The Sweetest Things: 4 Desserts with Impact
Decadent Dessert: Reema's gooey chocolate cake. Photo: Bina Khan
One of the great moments of adulthood is undoubtedly getting your own place. The feeling that you are “playing house,” as if at any moment the grown-up owners of the place that you have busted in to are going to come home and call the police (or your parents), lasts for quite a while – and it’s a great stage to be at because you have to remind yourself again and again that it is really real. Realising that you are the boss is pure joy (and sometimes pure terror, which is where parents come in handy: “Erm, Mum, how do I order a tanker?”) But after a while, when you have put your feet up on the coffee table enough times and no one has yelled at you and when you have furnished that last nook, it starts to become a truth that becomes a part of you.
I remember my first flat. I remember unpacking boxes with The Lord of the Rings playing in the background (we had no cable yet and it was the first DVD I found). I remember my mum arriving with every practical thing you could think of (from buckets to a can opener) as her house-warming present. I remember serving the rather perplexed lineman who came to install my phone with his rather strange request of both a cup of tea and a glass of water when he asked for his ”chai pani.” I remember finally having enough furniture to have my house warming.
Entertaining in your own space is, without a doubt, huge fun. You meld the styles of all the (actual) adults in your life and throw in a little of your own panache to find your own voice. If you are like me and would never dream of cooking for more than four people, then you have the art of ordering down pat. I have called À la carte Express (a delivery service that will bring you anything to your doorstep) so many times that they now recognise my voice and never ask for an address as a result. However, now that karachisnob.com has all the menus online, I have been forced to innovate more to make the very ready-made food that I serve unrecognisable to my dinner guests.
What follows are four of my household’s favourite desserts, so if you ever happen to be at a dinner party at my house and you recognise one of these cheats, shhhh! It’s our little secret.
Maltesers Dust on Ice Cream
A Jamie Oliver Classic: Maltezers over ice cream is sure to never go out of style. Photo: Bina Khan
My husband and I saw this on one of Jamie Oliver’s first programmes in the early days of our marriage (I have never tired of BBC food, or BBC Lifestyle as it is now known). The malt and honeycomb interiors of Maltesers, crushed and sprinkled on top of, and offset by, creamy vanilla ice cream is truly fantastic. It’s crunchy, malty, tasty and most importantly you don’t have to try too hard! (Think: effortlessly cool!)
The Dark-Milk-White Chocolate Platter
Cacao Row: Cascading rows of dark, white and milk chocolates make for a handsome dessert. Photo: Bina Khan
My parents-in-law gifted us a black and white platter from Paradise Road in Sri Lanka that gave birth to an idea that has become our staple dessert. We layer small pieces of dark chocolate on the white side of the platter and white chocolate on the black side with a milk-chocolate line running down the middle. Maybe because this presentation truly allows you to control just how much you consume (or more realistically, you can kid yourself about the amount you really had) or maybe because it’s easy yet luscious looking, but taking three kinds of good quality chocolate, snapping them in to small pieces and arranging them for people to graze from is a winner every time. Agha’s have started to import the famous Green & Black’s chocolate. Otherwise, throw in some fresh, dark Lindt, or a little milkybar if all else fails, and arrange in any attractive platter, and you’ll find they just sell themselves!
Arizona Grill Mousse with a Humble Candi Biscuit Crust
Dressing your Desserts: Serve mousse in interesting crockery; espresso cups also work very well. Photo: Bina Khan
Experimenting is definitely a family trait. A member of my family recently cut a chocolate-frosted muffin in half and rearranged it so that the top was the middle. When she bit into it, she was treated to cake at the top of the mouth with a fantastic creamy centre. Muffin cake!
This kind of ingenious thinking can be applied to all aspects of life. In fact, it has given me a career. You can customise and tweak ordered desserts too. Try doing it to Arizona Grill’s fantastic chocolate mousse and you’ll have a winner. Order three or four mousses, decant into an attractive dish (or small cups as I have done here), wrap up some Candi (by Lu) biscuits in a napkin and smash (think of the last person who irritated you while you bash: a fun perk!) and cover the mousse in a toasty, heavenly crust. Make sure to order the mousse without the Hershey’s syrup or whipped cream, as it spoils the perfect harmony of the cruncy biscuits and the creamy, dense mousse. Truly a dessert to die for.
Reema’s Gooey Chocolate Cake
Anatomy of a Cake: Dissecting a slowly collapsing, gooey Reema confection. See a bigger version of this sinful collapse in the slideshow below. Photo: Bina Khan
I don’t actually do anything to this cake simply because I don’t believe in messing with perfection. But she does make it at home, so technically it is “homemade.” I think the pictures speak for themselves and you can see just how sinfully gooey and moist this cake is. The centre is a gorgeous puddle of fudgy decadence that has you longing for the guests to leave just so you can change in to your tracks and have a romantic interlude involving you, a fork and about 5,000 calories. This comes from the famous Reema, whose catering menu includes all kinds of food, but this cake is definitely why God created her. Just return her platter and cake base to her home after the event and this cake can be yours for the evening.
Click on any photo to begin the slide show:
Help is at your fingertips. Services mentioned in this article:
- KarachiSnob.com
- À la carte Express: (92.21) 3583.8041-3
- Agha’s Supermarket: (92.21) 3583.3119
- Arizona Grill: (92.21) 3583.0351
- Reema’s Catering: 0300.921.8840
The opinions expressed in this article and the views shared by readers in the comment forum below do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance or policies of Newsline.
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phewwwww i jst cud not concentrate on reading the post after seeing the pixx….m sure the post wud b great to…!!
~
youve really outdone yourself with the pics this time. im craving this reema cake. contact please!!
The contacts for the products mentioned in the article are given at the end in a seperate box right after the slide show…..
I want to dive in to that cake!!! u have corrupted me
amazing article and awesomely doable desserts!! thanks a lott! will surely try!!
and i am definitely goin to have that cake!!
You made it very very difficult to read anything with those pictures!!! *stomach growling for chocolate* and that Reema gooey cake, ooh i wish i cud get that here in England!
mmmm…deliciousss…i cant wait until i experiment with these! chocolate, candi biscuits, maltesers…how can u ever go wrong?? It wasn’t so nicely presented but during mango season, i chopped the mangoes, topped them with crushed marie and candi biscuits or were they hobnob biscuits…and then topped them with a teaspoon of melted nutella! It was to die for!! But not half as presentable as your pics here!
PS: I LOVE REEMA’S CAKES!!
Great topic, sinful photos, crisply written article…way to go Bina! You’re making this world a better place (and sweeter too) by spreading all this joy, stay happy
omg…this is to die for. cest la vie from armeens is a hot favorite of mine. also i just discovered movenpick dark chocolate ice cream with M&S cereal, deliciously nutty crunch (available at aghas)
I am in love with Reema’s cake just by the sight of it……I would love to meet her …she should start some baking classes…I’m sure to be the first to learn from her…plz plz
aala content!!loved it..
This is the kind post that makes me smile.Very few people can talk about food from the depth of their hearts, so thank you for spreading the joy.
The photographs are mouthwatering, all of them! Even though we all watch BBC food and think we cant do that!, you’ve proved that we can and it is really that simple and desserts can look equally or more yummy!
Will definitely try –
Do Reema’s confectionery and A’la Carte express have menus available that we could choose from? (Would’nt want to annoy them to answer with a whole list of their goodies on the phone!)
Also Bina love the way you write, here and on your salon website, its really refreshing and the best part is its not preachy yet amazingly informative.
ok my 10 kilos are back…..just by looking at these pictures!! what a clever clever article and i love the tips you have given. makeup artist, photographer, writer, impromptu chef….you wear all the different hats so well, bina! throughly enjoyed this article as well and waiting for the next one!
My Lordy Bina!!! You seriously take the cake!!!! WOW WOW WOW. HAve younot yet been hired by every cafe, retsaurant and magazine in town. Watch out photographers, be scared – she may be best at the art of make up but that’snot all, she is also a fantastic photographer! Thanks for the visual paradise!
I really enjoyed reading your article, and the photos are great. I especially like the Dark-Milk-White Chocolate platter, and of course, Reema’s Gooey Chocolate Cake looks scrumptious!
Oh my… That cake looks like original sin personified. I’m now craving it from several continents away!
Gorgeous pics, Bina!
NOM NOM NOM
No Fair!!! You can’t do this to people who are “trying” to diet
must say lovely fotos & ofcourse the mousse and cake look scrumptious! After looking at these fotos made a batch of fudgy brownies…now look what you have done!
SR’s idea for ice cream with cereal is fantastic!!! What a genius you are! Am dying to try it! And for all of you out there, I had to photograph all this stuff and still stick to my very strict diet. I sent it all away. Please admire my devotion to duty!
Thanks girls for all the feedback, glad your collective mouths watered!
Dear Bina,
I wanted to let you know that I am a BIG FAN of your articles and am most impressed by your photographs also!
I enjoy your work so much and I hope that you will keep the good stuff coming.
This particular round, all i want to do is hang out with my buddies in their awesome apt and eat ALL the delicacies you have shared with us.
THANK YOU!!
OH.MY.GOD! Just HOW do you do that? Amazing photography and a superb piece of writing. Loved every word of it. You should write more often.
Do a la carte express and Reema’s have an online presence? or do we just call them anytime and ask for their menus? thanx a bunch.
bina, that platter of chocolate is my soul mate. this particular column is why i need boot camp. one question though: who is this reema and why did i not marry her?
WOW CHICA BOW WOW!!
okay, now that I have my tastebuds under control…awesome ideas and yet another great post!!! I cant wait to ‘play house’ :p
oh and your pics are just too good for words
Keep it up yo <3
I wouldn’t serve the ice cream with Maltesers, but the rest seem to be sure hits. This article is making me sad for having to move in with my IN-LAWS, i wish i can have that newlywed feeling of having my own place too!
Please, PLEASE!!
Get the recipe of such a sinful deligth!!! and post it. Hopelessly begging you from another continent. Oh, my!
I NEED TO EAT THIS SOMETIME, SOMEHOW!
Hey, really nice blog there and the pictures make it even better and so very tempting!! I usually go thru all your blogs specially the food related ones because i myself am a huge fan of dining out and have a really bad sweet tooth
Btw i’d recommend you to try dark chocolate truffles of this homerun thing called Sweet Tooth and the malt cake. GOD,THEY ARE HEAVEN!!! like honestly.I came across them on facebook do search them up.
Reema’s gooey cake is indeed heaven. There are a few homerun bakeries which are really doing a great job. Theres so much to choose from now.
you disturbed my healthy diet with all this :@ aint no forgiveness
but savoring it visualizing
thankies
Reema’s Gooey Chocolate Cake is what Heaven looks like.
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