Caramelized White Chocolate and Peda Bark

My favorite mithai during Diwali has always been penda/peda. It’s a milk fudge made with khoya (solid milk fat), sugar and cardamom. I use a popular shortcut by using powdered milk and sweetened condensed milk for my penda/peda. ! I used some of their milk powder to make my peda/penda. Traditionally, peda/penda are shaped into little flattened balls and then a design is pressed into them. My caramelized white chocolate and peda bark is a fun and unique way to get the same caramelly milky flavors of peda in a pretty modern format! I was inspired by some recipes for cookie dough bark I had seen on Pinterest. The caramelized white chocolate and peda bark is made of a layer of Parle G cookie and jaggery crust, cardamom peda layer, and a caramelized white chocolate layer.

The bottoms layer of the bark consists of a salty Parle G and jaggery cookie crust layer. Peda and white chocolate can be sickeningly sweet sometimes, so I add quite a bit of salt to the crust to balance the flavors out. If you don’t have Parle G cookies, you can use Biscoff (speculoos) cookies or graham crackers.

A few month’s ago I had visited Alexandre Family Farm and they were kind enough to gift me a massive bag of their fine powdered milk which has been super handy this Diwali season. I use milk powder and heavy cream or sweetened condensed milk to make a quick khoya/mawa shortcut in a lot of my Indian dessert recipes. Penda/peda is surprisingly easy to make and takes just a couple of minutes. Feel free to just make the cardamom penda recipe and roll them into balls if you’re short on time.

Caramelized White Chocolate and Peda Bark

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• Author: Milk and Cardamom
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 20 mins 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Easy Caramelized White Chocolate and Peda Bark made with a layer of jaggery and Parle G cookies crust, cardamom peda and topped with caramelized white chocolate. Perfect for Diwali!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

COOKIE CRUST

• 1 cup Parle G cookie crumbs, fine
• 2 tbsp jaggery powder
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1/4 tsp salt

CARDAMOM PEDA

• 1 cup (92 g) non fat dry milk powder
• 2/3 cup (200 g) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) ghee
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) whole milk
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp salt

CARAMELIZED WHITE CHOCOLATE

• 7 ounces (200 g) white chocolate with at least 35% cocoa butter (Valrhona)
• dried or fresh edible flowers for garnish (optional)

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Instructions

Parle G and Jaggery Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave an overhang and set aside.
2. Add all the ingredients into a medium bowl and mix well. The mixture should feel like wet sand. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Tightly and press the crumbs into a thin, even layer.
3. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and then place in the freezer for 10 minutes and then set on counter.

Cardamom Peda

1. Pour the milk powder and sweetened condensed milk into a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Stir for 3 minutes. Add the ghee, milk, cardamom, and salt and mix well. Continuously stir the mixture for 8 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and starts leaving the sides of the pan.
2. Spoon the mixture into the baking pan on top of the cookie crust. Grease the back of a spoon or an offset spatula with ghee and gently smooth the mixture into a thin even layer over the cookie crust. Once it’s cool, you can use your clean hands to tightly press the peda mixture down.

Caramelized White Chocolate

1. If making in the microwave: Put white chocolate in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave in 15-second increments, mixing well in between for 2 to 3 minutes. The chocolate will initially melt, then get kind of grainy and then finally caramelize and turn off white/tan. Once it’s at a light tan color, stir in a pinch of salt.
2. If making in the oven: Set oven to 250 F. Spread white chocolate out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Mix the chocolate and bake for another 10 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes until chocolate has caramelized and is light tan. Mine took about 90 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour into a bowl. Stir in a pinch of salt.
3. Pour the chocolate over the peda layer. Smooth into a thin even layer. Decorate with edible fresh or dried flowers and place in the freezer for 10 minutes or until set. Once it’s set, lift the bark out using the overhanging parchment paper and place it on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into small bite-size pieces. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week.

Notes

If you leave the bark in the freezer longer than 10 minutes, let the peda bark come to room temperature before cutting so that the layers don’t break or separate.

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: Indian

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