Burfi Roses with Nectarous Gulkand Centers !

Makes 10 big or 12 medium roses

The Diwali festivities are in full swing today! Today is the second day of Diwali when all the snacks and sweets especially made for Diwali are first offered to God and then enjoyed together at the family ‘faral’ meal. My daughter and I enjoy drawing the rangoli decorations. Our son and daughter are excited to bring their friends home for Diwali this year.

The Faral meal this year!

Diwali diyas

Rangoli floor decorations

Rangoli around the plates

Every year I make nine or ten different sweets and snacks in what I call a faral making marathon. Half way through, as I reached in the refrigerator to get some shredded coconut, I noticed that I had some condensed milk left over. I was thinking of making some ricotta cheese burfi…. but that would mean running to the store to get it. So why not use the condensed milk instead?….But with what? And then I saw the really authentic and flavorful gulkand I had at home ….and I took a detour in my marathon to try something new, making up the recipe as I went along! Yes my dear friends, I do realize that I would never finish a real marathon if I got distracted like that 🙂

Gulkand is a sweet preserve of rose petals which is delicious and according to Ayurveda, very cooling to the body. So I decided to make rose flavored burfi. The sweet, fragrant and delicious gulkand is a nice surprise when you bite into these burfi roses. My husband loved the idea and the burfi roses with the surprise centers….so I may win the marathon after all with a great gift for Paadwa, the 4th day of Diwali, when husbands present their wives with a gift:)…Well I can dream, can’t I?

Burfi, by the way, is like fudge and it comes in a plethora of flavors and tastes. Many of the recipes do require a lot of time and patience.

But this one took just 3 minutes in the microwave !

Ingredients-

• 1/2 cup condensed milk. I used Carnation condensed milk
• 1/2 cup (heaped) milk powder. I used Carnation milk powder.
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 5 drops of rose essence
• red and green food colors
• 6 teaspoons of store bought gulkand
• butter to grease your fingertips

To make the Gulkand Burfi Roses-

1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the condensed milk, milk powder and butter. Microwave for 1 minute.
2. Stir well, microwave for 1 minute more.
3. Repeat step 2.
4. Remove from microwave. Add the rose essence, stir well and divide into  1/3 and 2/3 parts. Add in 2 drops of red food coloring to the 2/3 part and 2 drops of the green food coloring to the 1/3 part. Mix, using a spatula. Let it cool.

   

   5. Grease your fingertips with a little butter. Make a center petal with the pink colored mixture, add 1/2 teaspoon of gulkand to it. Make more petals round it to make the rose.

   

5. Add the green for the stem and leaves.
6. Alternately, you can add the gulkand to the mixtures, roll it between plastic wrap. Remove plastic wrap and roll into a log.
7. Refrigerating the roses and the log for about 10 to 15 minutes seems to ‘set’ them. Cut the burfi log after refrigerating.

   

8. Enjoy these captivating  Burfi Roses with the fragrance of the rose essence and the  nectarous gulkand centers!

I am sending my Diwali party to Fiesta Friday #38 ! Thank you Angie at The Novice Gardner, Hilda at Along the Grapevine  and  Chefjulianna at Foodie on Board  for graciously hosting this fiesta! And thank you for letting me bring my Diwali party to the fiesta!

Love,

Sandhya