No Bake Rose Cheesecake Thandai Shortbread Bars
Rose Cheesecake Thandai Shortbread Bars made of a buttery thandai shortbread crust topped with a no bake rose cheesecake filling. The cheesecake layer is flavored with thandai masala. Perfect for Holi, these easy peasy bars are just heavenly indian fusion dessert.
Equipment
- Hand Mixer
Ingredients
For Thandai Shortbread
- 115 g unsalted butter softened
- 80 g powdered sugar
- 165 g All purpose flour
- 25 g thandai masala
For The No Bake Rose Cheesecake Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 125 g Mawa
- 70 g powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon rose syrup
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon thandai masala
Instructions
Make The Shortbread Dough (Can be made 1-2 days in advance)
- In a large bowl, beat together softened butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Takes about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the thandai masala and beat again to combine very well.
- Add the flour and using your hands, bring everything together to make a soft and pliable dough.
- Notes:- 1) Shape the dough into a flat round by pressing it. You can freeze the dough for later use. 2)Once chilled, You can use the dough to just make shortbread cookies. For this roll the dough on a floured surface and cut using cookie cutters.
- Line a 8 by 8 baking dish with parchment paper with overhang. Press the shortbread dough in a uniform layer. Using a fork, poke the dough so that it does not puff up while baking. Refrigerate and let chill for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven 350F.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and let bake for 11-15 minutes until the shortbread is golden. Once baked, take out of the oven and let stand on the kitchen counter until completely cooled down.
Make The Rose Cheesecake Filling (Make While the shortbread bakes and cools)
- In a small pan, add crumbled mawa and cook for 2-4 minutes on very low heat until softened. The mawa should not brown. Let cool completely.
- Add softened cream cheese to a large and using hand mixer beat it to smooth. Takes about 4 minutes.
- Add the cooled softened mawa and beat together with cream cheese.
- Next,add the powdered sugar, rose syrup and rose water (is using).Fold with spatula to mix sugar and then beat for a good 2-3 minutes until smooth. it will turn a beautiful pink color.
- Add heavy cream and thandai masala next. Beat very well to make a smooth fluffy thickish filling.
- Note:- If the shortbread is not cold yet, refrigerate the cheesecake filling.
Assemble
- Add the cheesecake filling over the cooled shortbread crust.
- Smoothen out using a spatula. Press down some silvered pistachios or almonds if you wish.
- Cover the baking sheet with a foil or cling film and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight(best).
- Lift the set cheesecake bar(using the overhung parchment) and place on a hard surface .
- Slice using a sharp knife into 6 long bars or 9 small squares or however you wish.
Notes
Some Tips
- You can make the layers as thick or thin as you like. I use a 8 by 8 inch baking pan to set. You can use a 9 by 9 inch or 9 by 13 pan for thinner layers.
- The filling should be a little fluffy and thick.
- The cream should be softened before you start beating it to avoid lumpy filling.
- Cook mawa for 2-3 minutes just till its softened, dont brown it. If you want, you can skip the mawa.
- Dont have rose syrup?Just use rose water and add a few drops of food color (optional) for pink color.
- Add the cheesecake filling only after the shortbread layer has completely cooled down.
- You can serve these bars with dollop of whipped cream and berries. Rose and berries are beautiful together.
Nutrition
Calories: 440kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 6gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 122mgPotassium: 69mgFiber: 1gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 915IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 134mgIron: 1mg
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