Pesta Sandesh with Butterscotch | Pistachio Butterscotch Fudge

dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">

“I’ll be your dream

I’ll be your wish I’ll be your fantasy

I’ll be your hope I’ll be your love

Be everything that you need”

You gotcha! This can be sort of a conversation between a Bengali (foodie by birth) and a sweet dish (remember, not just any dessert). Bengalis are ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ in love with their sweets (again, not any dessert). And the Pistachio Butterscotch Sandesh (Fudge) aka Pesta Sandesh is my latest Bengali trick, oops sweet to win my man’s heart through his stomach.

This Pistachio Butterscotch Sandesh (Fudge) has a little history to be told from my memory. Because of that bright green color pistachio has always been my favorite nut since childhood. And that time I had no clue about food value or fat carb etc etc (as if I do now!). So whenever I used to go out with my dad for dry fruits shopping, I used to drag the packets of pistachio. But due to the high price it was never part of his shopping list. Sometimes my dad used to buy a small packet to bring a large smile on my face.

Another one pistachio incident I cherish from my childhood is Pesta Butterscotch from Sen Mahasay Sweet shop which is actually the inspiration behind my trial with Pesta Sandesh. Sen Mahasay is one of the oldest sweet shops in Kolkata and now they are running probably third generation on the shop. Luckily, they are our family friends and none of our family affairs had ever missed their sweets. My all-time favorites are Mihidana, Pesta Sandesh and Icecream Sandesh, all together a bunch of Yum!

It has been almost three long years since I’ve been in my hometown or I’ve seen my family. Few days back on 26^thJan when I was watching the parade on Republic day occasion, I just couldn’t help but remember how we used to spend the day when I was there. Suddenly I started missing my family like hell and the only known solution is to cook something close to my heart and soul. What could be a better occasion to cook up a batch of Pistachio and Butterscotch Sandesh!!

The original Pesta Sandesh from that shop used to be round ball with a outer layer of pistachio, mixed with sandesh and a inner layer of basic chennaor cottage cheese sandesh. As my father had sent me few wooden molds last year, I utilized one of them to shape up the sandesh. If you have the same use it or you can simply give it round shape like a ball. I used my Homemade Cottage Cheese & Homemade Khoya/Mawa along with shelled roasted pistachios for this recipe.

Here is my version of Pistachio and Butterscotch Sandesh (Fudge)or our simple Pesta Sandesh recipe for you all.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Resting time: 00 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Yield: 18-20 medium sized sandesh (fudge)

Ingredients:

Read the entire recipe and tips carefully before you start cooking.

Do make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (unless mentioned) and weighted or measured correctly in appropriate weighing machine or measuring instruments such as cups or spoons. Remember these are not your regular cups or spoons which you use in your daily life.

Fresh Cottage cheese: 200g (homemadeor store bought)

Finely grated khoya/mawa: ¼ cup (homemadeor store bought)

Powdered sugar: ¼ cup, divided in two equal portions (See Tips)

Pistachio, shelled: 1 cup (130g approximately)

Green cardamom powder: ½ tsp or essence: 2 drops

Butterscotch: 2 tbsp, crushed (not powdered)

For Garnishing:

Butterscotch: handful

Preparation:

You can use either homemadeor store bought cottage cheese for this recipe but remember the cottage cheese/chenna needs to be fresh and moist but definitely not watery or dry. Same goes for the khoya/mawa.

Start with the Pistachio part:

Now let’s move towards the chopping and grinding jobs. Finely ground the whole pistachio. It shouldn’t be just powdered; it should be more like coarsely grounded.

Take the ground pistachio in a large bowl. Add half of the powdered sugar (not caster sugar) and milk into the pistachio and stir well to make a thick paste. Now take this mixture into a thick bottomed pan/wok on high flame and stir continuously until the mixture forms a large lump and leaves the sides of the pan easily. Remove the mixture from the pan and spread it in a flat palate evenly to cool thoroughly.

Once the mixture is cool enough to touch with bare hands, knead well to make the dough smooth & grain free. If you feel your dough is too dry add 1-2 tsp of warm milk. If you find the dough is not tight enough, apply 1 drop of clarified butter/ghee on your palms and continue kneading.

Grease your palms with clarified butter or ghee and take 2 tbsp of the mixture in your palm. Roll it between your palms and give it a shape of ball. Keep them in an airtight container or cover with cling film. (See Tips)

Now let’s move towards chenna or cottage cheese part:

Add the cottage cheese & khoya into the blender and pulse for 1-2 secs to smooth things out. Don’t add any kind of liquid. The mixture should be dense and thick.

Take the mixture with rest of the sugar in a heavy bottomed non-stick pan. Switch on the flame and keep it on simmer. Place the pan on flame. Keep stirring continuously. Don’t stop stirring in between otherwise mixture will stick at the bottom and it will give the smoky flavor to the dish which is the least thing you will want in your dessert. Pour the condensed milk/sugar/sweetener and the cardamom powder or essence into the mixture and mix as much as possible with a ladle. Quickly it will start becoming like liquid milk. Don’t panic. Keep stirring on slow flame. (See Tips)

After 3-4 mins it will start to thicken. This is the crucial moment. Don’t stop stirring now. Within a few more minutes you will notice mixture is not sticking to the pan and it is forming smooth dough like lump. This is time to switch off the flame and keep the mixture in the pan itself to cool down a bit for easy handling. (See Tips)

Grease your palms with clarified butter or ghee and take 2 tbsp of the mixture in your palm. Roll it between your palms and give it a shape of ball. (See Tips)

Now, take one pistachio ball and one cottage cheese ball in your greased palm. Sprinkle some crushed butterscotch on top of each ball or you can roll one side of each ball in crushed butterscotch. Press them together softly by facing the butterscotch covered sides (butterscotch should be inside of two flavors as filling, same as sandwich). Roll between your palms very gently such a way so that they will form a larger ball. And Pistachio and Butterscotch Sandesh is ready to serve.

If you are using molds to shape the sandesh, grease the mold with few drops of clarified butter/ghee and press the butterscotch filled sandesh ball evenly on it to get the impression neatly. Don’t press it too hard otherwise sandesh/fudge will break apart. While working with one portion of the dough, keep the rest of the dough covered. (See Tips)

Now gently turn the dough filled mold upside down and unmold the fudge with your fingers. Avoid pressing with pressure; fudge is still very soft and fragile by now. Follow the same with the rest of the dough. Use different molds to create new surprises. (See Tips)

Sprinkle the whole or crushed butterscotch (whichever you are planning to use) on top and press very gently to set it properly without destroying the shape. Pesta and Butterscotch Sandesh or Pistachio Fudge is all set to be served fresh. It tastes best when served at room temperature. Arrange the excess Pesta Sandesh or Pistachio Fudge in airtight container and refrigerate. They will be fresh up to 12-15 days if stored well. But always bring them to room temperature before serving. (See Tips)

Tips:

1. Substitute the sugar with equal amount of condensed milk or sugar free powder. If you’re using sugar free then add it towards the end of cooking not at the beginning.

2. Keep checking the pistachios while grounding, take care not to over grind otherwise nuts will release its own oil which will turn it into a paste.

3. The entire process of cooking of khoya will take 6-10 mins maximum for the specified amount.

4. While kneading the khoya you may feel grains in between your fingers and palm. Don’t be afraid. It can happen due to over cooking of the khoya. Just keep kneading the khoya with little pressure with 1-2 tsp of warm milk. After a while you will feel smooth grains free dough.

5. If you leave the dough in open air while you are working with small balls, it will lose its moisture and will become too dry to handle.

6. You can also use any molds of your choice. Or you can also use cookie cutter to create exciting shapes.

7. If you want to store the sandesh/fudge in two layers, spread a butter paper between two layers. Thus they will not stick to each other and will be easier to handle later.