Rasmalai Rasmalaii Easy Recipe

Made with Ricotta cheese Condensed milk flavored with cardamom saffron and Rose

This dessert is native of Bengal state. Traditionally, it is made from homemade fresh cheese called Chenna or Paneer. However, we will use ingredients most widely available in United States grocery stores for this recipe, and use western style cooking techniques. The recipe involves two phase; the cheese patties and milk syrup.

Ingredient

Cheese Patties

1. Ricotta Cheese: 2 pounds
2. Sugar: 1/2 cup
3. Cardamom seed powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Syrup

1. Sweet Condensed Milk: 2 Cup
2. Heavy Whipping Cream: 2 Cup
3. Saffron: 6 Strands
4. Rose water: 1/2 Tablespoon
Substitute: Vanilla extract

Method

Step 1: Cheese Patties

Mix ingredients 1 through 3. Whip well. Spread the mixture in a cookie pan. Preheat an oven to 350º F. Bake for 30 minutes. Let it not get brown. The idea is to remove almost all of the moisture. Remove from oven and let it cool to touch. Make cheese patties (like hamburger patties) about 1/4" thick and 2" diameter. Transfer the patties in to a baking pan.

Step 2: Milk Syrup

Add items 1 through 4. Heat to 180 ºF (near boil). If you like thinner syrup, substitute Heavy whipping cream with equal amount of milk.

Step 3

Pour Milk syrup over the cheese patties in the baking pan. Return the baking pan to 350º F oven. Bake 15 minutes. Turn off the oven.

Step 4

Garnish with Pistachio nuts. Let it cool. When at room temperature, put the pan in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Serve cold.

Making Festive "Colored" Rasmalai

To make colored Rasmalai, add desired food color in Step 1 while whipping cheese. Pink and Yellow are most common colors. The Yellow color also matches the saffron in the syrup.