Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe / Milk Cake Burfi

It’s a special occasion, and I’d like to shout it out on the rooftop.  I started blogging about a year ago and today I’m Celebrating my 1^st Blogiversary, 125^th  Post with traditional Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe | Milk Cake Burfi along with my blogging experience in the past one year.

I am amazed as to how fast time has flown by. The blog started off as a result of a self- introspection, to share my culinary journey with a few people and my quest to treasure my own roots and culinary heritage after having lived on foreign shores for so long. I have been able to showcase a few of them and will continue to do so. Honestly, back when I began this blog, I would never have anticipated that I would be still blogging.

It seems like it’s just a while ago that I posted my first recipe… Exactly one year ago this week, to be more precise on the 22^nd of November 2014, I must have had about 100 edits before I was finally satisfied and hit PUBLISH button on my very first blog post and I’ve never looked back since then. Of course there will be highs and lows but you just need to be strong, focussed and get going. I’ve really enjoyed sharing my recipes these past 12 months to all of you who have stumbled across my blog.

The first year of blogging is an exciting one, and full of lessons, but perhaps one of the most important things I learned is that food blogging really transforms your life. It has been a learning curve as I sailed through uncharted waters, though behind the smiles, was great trepidation.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started my blog, but I can now say that keeping up with the blog has become a hobby for me that has enhanced my love of cooking and photography more than I ever could have imagined! It becomes your passion, it becomes your hobby, it becomes your job, and for some it becomes a source of support. Thank you so much for reading! Without you guys, I would just be rambling online to myself.

Some of my friends have asked me how much time I put into my blog each week. Some guessed… maybe a low single digit number of hours. Add a zero to the end of each of those numbers. Apart from cooking, the behind-the-scenes details behind every post is unimaginable, and the work usually occurs during the wee hours of the night while my family sleeps. And, why? Because it’s my hobby. I enjoy the challenge of this pastime. Blogging is hard work and no one (without a blog) really understands how much work it takes. And you have to be okay with that. You have to accept that people think it is easy. It has been such a fun creative outlet for me, and I’m convinced.

Blogging can be a lonely hobby, despite the heavy online interaction. This means there is no one to talk to about blogging issues or celebrations…at least no one who really understands. The look on my hubby’s face when I mention widgets, plugins or SEO says it all….in spite of being a techie guy himself!!

Blogging has opened up a whole new world for me, and let’s just say, I think I’ll stay around for a while. 🙂 I have found some very good blogger friends. A big thank you to all my real time friends who message me when they’ve tried recipes I’ve posted, and most of all thanks to my husband S and my family for encouraging me all the way. If not for their love and support, this would be near to impossible. I hope they continue their support forever. Thanks for putting up with the cooking breaks so I can photograph in the kitchen :).

I hope that all of you who had been reading my blog for so long, will support me in all my future endeavours. I also hope that a lot of new readers will join me in my journey henceforth. It would really not be much fun to blog if no one was around to read and comment on my recipes.  I thank you for every comment, share. like and “click” you have given me this past year and I hope you will stick around for year 2!

In a nutshell what did I learn in this one year of Food Blogging is very simple-

Never give up or let yourself down!!!! If you stay committed and keep trying and keep looking for ways to improve, it could be your writing, your photos or your recipes, the readers will come to you.

Now enough of heavy dosage of the sentimental talk… Let’s get to celebrating the cyber-party with Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe | Milk Cake Burfi.

Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe:

Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe is a gem among Indian dessert recipes. It is mostly prepared during festivals like diwali, holi and navratri. It is a rich, soft, crumbly, milk based fudge that literally melts in the mouth. This has been my favourite since my childhood. I actually made this sweet for Diwali but saved the post for this special occasion.

There are myriad options for Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe. However, as usual I have chosen the tough way to make it. So please be patient while making this milk cake burfi. The traditional recipe of Kalakand is made with chenna (coagulated milk solids), khoya aka mawa (reduced milk). Chenna is prepared by curdling milk with an acidic medium like lemon juice, yoghurt or vinegar. Khoya is thickened milk that is prepared by heating milk over low heat till it reduces to almost one fourth of its original quantity.

You can also buy readymade Khoya and paneer available from stores for Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe but I always recommend homemade!!…..I know it takes time and effort…but….No pain No gain!!

Follow the instructions on how to make Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe with easy to follow pictorial steps.

I have compiled a list of popular sweets from blog, click here and enjoy the other dessert recipes.

Steps to follow for Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe:

The process involves 3 main steps-

1. Making Khoya:

• Click here for recipe to make Khoya.

2. Making Chenna (Paneer):

• Click here for the recipe to make Paneer

3. Finally making Kalakand:

• You will need Khoya, paneer, sugar and cardamom for this recipe.
• Crumble the khoya and chenna in a non stick pan and cook over low heat. It will become soft. Keep stirring it for 8-10 minutes.

• Add powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon ghee and keep mixing till it is well combined. Cook for another 15 minutes.
• Stir the mixture often so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• The kalakand mixture will start thickening as it simmers and begins to cook.
• Continue to stir vigorously till it leaves the sides of the pan.
• Add another tablespoon of ghee and mix.

• When the mixture gets thickened well and looks like one mass, switch off the heat. It took me 15 minutes on a low heat. This depends on the quality of your pan, pan thickness and size, flame intensity it may take 12 to 16 minutes. the mixture should have some moisture but should look dry.
• Add cardamom powder and mix well.
• Pour it into a greased shallow dish and flatten it to ½” thickness with the help of a greased ladle.
• Garnish Kalakand Milk Burfi with sliced nuts and set for half an hour at room temperature. Cut into squares or any desired shape and serve.

NOTE: The trick to find if the kalakand is done is to bring the mixture to the centre and stick a ladle in it. If the ladle stands straight then the fudge is ready, if it slants in any direction then it’s still not done.

In case if you cannot slice the kalakand, then don’t worry. you can just serve it with a spoon like halwa. it still tastes delicious. You can also add flavourings of your choice to the kalakand. I usually like to add only cardamom powder. You can even add rose water or saffron or for a fusion touch, even some vanilla extract will be good. It’s all about personal choice to suit your tastebuds.

Print Recipe

Kalakand Milk Burfi Recipe / Milk Cake Burfi

Kalakand milk burfi recipe uses solidified milk & cottage cheese, sweetened with sugar and subtly flavoured with cardamom. This rich milk cake dessert is very popular dessert in India.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 10 to 12

Author: Padma

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ Cup Khoya Click here for recipe
• 1 Cup Chenna/Paneer Click here for recipe
• 2 Tablespoons Ghee divided
• ½ Cup Sugar you can increase by another 1/4 cup sugar if you want it very sweet
• ¾ teaspoon Cardamom powder
• Fistful of Pistachios or almonds thinly sliced

Instructions

• Crumble the khoya and chenna/paneer in a non stick pan and cook over low heat. It will become soft. Keep stirring it for 8-10 minutes.
• Add powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon ghee and keep mixing till it is well combined. Cook for another 15 minutes.
• Stir the mixture often so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• The kalakand mixture will start thickening as it simmers and begins to cook.
• Continue to stir vigoruously till it leaves the sides of the pan.
• Add another tablespoon of ghee and mix.
• When the mixture gets thickened well and looks like one mass, turn off the heat. it took me 15 minutes on a low heat.
• Add cardamom powder and mix well.
• Pour it into a greased shallow dish and flatten it to 1/2" thickness with the help of a greased ladle.
• Garnish Kalakand Milk Burfi with sliced nuts and set for half an hour at room temperature. Cut into squares or any desired shape and serve. In case if you cannot slice the kalakand, then don't worry. you can just serve it with a spoon like halwa. it still tastes delicious.

Notes

1. Adjust sugar to suite your taste.
2. The trick to find if the kalakand is done is to bring the mixture to the centre and stick a ladle in it. If the ladle stands straight then the fudge is done, if it slants in any direction, then it’s still not done.
3. The time taken depends on the quality of your pan, pan thickness and size and heat intensity.
4. When done the mixture should have some moisture but should look dry.
5. Never add cardamom powder to any dessert while cooking or when it is very hot.
6. The prep time is given considering you have Khoya and Chenna/paneer ready on hands. Otherwise add another one hour to the prep time.
7. You can also buy readymade Khoya and paneer available from stores but I always recommend homemade!!

Thank you, thank you, “THANK YOU“ to everyone who has read my posts and supported me in my foodie endeavour! Your thoughts and opinions mean a lot to me. There’s still a lot of growth yet to happen with “MASALAKORB“, so I’m excited to see where this next year of blogging will lead.

Happy Cooking 🙂

Cheers!!

Padma.