Arif’s New And Traditional Holiday Treats

Arif-Software Developer:

When I was growing up I always enjoyed being around my mom when she baking. She always seemed to have an element of grace in the kitchen as she whizzed around between different vegetables, pots, and pans. It was through her cooking that I became interested in cooking food myself; every dish she made was both a surprise and delight. Her baking brought us together as a family, and I was happy to bring the Sayvee office together through a mixture of both Canadian and Bangladeshi treats.

Every occasion without dessert felt incomplete in my home. Back in Bangladesh, we used to prepare a dessert for every family gathering and festival. Barfi was the king of sweets on those occasions. Every family has their own traditional recipes to make Barfi more delicious (although I think I’ve nailed it pretty well). I used to prepare Asian desserts often in Bangladesh, but after moving to Canada I’ve been experimenting to make some of my own sort of “fusion food” by combining Asian and Canadian recipes. Coconut Chocolate Braid is one of the results of said food experiments. I hope you enjoy them as much as I’ve enjoyed baking them, if not more so.

Coconut Chocolate Braid

Total Time To Make: 30 Min. | Servings: 1 Braid

Ingredients

1 Frozen puff pastry package
125 g (4.4 oz) Semi-sweet chocolate bar or milk chocolate bar
1 Egg
2-4 Tbsps shredded coconut
2 Tbsps powdered sugar

Steps

1. Place the frozen dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. After the dough has defrosted, unroll it.
2. Place the chocolate bar in the middle of the dough.
3. To braid puff pastry (see graphic below) make cuts along the edges of the dough in a diagonal fashion all at the same angle. Make as many cuts along the sides as you want, just make sure to have the same amount on each side to ensure the braid is even.

1. Fold the top and the bottom ends over the chocolate first, then cross the side strips over each other to make the braid.
2. Brush the braid with an egg wash (you can make the wash with one beaten egg and a splash of cool water mixed together).
3. Bake the pastry according to the package directions. Most puff pastry requires an oven temperature of 425℉ baked for about 15 minutes.
4. Remove the braid just before it turns golden brown.
5. Top with shredded coconut and then place back into oven until golden brown.
6. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then lightly dust with powdered sugar.
7. Serve while it’s still warm.

Barfi

Total Time To Make: 25 Min. | Servings: 10

Ingredients

1 Cup canned chickpeas

½ Cup ghee

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup milk

2 Whole cardamoms

Handful of raisins

Steps

1. Heat ghee in a nonstick pan. Add in chickpeas, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and bay leaf.
2. Keep stirring with a ladle until thick and leave the sides of the pan. Remove whole garam masala from halwa.
3. Transfer to a greased plate and press a raisin into the middle where each square will be.
4. Let them cool and slice into diamond squares.

Note: It’s important not to overcook since doing so will make the barfi very hard and tough.

If you want to win an awesome gift basket to pair with this dessert, visit our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sayvee) or Instagram (@sayveeonline) for our Christmas Giveaway posts. You could win a variety of local brews, chocolate, and even our CEO’s closely guarded eggnog recipe (please don’t tell him, we already maxed out the company credit card purchasing heist supplies). All you have to do is tag two other friends in the comments of either post. Good luck!