard part is making them last this long, trust me.

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Vegan Rice Krispie Treats

These 30-minute Vegan Rice Krispie Treats are super THICK and extremely CHEWY. I’ve amped up the vanilla flavour with real vanilla bean paste for amazing flavour.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword bars, dairy free, easy, marshmallows, traybakes, vanilla, vegan

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 25

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 150 g crispy rice cereal
• 225 g vegan vanilla marshmallows
• 30 g vegan margarine
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• Your favourite sprinkles to decorate

Instructions

• Grease and line a 21cm (8-inch) square tin, about 5cm (2-inches) deep with nonstick baking parchment. In a large pan, melt the vegan margarine. Add the vegan marshmallows and vanilla and stir gently over a low heat until the marshmallows have completely melted and the mixture is smooth. It will feel like it won’t come together but be patient, it will. Switch the heat off.
• Fold in the rice krispies and mix with a silicone spatula until they are all completely coated.
• Turn out into the lined tin and using the back of a silicone spatula (grease it with some vegan margarine if you need to), smooth the top to make it flat. Press it gently to compact it slightly but not so much that you crush the cereal. Scatter your favourite sprinkles over the top if you’re feeling fancy.
• Allow to cool at room temperature and then cut into squares as big or as small as your heart desires.

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Love Sanjana

The post Vegan Rice Krispie Treats appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

It’s not often I go in to the kitchen completely sure of what I’m going to produce. I’ll have something in the fridge or cupboard I know I want, then I forage about until I find the perfect partners for what I fancy and they could be totally bizarre combinations I’ve never tried before.

If I’ve learned anything from all my years of experimental cooking is that you have to be fearless. FEARLESS. Yeah sure, sometimes things don’t turn out the way you plan but that’s what takeaway pizza is there for. I’ve rescued even the most disastrous of dinners and 98% of the time, the antidote consists of lemon, salt and sugar. They are like magic for repairing even the spiciest of curries.

Baking is different. As sweet as it can be, baking can also be very cruel – especially eggless and vegan baking. I’ve had more disasters than successes and too many slabs of sunken cakes and burst macarons to count on two hands, presuming I had the arms of the goddess Laxmi. Having said this, I’ve made countless batches of eggless and vegan brownies over the years… It’s finally safe to say I think I’ve nailed it.

So when I wandered in to the kitchen on this particular day, I was fully prepared for what was going to happen and even though I was about to step in to that baking danger zone, I was f e a r l e s s.

What was about to happen was something truly beautiful, btw. It was the coming together of super-moist dark chocolate heaven, creamy-salty peanut butter and the deeply-aromatic flavours of cardamom which I cannot imagine life without.

Blended black beans give these brownies an incredible texture and allow them to retain even more moisture, which produce perfect brownies without the need for eggs, or any dairy products. This makes these brownies 100% vegan and egg free. What could be better?

Vegan Peanut Butter and Cardamom Brownies
Makes 18-20 brownies

Ingredients

For the Brownie Batter:

250g plain flour
60g good-quality cocoa powder (not drinking chocolate)
40g black beans, drained, rinsed and blended until smooth
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
150g light brown sugar
100ml groundnut or sunflower oil
320ml soy milk (or regular full-fat milk for a non-vegan brownie)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

For the Peanut Butter and Cardamom Swirl:

100g crunchy peanut butter (you can use smooth if you prefer)
50g non-dairy spread such as Pure (if you’re not vegan, use unsalted butter – I’ve tried both ways)
50g light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.

2. Line a 34 x 20 x 3cm H. (13 1⁄2″ x 8″ x 1″) brownie tin with greaseproof paper and oil. I add an extra long sheet of greaseproof paper lengthways to make handles for easy lifting out later. It really makes it much easier to remove from the pan.

3. To make the peanut butter and cardamom swirl, mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Place in the fridge until later.

4. To make the brownie batter, sift together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

5. Whisk together all the wet ingredients including the bean paste and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Whisk again.

6. Gradually add the dry brownie batter ingredients in to the wet and whisk briefly until well combined. It’s really important not to over beat the batter.

7. Pour the batter in to your prepared brownie tin and smooth out the top. Next text your peanut butter swirl mixture from the fridge, give it a quick beat and dollop teaspoon-sized nuggets on top of the brownie batter. Use a butter knife or spoon to swirl it through.

8. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. It will still be a bit wobbly but this is good. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the tray to loosen up any brownie stuck to the edges. Using the clever little handles you made with greaseproof paper earlier, carefully lift the brownie out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

9. Slice in to squares or rectangles. Enjoy with a cold glass of almond or hazelnut milk.

Love Sanjana

The post Vegan Peanut Butter and Cardamom Brownies appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.