Paan leaves, gulkand, fennel and cream cheese combine in these bite no-bake size Paan Cheesecake Truffles! A refreshing festive treat which is also easy to make & share!
32parle-g biscuits1 & 1/2 cups cookie crumbs, use any cookie of choice
4-5largepaan leaveschopped, around 20 grams, use more if leaves are smaller
4tablespoonsheavy cream60 ml
1teaspoonkewra water
1teaspoonrose water
4ozcream cheeseat room temperature
1/4cupgulkand50 grams, rose petal jam
2teaspoonfennel seedsslightly crushed
1 & 1/4cupwhite chocolate melting wafers225 grams, for dipping the truffles
green food coloroptional
candied fennel, coconutto garnish
Instructions
To a food processor, add parle-g biscuits. You can use any other cookie here as well like digestives or graham crackers. Pulse a few times until the biscuits turn into crumbs. You would need around 1 & 1/2 cup of crumbs. Set this aside.
Now, to a blender, add chopped paan leaves (chop them before so that it helps in mixing) along with cream, rose water and kewra water.Blend until you have a thick paste. It's okay if it doesn't get too fine, you don't want a uniform paste, some paan leaves are good to bite in. We just want it all to mix together.
Now, to the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or use your hand mixer) add crushed parle-g crumbs, prepared paan leaves paste along with cream cheese (make sure it is at room temperature), gulkand and crushed fennel seeds (I crushed the fennel seeds slightly in a spice grinder before using, don't turn into a powder).
Using the paddle attachment, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until all of it is nicely combined. Scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula as needed.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out small size balls from the mixture and place on the baking sheet.Then take each ball and smoothen it out by rolling it between your palm. Place the sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes for the truffles to firm up.
Once they are firm, now to dip them in chocolate, melt the melting wafers. I am using white chocolate melting wafers here which do not need any tempering, if using regular real chocolate you will need to temper it first.To melt, take an inch or two of water in a pan and place it on medium-low heat on stove-top. Then place a bowl with chocolate melting wafers on top of that pan, the bowl should not be touching the surface of water.This is called the double boiler method to melt the chocolate. You can also use your microwave to the do the same. You can add some green food color (optional) to the melting wafers at this point.
Once melted, dip the truffles in chocolate. I used a candy dipping tool but you can use 2 forks as well.Coat the truffles from all sides and then remove on a parchment paper.
Sprinkle saunf (candied fennel) or desiccated coconut on top. Make all truffles similarly. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, they will stay good for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
If you don't have parle-g, you can use digestive biscuits or graham crackers too. The cookie crumbs should measure 1 & 1/2 cups.
I have not used any sugar here since gulkand is very sweet and adds enough sweetness to the truffles.
If you don't have kewra water, you can skip it or double the rose water.
Using food color is optional for the coating, it just makes the truffles look green but you keep them white as well.
Please use melting wafers/candy melts only for dipping the truffles. A real chocolate would need to be tempered first.