Anand Sweets reimagines and reinvents traditional Indian desserts with its newly launched sweetmeats

Festivals and festivities in India start and conclude with sweets. A wedding feast is incomplete without laddoos and the beloved kaju katli only adds to the celebration of any festival. Safe to say, nuts, flour, ghee and sugar are not merely ingredients to a sweet treat — they symbolise warmth and prosperity. But they are also not enough.

To cater to the modern-day taste, one that has a penchant for artisanal desserts, sweet connoisseurs are going above and beyond. Leading the way in Bengaluru, we have Anand Sweets that recently launched a collection of contemporary artisanal desserts and hosted us for an evening.

Cruising through their newly launched sweet treats, we found ourselves drawn towards the names and also the ingredients. Our eyes caught hold of the Blueberry Kaju Bar. A modern take on the Indian traditional kaju barfi, the dessert comes with a layer of khoya topped with blueberry. First bite and we instantly knew we were on to a good start.

You must also try the Kesar Kewda Kaju Phool and the Cranberry Taksim where cashews dominate the flavour profile. We moved from the first counter to the second to try the Cinnamon Vanilla Kaju Taco, a delicacy that would throw Mexicans into a conundrum. Think bite-sized sweets and a chewy taco wrapped with cashews that you can pop every time you open the refrigerator.

Speaking of which, we also have a new after-dinner dessert around the block and it’s called the Chocolate Mint Roll. It features a chocolate-flavoured khoya enveloping a mint-flavoured filling and if, just like us, you like your sweets not too sweet, then this may be your pick.

Halfway through this sweet spree that easily was our full week’s calorie intake, we saw a platter full of Cream Cheese Baklava and dropped everything else for our next visit. This crisp golden brown delicacy, filled with cream cheese and pistachios is what a riot of flavour feels like. You have cream cheese cutting through the sweetness of the Indianised version of a baklava, but it’s the crunch with every second bite that makes it a truly decadent experience.

₹1,340 onwards. Available in all outlets.

muskankhullar@newindianexpress.com

@muskankhullar03