Delicious cheesecake, tart recipes for Christmas: Whip up winter delicacies, follow these easy steps

Savour delicious desserts this winter with Brulee Cheesecake and Gajar Ka Halwa Tart. Learn how to whip up these yummy delicacies in your kitchen.

Winter dessert recipes: Winter is the time to gorge on good food and desserts taste especially sweet in these cold months. As we step into December, it's time to try out interesting dessert recipes in the kitchen. One problem with yummy desserts is that we can also put on that extra weight, thanks to the high-calorie content. Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, aka Chef Saby, President of Young Chef Association of India, shares with us two yummy winter dessert recipes.

Gajar Ka Halwa Tart

This recipe is inspired by the love of North India for gajar ka halwa. While there's no doubt that it tastes yummy, one has to be cautious about weight. This Gajar Ka Halwa mousse tart is a gluten-free tart and does not contain grain / white sugar. "The gajar ka halwa mousse, as well, does not have any white sugar, a very limited amount of clarified butter, and no artificial sweetener. We are using desi khaand which is the first extract of sugar and is a healthier substitute of grain sugar. The whipped ganache as well does not have any sugars, just the sweetness of the chocolate does the trick," says Chef Saby.

Ingredients:

For the Tart shell ( shortcrust pastry)

Ragi flour – 80 gm                                                         
Almond flour – 50 gm
Rice flour – 20 gm
Icing sugar – 3 gm
Salt – 3 gm
Milk – 30 ml
Butter – 75 gm

Method:

• Mix all the dry ingredients
• Add butter which is in room temperature
• Mix well till its crumbly in texture
• Add milk and form a dough ( there is no need to knead the dough)
• Let it chill for an hour
• Then line the tart molds with the dough and bake at 180 degree Celcius for 12-15 minutes

For Gajar ka halwa mousse

Carrots (Desi) – 200 gm
Milk – 50 ml
Clarified butter – 100 gm
Milk maid – 50 gm
Mawa – 50 gm
Stevia – 10 gm
Green cardamom powder – 5 gm
Heavy cream – 40 gm
Whipping cream – 50 gm

Method:

• Peel the carrots and grate them
• Cook the grated carrots with milk on a low flame
• When the carrots are semi-cooked, add the milkmaid, mawa, and cardamom powder and the heavy cream
• Cook till it thickens, before taking it off flame, add the stevia and give it a stir
• Let it chill for an hour, then blitz it using a hand blender or the mixer grinder and add the whipped cream to it
• Gajar ka halwa mousse is ready, pour it in the tarts and let it chill before serving

Whipped cardamom ganache

White chocolate – 85 gm
Cooking Cream – 150 gm
Liquid glucose ( optional ) – 20 gm
Whipping cream ( Niagara) – 120 gm
Green cardamom powder – 5 gm

Method:

• Melt chocolate in the microwave
• Warm up the cream in a pan, and add the chocolate and cardamom powder to it
• Let it cool down, add whipped cream and let it chill in the refrigerator
• Whip it up and top the tarts with this whipped ganache before serving

Brulee Cheesecake

Chef Saby says, "I feel fig is one of the most underrated fruits. Figs are a good source of both calcium and potassium. These minerals can work together to improve bone density, which can, in turn, prevent conditions like osteoporosis. I remember there was this sweet shop that used to sell fig barfis. And they were so delicious! However, those were way too sweet and hence I thought of making my own version of the fig halwa. This is a simple baked cheesecake with brulee figs in it. This dessert does not contain any white sugar. We have used healthier substitutes, such as jaggery powder and brown sugar. This dessert can be consumed by those on keto diets as well."

Cheesecake base ingredients:

Parle G biscuits – 120 gm
Unsalted butter – 60 gm
Khaand – 20 gm

Method:

Grind the biscuits into a fine powder in the mixer
Add the khaand and the butter and mix well to a crumbly texture
Line the cake tin with this mixture to form the cheesecake base

Cream cheese batter ingredients:

Cooking cream – 60 gm
Orange juice – 30 gm
Jaggery powder – 40 gm
Fig puree – 60 gm
Egg – 1 no.
Corn flour – 9 gm
Cream cheese – 165 gm

Method:

• Heat the cream, orange juice, fig puree, and jaggery powder in a pan
• Whisk together the egg and corn flour to make a slurry
• Add the slurry to the pan and cook till it thickens
• Add this mixture to the cream cheese and mix well using a hand blender
• Pour this mixture into the cake tin and bake at 180 degrees Celcius in a water bath for 30 mins
• Serve chilled with bruleed figs as garnish