Your Diwali sweet platter is becoming tastier and wider. Mithai sellers and chefs in Lucknow are curating sweets and bakery items that hold traditional flavours yet are contemporary in nature.
To make it feasible, we have four- and 10-piece wooden gift packs. Matrika Gupta, owner of the 221-year-old Ram Asrey Sweets, says, “More than experimenting with new varieties, we focus on packaging and have created an entire wall of gift packs and sweet boxes. This time, we have introduced Matcha Bites.
“The price is surely high due to gold but people do buy, specially for gifting purpose. Because it is a costly affair, we only do small fresh portions,” says Ravindra Gupta, owner of Chhappan Bhog. From Matcha and Exotica Pure Gold Bites to Tiramisu Barfi, Charcuterie Platters to Diwali Grazing Tables, motichoor laddoos. and cheesecakes, the options are aplenty for customers “Traditional sweets rule when it comes to puja and basic festivities, but for self-consumption and gifting purposes, people want to experiment with sweets and bakery items. With gold prices on the rise, real gold foil Exotica sweet is the biggest draw. Ingredients include mamra almonds from Iran, pistachios from Afghanistan, macadamia from South Africa, hazelnut from Turkey and saffron from Kashmir besides gold foil. For puja and main festivities, traditional sweets are still the most popular. So to cater to such clients, sweetshops have packaged them smartly. Also, we have redesigned some of our sweets. We make a big brick-size minced-walnut, almond, cashew-nut-sohan halwa and anjeer pack which people can portion out as per their convenience. It is the flavour of the season and is selling well, adds Ravindra Gupta. From Turkish baklawa to cheesecakes, bakery items have seen a surge during Diwali, but they are now expanding their wings and experimenting with items closer to traditional sweets. “Along with bakery items, we now have fusion and traditional sweets in our own style. Café Delhi Heights, which has restaurants at Lulu Mall and Riverside Mall, has turned traditional Indian mithai into a contemporary format.
The focus is on novelty, gifting and packaging, which makes the Diwali sweet platter a very interesting space to experiment with,” says Mohsin Qureshi, executive chef at Sacara Hotel. This includes Tiramisu Kaju Katli in coffee flavour, Kesar Barfi, Gur Chana Barfi, Doda Barfi and Kesar Barfi, all in fusion bakery style,” says Tanushree Gupta, owner of Danbro by Mr Brown. “The Motichoor Laddoo Cheesecake is our take on bringing together the nostalgia of a quintessential Indian mithai with the indulgence and texture of a contemporary dessert,” says Chef Ashish Singh, COO and Culinary Director. However, Aarti Vaid, owner of Buttercup Bungalow, says they have a host of Diwali hampers, but this time their focus is on Charcuterie Platters and Grazing Tables for small and big festival gatherings.
