From Gajar ka Halwa to Hot Cocoa Cookies: Five warm desserts to try this winter

As the last spell of winter blows its cold breeze in Pakistan, there’s no better excuse to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings than to indulge in warm, steamy, sugary treats!

Bringing the best of both worlds, here's a list full of desi and western desserts that will immediately have you salivate at the first sight. It’s time to spend the last weeks of winter tucked in covers enjoying a cup of warm Gajar ka Halwa with family in moments of comfort and laughter.

Fill the air with the smell of the sweet decadence of fruity baked goods, chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon and whatnot throughout the kitchen.

1. Gajar ka Halwa

A unanimously loved dish, this carrot based pudding is a classic dessert item at desi events, let it be weddings or festive get-togethers. Made from ghee, carrots, milk, sugar and cardamom powder, this one is a simple easy-to-make gateway to sweet heaven. All you need to do is gather the ingredients, and keep stirring carrots in the milk until it’s creamy enough as per your liking. Garnish the dish with dry fruits and nuts for an added burst of flavour- pistachios and almonds make a great addition.

2. Poached pear puff pastries

For people who aren’t fans of fruit? This one will change your mind. Pears are a winter staple fruit and it’ll be abhorrent to not try a sweet, sour and crunchy soft blend of pears poached in sweet liquid blanketed in a baked puff pastry crust. You need ripe pears, water, sugar, honey, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla bean for the poaching liquid and puff pastry and eggs for it to bake.

It’s almost magical to see the hard-seedy fruit attain a silky, almost custard-like texture covered in a golden brown crunch of pastry.

3. Hot Cocoa Cookies

Irresistible and mouth-watering, we bring you a cookie form of your favourite winter beverage (it is better than the drink!).

An easy comfort dessert, hot cocoa cookies are soft and chewy treats topped with gooey marshmallows and chocolate shavings. Get all your fudge cookie and hot chocolate ingredients, and whisk it till you have a gooey batter. Scoop them out and place them in a pan while inserting a marshmallow in between each cookie.

4. Gulab Jamun

Nothing beats a mouthful of warm, spongy and melt-in-the-mouth gulab jamun on a cold winter night! While these soul-satisfying sugary balls can be devoured any time during the year, winter nights just make it all more special. You need maida, khoya, kesar and cardamoms, roll it into round balls and dip in the chaashni (sugar syrup), leaving it sweetened and heavenly.

5. Baked cinnamon apples

Another fruity delight, imagine the flavour of soft sugary cinnamon buns but with a sharp sweet flavour of apple. Cut your apples in half and fill them up with a streusel topping made of brown butter, vanilla, brown sugar, oats, pecans, flour, and spices. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce and you’ll love apples forever!

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