To make your Christmas and holiday season celebrations cheerful, Chef Ranveer Brar shares recipes for decadent treats and mouthwatering desserts using Hershey India syrups and spreads.
Chocolate Fruit Cake with Hershey’s cocoa powder
Prep time: 30 minutes + three hours soaking
Baking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For soaking:
¾ cup dry fruits and nuts (tutti fruity, cherries, raisins, almonds)
1 cup orange juice
1 tsp rum essence (optional)
2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp candied ginger (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp wheat flour
For the cake:
1 cup ragi flour
1 cup wheat flour
½ cup Hershey’s Cocoa Powder
⅓ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
½ cup Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
1 cup milk
¾ cup melted butter
¼ cup icing sugar
Method for baking:
For soaking fruits, take dry fruits and nuts in a bowl. Pour in orange juice and rum essence. Add in orange zest, candied ginger and cinnamon powder. Mix everything well. Let this rest for 2-3 hours.
For the cake, take a bowl and add in all the dry ingredients. Mix well. Now pour in chocolate syrup, milk and melted butter. Combine everything well, ensure there are no lumps in the batter.
Toss the soaked fruits with 2 tbsp wheat flour, which keeps the fruits from settling down while baking. Add in the soaked fruits and mix everything well. The batter should be of a thick pouring consistency.
Line the cake tin with butter paper. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Pour the cake batter in the lined tin. Tap it gently to remove air bubbles. Bake for 35 minutes or until the knife comes out completely clean. Demould the cake and let it cool down to room temperature. Dust the fruit cake with icing sugar and serve.
Caramel Gingerbread Cookies
Preparation time: 40 minutes (30 minutes chilling)
Baking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 15-18 cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
½ cup butter softened
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup Hershey’s Caramel Syrup
1 ½ cup refined flour
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp clove powder
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
Other ingredients:
½ Cup white chocolate, melted
The process for baking cookies:
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, and start beating with a hand blender until the mixture is soft and creamy. Add Hershey’s Caramel Syrup and mix again until the two are well-combined.
Now add in the refined flour, baking powder, baking soda and all the spices. Give a nice mix with a spatula until all are combined. Dust your hands with refined flour and smooth out the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and sprinkle flour over the dough and rolling pin. Roll the dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Use additional flour to avoid sticking. Line a baking tray with butter paper and preheat the oven at 170 degrees C.
Cut out cookies with the ginger man cookie cutter or any other desired cutter. Place the cookies 1½ inches apart. Bake the cookies in batches. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 7-10 minutes.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack. Decorate the cookies with melted white chocolate.
