sweetmeat recipes
Sweetmeat Recipes
Sweetmeats are favorite with people of all ages. They are excellent choices for dinner and dessert on festive occasions. Read ahead to know some delicious recipes.
Sweetmeats usually mean candy, sweet confections, desserts or meat dishes which are sweet in taste. This concept most likely began as a way of preserving fruit and nuts in sugar. Research says that ancient Egyptians were the first ones to make these and they made them using honey. Doctors in the middle ages used to mix their medicines with sweetmeats so that it would be easy for patients to consume. These became popular in England during the 17th century. An important point to remember is that candies made with chocolate cannot be considered as sweetmeats. In many cases these are confused with sweetbreads. They are in-fact, two different food items.
Ancient Sweetmeat with Honey
Ingredients
- White flour, 0.45 lb.
- Walnuts, 0.15 lb.
- Sesame, 0.15 lb.
- Peeled almonds, 0.15 lb.
- Honey, 1 cup
- Eggs, 3
- Crush almonds and walnuts properly and grind the sesame.
- Preheat the oven to 390 °F.
- In a bowl, add honey and eggs. Beat them slowly. Add flour and all other ingredients, and mix until you get a smooth mixture.
- Grease a cake pan with oil and drizzle with ground sesame, and then pour the smooth mixture.
- Place the cake pan in the oven and bake it for 45 minutes, leaving the oven door open for the initial 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes in room temperature and serve with maple syrup.
- Milk, 4 cup
- Sugar, ¾ cup
- Powdered almonds, 1 cup
- Almonds, (blanched) 0.30 lb.
- Ground cardamom, 1 pinch
- Pistachio nuts, (blanched) 2 tbsp.
- Edible silver leaf, 1 (it is optional)
- In a saucepan, boil the milk over high flame and keep stirring it continuously, until it becomes thick.
- Add sugar and keep stirring on low flame for 10 minutes.
- Add the powdered almonds and continue to cook until it forms a thick base.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle the ground cardamom and blanched almonds on top and mix well.
- After it cools down, remove it on a greased plate and smoothen it with the back of a butter spoon. Slightly cut it in diamond shapes and place the silver leaves on it, so that it gets an attractive look.
- Vegetable oil, 2 tbsp.
- Rosewater, 1 tsp.
- Honey, 0.55 lb.
- Shelled pistachios, 0.35 lb.
- Plain cake crumbs, 0.35 lb.
- Edible rice paper, 2 sheets
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan over medium flame. Add pistachios and fry for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep these fried pistachios on a paper towel to drain.
- Pour honey, cake crumbs and fried pistachios in a pan and heat them for 5 minutes. You will find stirring this mixture very difficult.
- Remove from the heat and stir in rosewater and keep it aside to cool.
- Cut the rice paper sheet into long strips, measuring 5 cm. each.
- Pour mixture on the sheets and shape them as a roll and allow it to cool.
- Serve it with mint tea.
- Carrots. 0.55 lb.
- Milk, 4 cups
- White sugar, ½ cup
- Ground almonds, 2 tbsp.
- Saffron strands, 1 pinch
- Ground cardamom, 1 tsp.
- Wash and scrape the carrots, and then grate them. In a large saucepan add milk and bring it to a boil.
- Take out 2 tsp. of milk and soak saffron strands in it.
- Add the grated carrots and cook until the carrots are soft and tender. This will take about 30 minutes.
- Add sugar, almonds, ground cardamom, and saffron stands and mix until the sugar gets dissolved and the mixture becomes thick.
- You can serve carrot pudding warm or cold.