Dessert hampers get a local touch this Diwali

Diwali is not only the festival of lights and happiness but also the festival of gifting and thanksgiving. And what better way to shower your love than giving your friends and family a scrumptious dessert box? And this year, Chennai celebrates this festival of joy with dessert hampers that are contemporary, yet
traditional.

Takers for local flavours

Chef and cake artist Karthika Sravanthi of Bakeman Begins peppers her dessert box with nostalgia, traditional south Indian flavours and the goodness of French patisserie. Her Arusuvai box has six desserts that evoke memories with six tastes. “Our theme this year was Arusuvai, which is the six different tastes that you usually enjoy in a meal. We have taken inspiration from traditional sweets and savouries from Tamil Nadu,” she says.

The box includes Mallipoo Payasam Macaron (sweet), a salted jaggery cremè choux on a base of adhirasam filled with temple-style Chakkara Pongal (salty), a jaggery and tamarind compote gateaux, a twist on the traditional Diwali Laegiyam (tangy), among other innovations. “I remember making adhirasam at home with my grandma while growing up. But today, things are changing. These days, we don’t make traditional delicacies such as adhirasam at home. So, we wanted to bring back these memories and make everything from scratch in our kitchen,” she notes.

Cindana Vinoth of Sugar Monkeys adds that people began embracing their roots, especially following the pandemic. Her Diwali box this year includes a chocolate nut cake and a rose milk cake with a hand-piped buttercream pulli kolam. “On a normal day, I would not have had the patience to make a pulli kolam. But I learnt how to do it every day in the morning during the past few months, and decided to incorporate this into our box for a festive feel,” she adds.

Cindana_2_Diwali Box


Important to keep foodies engaged

Ashwini Asokan of Cakeistry points out that it is important to keep churning our innovative fusion desserts for customers. “People’s knowledge in food and desserts have drastically improved from what it was back in the days. It used to be the usual Diwali palagarams back in the days. But baked dessert hampers gradually began coming into picture, and now, it’s time for a fusion,” says Ashwini, who has created a dessert box with nature as its theme. It has desserts that represent the five elements of nature. This includes a Soan Papdi-topped Pistachio Mousse (air) and a Payasam Eclair with a pipette filled with liquid Payasam (water), among others.

Ashwini_Diwali Box.

But bakers must approach fusion desserts with caution, says Snehithi of Strictly Desserts, which is known for its fusion ice cream flavours such as Panchamirtham and Jigarthanda. “There is a thin line when it comes to cross-over desserts. If you don’t hit the balance, the taste might get tampered with. It is a trend that you have to look at with a lot of caution, because it has to do justice to the authentic dishes you are trying to recreate,” adds the baker, whose hamper includes The Thattai Story, a savoury jar fashioned around the Milagu Thattai.

Apart from gifting, Diwali is also the right time to indulge in some self-love by devouring creative desserts, she adds.

Snehithi_Diwali Box