Well, it’s that time of the year again. The days are shorter, and the nights are longer. The city is painted with pointy red hats and fairy lights. The coldness in the air is enough to make us crave all things sweet. Christmas without sweets would be, dare I’d say, preposterous and incomplete. As someone who has enjoyed baking for the last few years, I have created some special Christmas dessert recipes that will leave you smiling from ear to ear.

Nut-so devil’s food cake

Ingredients for the cake

• Two cups of all-purpose flour

• Two tablespoons of cornflour

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup of soft unsalted butter

• ¾ cup of sugar

• Two tablespoons of brown sugar

• One cup of dark cocoa powder

• Two teaspoons of vanilla

• Three large eggs at room temperature

• One cup of yoghurt

• ½ cup of hot water

• ½ cup of Nutella

Ingredients for the frosting

• Two cups of double cream

• ½ cup of whipping cream

• Two tablespoons of Nutella

• Two tablespoons of sugar

• Three tablespoons of homemade almond milk

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Mix your dry ingredients and slowly add butter, one tablespoon at a time, and mix it with your fingertips. The mixture should resemble the texture of wet sand. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients, add cocoa powder, and make it into a runny chocolatey liquid. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the powdery mixture and then slowly add the hot chocolate mixture. Then add the vanilla and Nutella and gently fold in the mixture. Be careful not to overmix. Prepare a 9-inch cake tin and bake the mixture in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool off in the fridge.

Add the ingredients for the frosting in a bowl and whip on heavy mode for about four minutes. Switch over to a whisk and whip it gently to make it light. Cut the cake into three layers and soak the layers with sugar syrup mixed with a little bit of almond milk. Sandwich the frosting evenly and cover it with the frosting. Let the cake sit in the fridge, and decorate it with toasted and blended almonds and the leftover frosting. Serve the cake after 24 hours so that the flavours accentuate.

Eggnoggy strawberry tart

Ingredients for the pastry

• One and ½ cups of flour

• ½ cup of butter

• One tablespoon of castor sugar

• ¼ teaspoon of salt

• ¾ cup of Ice cold water

Ingredients for the filling and garnish

• Five egg yolks

• 180 ml double cream

• 180 gms castor sugar

• Two tablespoons of rum

• One teaspoon of vanilla

• One teaspoon of cornflour

• ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger

• Two pinches of nutmeg

• Two pinches of cinnamon

• 500 gms of strawberries

• Two tablespoons of honey

To prepare the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and castor sugar in a bowl.

Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until the texture becomes crumbly. Add one to two tablespoons of water until the flour comes together. Flatten out the pastry with your hands. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it chill for at least 30 minutes.

Make the strawberry jam by heating 400 gms of strawberries, 90 gms of castor sugar, a pinch of ground spices, and a few drops of lemon juice. Add ½ teaspoon of cornflour and let it simmer until the juices have thickened. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Line the tart with foil and fill it with rice or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the tart tin from the oven, discard the foil, and bake for another 20 minutes until the texture becomes biscuity. When the pastry is ready, remove it from the oven.

Prepare the custard by mixing egg yolks, double cream, sugar, spices, rum, and vanilla. Add one teaspoon of cornflour and heat it gently on a low flame until the mixture becomes thick. Let it cool in the fridge for two hours.

Line the pastry base with a strawberry jam layer and add the custard mixture. Bake for 30 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius and let it cool to room temperature. Decorate it with the remaining strawberries. Drizzle honey on top of it for extra shine. Add a few mint leaves for the festive red and green look, and serve it with cream.

Saffron custard rasmalai

Ingredients

• 600 ml of double cream

• 600 ml of whole milk

• 250 grams of castor sugar

• Two large pinches of saffron

• ¼ teaspoon of vanilla

• ¼ teaspoon almond essence

• One tablespoon of custard powder

• One large egg yolk

• One large tin of rasbari

• ½ cup of toasted almonds and pistachios

Combine double cream and whole milk and put it on slow heat. After the first boil, slowly decrease the heat to low and add the castor sugar. In a separate small bowl, add custard powder to the milk mixture. After that, add two large pinches of saffron and almond essence. Add the nut mix and let the custard cook. Mix the egg yolk with a little bit of sugar and add the vanilla to it. Add the mixture to the custard mix and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. The custard will eventually thicken. After that, squeeze the rasbari gently to release the juice and add it to the custard. Add half a cup of the rasbari’s syrup into the custard mix and stir. Let it sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, and then garnish it with almonds, pistachios, and saffron. Serve the dish warm post-holiday feasts.