Hetal Vasavada’s version of pineapple upside-down cake looks a lot like the ones I ate growing up in Mississippi, minus the maraschino cherries. But the taste is different: sturdier and less sweet, with more complex tropical flavors. The recipe is actually a riff on Baath cake, a classic holiday dessert from the coastal Indian state of Goa that owes its distinction to semolina flour, coconut milk and rose water.
This was my first experience cooking a recipe from the food blogger and former MasterChef contestant's captivating first cookbook, "Milk & Cardamom: Spectacular Cakes, Custards and More, Inspired by the Flavors of India" (Page Street Publishing Co., $21.99). I can't wait to try more.
Vasavada is a first-generation Indian-American who grew up on her grandmother’s semolina pudding and mithai (Indian sweets), but longed to frost cupcakes and lick brownie batter off of spoons as her New Jersey friends did with their elders. After moving to San Francisco, she taught herself to bake American desserts with boxed mixes and canned frosting, before graduating to more technical creations from scratch. Yet she also found herself missing the Indian desserts she once took for granted. So she got her mom to tutor her in recreating them via video.
Over time, she developed a personalized style of dessert-making that blends elements of both cultures. She shares those recipes, accompanied by her luscious photographs, on her popular food blog, Milk & Cardamom, and now in this charming soft-cover cookbook by the same name.
Vasavada takes obvious joy in coming up with original creations Westerners can easily relate to, while intriguing them with flavors that define her upbringing. She swirls pomegranate curd in brownie batter, mixes crushed fennel seeds with rainbow sprinkles for spritz cookies, and fills French macaron shells with mango lassi buttercream. Rice Pudding with Roasted Grapes (Kheer) and Besan Burfi (Chickpea Flour Fudge) adhere more closely to their Indian origins, as do Masala Limeade and other recipes in the drink chapter.
Authenticity is not the goal here. But Vasavada does offer us peeks into Indian culture and history on every page — with implicit permission to lick bowls and whisks with loved ones while we learn.
Susan Puckett is a cookbook author and former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow her at susanpuckett.com.
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