4 minute read
Tiny Round Desserts
BY ANUSHKA DASGUPTA PHOTOS BY ERICA XIN
The smell of cardamom, the sharp sizzling sound of oil, and the weight of damp heat. Every time my family went back to Kolkata, one of our first stops was to pick up a pack of rosogolla: a small, snowball-like dessert. At the local mishti (sweets) shop down the street, eager customers would line up at dawn for their freshly made, boxed sweets. Among the array of thirty-something mishti, the rosogolla always seemed to sell out first. The official dessert of West Bengal, these dumplings are soaked in sugar and made of a squishy Indian cottage cheese. They’re incredibly syrupy and spongy, and although there’s no true Western equivalent, think of it like a form of a ricotta dessert. Much to my parents’ disappointment, I dislike them. I much prefer gulab jamun or ladoo, two other ball-shaped desserts. Gulab jamun is fried and saffron-infused, while lado is nutty, made from gram flour. It’s curious how among the numerous Indian desserts, so many are small and round. But when I think of round desserts, I also think of buckeyes. Buckeyes are balls of peanut butter fudge dipped in chocolate, leaving a ring to resemble a buckeye. Growing up in the Midwest (think: OSU Buckeyes), many of my friends’ parents would prepare them for birthday parties. It’s not just Indian culture that loves their desserts smooth and bite-sized. The obsession seems to be universal. For Indian sweets, it’s understandable: many mishti are powerfully sweet. You could not eat a large portion of rosogolla even if you wanted — the sweetness would be overwhelming. There’s a scientific reason for this. Many of these milk-based sweets predate refrigeration, and the use of excess sugar allowed these desserts to set and stay fresh. Truffles too are incredibly rich, made from ganache, coated in chocolate and cocoa powder. Our American definition of a truffle differs from the true Swiss meaning. While we might envision a box of Russell Stover chocolates, by definition, truffles are balls filled with chocolate ganache. A copious serving of truffles would be overpoweringly rich, desensitizing us from the flavor. Similarly, buckeyes are too sugary and rich to eat more than a few, but the ball shape makes for a cute design and perfect serving size. Balls seem to be the perfect vehicle for desserts: small and sweet, but also so aesthetically pleasing. For instance, puff-puffs are balls of fried dough that can be made plain, savory, or sweet. Comparable to doughnuts, beignets, or zepelles, puff-puffs are common in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. When the dough is dropped in hot oil, they swell, ‘puffing’ up. Getting perfect, round puff-puffs is an art, tricky after the dough-rising and frying process. There’s also something about how easy it is to roll a dessert in your hands — think of rolling cake and icing into birthday cake pops or for brigadeiros, a thickened mixture of sweetened condensed milk and cocoa. As you’ve probably made cookie dough balls, it’s a process that’s fun, and also a process easily masterable. Round desserts are so common that it’s likely you’ve never even noticed the numerous types. Among their parallels, there’s also variety; wherever you are in the world, you’ll probably find a new kind.
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MAUI ONION & GARLIC
BY ALYSSA FURUKAWA ILLUSTRATION BY MALIA KEALALUHI
Ingredients:
• 1 cup roasted nut of choice (recommended: macadamia nut) • ½ tsp olive oil • ½ tsp garlic powder • ½ tsp onion powder • ½ tsp salt • 1 ½ tsp lemon juice (if roasting in the pan)
Directions:
1. Combine garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. 2. Toss nuts in olive oil to coat. 3. Toss nuts in seasoning mixture to coat.
Directions for if you have raw nuts:
1. Oven Roast: Roast your nuts on a sheet tray at 350 degrees for no longer than 15 minutes. Check in 5 minutes intervals. Be sure to watch for excessive browning and burning. 2. In the Pan: Put the olive oil in the pan first and heat for 1-2 min. Then, add seasoning mixture with lemon juice to the pan and stir until combined.
Finally, add the nuts and cook while stirring for 5 minutes.
