Rose Kalakand

Happy Diwali to you all! Celebrating with the delicious double layered Rose Kalakand. Kalakand is soft burfi, moist, grainy, and scrumptious sweet delight.  An effortless milk sweet is feasible with paneer (cottage cheese) flavored with rose essence. 

Double layered kalakand is appealing to the eye with its beautiful pastel color palette. I didn't want the rose syrup to overpower with its color and aroma, hence resulted in two layers.  The layers have very subtle variations with its ingredients, yet they have the same texture.  

The pink layer contains rose milk essence which contains sugar. So I added heavy cream for this layer to control the sugar level. With the white layer, I used condensed milk which is already sweetened, so no added sugar is used. Although I would like to use brown sugar I had to ease it with this particular recipe in order to  retain the pristine white and beautiful baby pink hue. If you are preparing just 1 layer, you will cut down the cooking time by half. 

Prefer to make the traditional method from scratch? Check my Chum Chum post, which has step by step pictures to prepare the paneer/ chena. I prefer to grate my paneer instead of crumbling for the texture I desire. 

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

20 mins

set TIME

2 hrs

Category:Sweets, dessert

Cuisine:Indian 

Level:Medium

Yields: 20-25 nos

Nutrition Facts
Servings 25.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 108
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7 g	11 %
Saturated Fat 5 g	23 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 26 mg	9 %
Sodium 14 mg	1 %
Potassium 26 mg	1 %
Total Carbohydrate 5 g	2 %
Dietary Fiber 0 g	0 %
Sugars 5 g
Protein 4 g	9 %
Vitamin A	5 %
Vitamin C	0 %
Calcium	11 %
Iron	4 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

INGREDIENTS

Paneer -1 lb (divide equally as 2 portions for the 2 layers)

Pistachios - chopped for garnishing

Ghee- 1/4 teaspoon for greasing

Rose layer:

Rose petals dried - garnishing (optional) 

Rose milk syrup - 3-4 tablespoons

Rose essence - 2 drops

Heavy cream (organic) - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2 teaspoons or less (adjust to your rose milk syrup)

White layer:

Sweetened condensed milk - 1/2 cup

Kewra essence - 2 drops (optional)

Requirements:

Cling wrap to cover

Aluminium foil to line the tray

Baking sheet/tray

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare a tray or baking sheet lined with heavy duty aluminium foil used for the kalakand to set*. Grease the lining with 1/4 teaspoon of ghee.

2. Grate the paneer and divide into two portions.

Rose layer:

3. In a large pan (ceramic), mix in 1 portion of paneer along with heavy cream on medium heat. Using a spatula keep stirring constantly to avoid any burns. In about 5 mins the paneer will leave its sides and form into a thick mass. 

4. Now add the rose milk syrup and the rose essence and stir until well incorporated. Don't mind about the color currently. Once it cools down you will obtain the right pink color. 

Make sure the mixture is slightly moist to set well. If dry they tend to break easily. Transfer to the greased lined tray and spread evenly and smooth the top to set well. 

White layer:

5. In the same pan, add the condensed milk and grated paneer and repeat step 3 and step 4 replacing the rose essence and syrup with just kewra essence if you are using. Spread the finished white on top of the pink layer.

6. Garnish with chopped pistachios and rose petals. Let sit on the counter to room temperature. Cover with cling wrap and  refrigerate for minimum of 2 hours.

7. Remove the tray to lift off the kalakand using the foil liner. Set on the cutting board or any flat surface and cut to the desired size and shape. Keep refrigerated, best 4-6 days in an airtight container. 

NOTES AND TIPS

• Preparing the baking sheet/ tray with heavy duty aluminium foil helps lift the kalakand off the tray easily.

• Low fat milk or condensed milk changes the texture so don't fail to use only full fat milk.