Mitan Ghosh's Gulab Jamun CheeseCake -- No Bake

Many of you already know 🌸Mitan Ghosh,  a successful fashion designer in her own rights. Her designer sarees and dresses are quite the rage in US. You can have a peek at her beautiful collection here and I promise you, you will be hooked forever. Just like her designs, her home is another work of art and I love, love how she designs each corner.

Her creativity runneth over and you can see her magic touch in everything from exquisite saris to scintillating wedding trousseau, from carefully curated paintings to the food she cooks.

I asked her a few rapid fire questions for fun and here is what she had to say:

🍁1. Designing or Cooking?

Designing

🍁2. What do you like cooking best?

I am not really fond of cooking but when I do cook anything, I do so passionately!

🍁3. Favorite Food?

Dal, Bhaat, Begun Bhaaja

🍁4. Favorite Designer?

None. Oh wait, Gaurang Shah.

🍁5. Mishti na Nonta ?

Mishti

🍁6. Favorite Restaurant?

NJ/NY: Minado for Sushi
Kolkata: 6 Ballygunge Place
Mumbai: Mahesh Lunch Home
Chennai: Ponnusamy

I love Mitan, not only for her multiple talents, or because she is a wonderful person inside out, but because we share the same day of birth and it only gives me hope :-p, for myself that is!

Last week she baked a Gulab Jamun Cheese Cake as a test run for our Thanksgiving meal. Now this Thanksgiving I will not be sharing this meal as I will be traveling miles to celebrate it with another set of my friends.

So when I saw the photos of her test run, I pleaded and cajoled and she sent me a generous portion to taste. That very morning we were discussing this cheesecake recipe. Mitan had taken the idea of a Gulab Jamun cheesecake but played around with the ingredients to make it a far more simpler version than anything you would get on the internet. I told her if it works well, I am going to give it a try :-) And boy the outcome was gorgeous.

I followed her instructions and made the cheesecake over this weekend. It was so so good. I shared it with neighbors and colleagues and everyone raved about it.

It is
no bake
easy to make
freezes very well
and Delicious
Those are all my criteria for a good dessert!

Make it this week. Perfect dessert for your Thanksgiving table straddling the East and the West.

Gulab Jamun CheeseCake -- No Bake

What you Need

For the Crumb
1 & 3/4 Cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 Cup of fine Cashew Powder
1/2 Cup of Butter (2 quarter sticks)
2 Tbsp Sugar

For the Filling

2 packages of Cream Cheese (each 8 oz)
1&1/4 Cup of Mascarpone cheese
1 can of Condensed Milk

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp of Everest Milk Masala + 5-6 Cardamom ground to a fine powder

A pinch of saffron mixed in a tbsp of warm milk

Gelatin -- 2 tsp of Gelatin powder mixed in 1/4th cup of boiling water

The Star

Gulab Jamun -- don't get the large ones. I got a can of MTR Gulab Jamun

To Garnish

Unsalted Pistachios -- 1/4th cup ground to a coarse powder

How I Did It

Make the Crust

Take a 9" spring form pan. This is where I went a bit wrong. My pan was larger so my crust became bit thin.

In a bowl measure out
1&3/4 Cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 Cup of Cashew powder
2 Tbsp Sugar

Melt 1/2 Cup of Butter in the microwave and add it to above

Mix with a spoon until you have a nice crumbly crumb. And it tastes so good, but don't eat them yet.

Dump the crumbs in the 9" springform pan. With your hands or the bottom of a small bowl or your 1/4th cup measures, press the crumbs to the bottom. Press along the edges and let some of the crust rise up the sides

Put the crust in the freezer, where it will sit and get set in the next 30 minutes.

In the next 30 minutes you will not relax or go to sleep. Instead you will make the filling.

Make the Filling

Let me tell you, it is necessary that the cheese is at room temperature else it takes heck of a lot of time to mix. Yes, it happened to me. I suffered! But I don't want you to suffer. I am a very nice person.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, add the
2 packages of Cream Cheese (each 8oz package)
2 tbsp of Lime juice

Mix at speed 5 until the cheese looks soft and pretty whipped up. You have to stop and scrape the sides in between.
If you don't have a stand mixer just use your hand-mixer with the beater attachment.

Next add the 1&1/4th cup of Mascarpone Cheese and mix at the same speed until it is nice, creamy and smooth

Now goes in the
1 Can of Condensed Milk
the Milk Masala
Saffron infused milk

Whip it all up

Gelatin Gelatin

While you are whipping it all get the Gelatin ready

In a bowl add
2 tbsp of Warm Water
2 tsp of Gelatin (almost 1 envelope)
Stir until it mixes
Now add to it 1/4th Cup of boiling water
Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it looks gelatinous

Add this gelatin mix to the Mixer bowl where you have the cheese and condensed milk whipping merrily.

Mix everything scraping sides and all to get a nice smooth mixture

Put it all together and Refrigerate

Take the chilled pan with the crust out of the freezer

Arrange gulab jamuns on the crust in any fashion that pleases you. Don't squeeze out the syrup but don't add extra syrup either.

Pour out the filling into the crust and tap the sides of the pan so that it is all evenly distributed

Refrigerate for about 3-4 hours until it is all nicely set. I did for about 6 hours

Garnish and Serve

Take it out and garnish generously with pistachio powder.

Take it out of the spring form pan. This is a tricky part. Take a knife and gently go around the edges loosening the cake from the sides. Then open up the sides of the pan

Cut a slice!!! Yehh ENjoy

I froze some portions of this cheesecake and next day it was even better! Frozen it tasted like Kulfi, and left out for 30-60 minutes at room temperature it tasted creamy and cheesecakey


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