Malai Peda

A super popular and easy to make sweet; Malai Peda is a perfectly rich Indian mithai made with ricotta cheese.

Bright yellow, super delicious and chic thanks to shaping them with a pretty mold! Enjoy them yourself or gift these as a hostess gift or for any occasion.

Indian sweets are always loved. They work so well for occasions, celebrations, events and festivals. If you happen to visit an Indian sweet store, you will most definitely find various kinds of pedas. We can make these at home too. Along with these, we can also make rasgulla, kaju katli and besan ladoo.

These sweets are pretty addictive, loved by most people and make a great treat for any event. And when you make them at home; it is truly amazing. We can modify, customize and make a super large or small batch.

And these are clearly made with quality ingredients. Plus, we can adjust the flavor, sweetener and the use of color or not. No wonder, Indian sweets made at home are far superior than store bought ones. And believe me, some of them are actually pretty easy to put together.

Jump to:

• What is Peda
• Why use Ricotta Cheese
• Why this recipe works
• Ingredients and Substitutions
• How to make this recipe
• Expert Tips and Notes
• Storage
• Recipe FAQs
• More Recipes to make with Ricotta Cheese
• More Delicious Indian Sweets
• Malai Peda

What is Peda

Peda is a popular Indian sweet. Also known as Penda in Gujarati; these are milk based treats. They can be made with various ingredients and they would all taste amazing.

We can refer to them as Indian milk fudge. These are like a canvas; they take on the flavor of the ingredients used. Add in saffron for kesar peda, cocoa powder for chocolate peda, rose for pretty pink rose peda or any flavor of your choice.

Peda has a signature skin, differentiating them from other sweets like barfi and ladoo. This signature is easy to achieve by air drying them for a few minutes.

And while the skin might look dry, do not be fooled to think that these pedas might not be soft within. Below the signature skin, it is soft, flavorful and perfectly sweet inside.

It is no surprise that these are popular to serve as prasad for an event, distribute on happy occasions like the birth of a child or to enjoy at get togethers. This sweet is relatively mess free to serve and is loved by most adults and kids alike.

Why use Ricotta Cheese

By definition ricotta cheese is an Italian whey cheese. It is made from cow, sheep and goat milk. The name means 'recooked' in Italian. While this cheese is popular in Italian recipes like pastas and pizzas; it is now also super popular in making sweets.

The traditional recipe of peda needs us to start with full fat milk and boil it till it reduces to a thick milk solids. Then we sweeten and flavor these and make the pedas. However, this can take a super long time.

An easier way to make these is to start with ricotta cheese. On cooking the cheese by itself, it reduces to a thick mawa consistency. And when we have this mawa ready; we can easily flavor it with a additive of our choice. Besides, we can also make plain pedas.

Why this recipe works

• These Kesar pedas are super easy to make.
• It is a perfect alternate to milk peda.
• We only need five ingredients to make these malai peda.
• It is eggless and naturally gluten-free.
• The recipe does not use any artificial coloring.
• This peda works well for vrat or fasting days.
• The sweet is perfect for beginners.
• We can make the entire recipe using just one pot and a mold.
• The pedas are perfect for occasions, as edible gifts and for any kind of pooja.
• We can make this malai peda before hand.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Ricotta Cheese: The best modaks are made with full fat ricotta cheese. However, one can use skim milk ricotta cheese too. The texture will be slightly different though.
• Condensed Milk: The quickest and easiest way to sweeten the pedas is to use sweetened condensed milk. Not only is it quicker than milk and sugar; it is also super creamy giving us the texture we are looking for. I would not substitute this with any other sweetener.
• Saffron: Saffron is the key ingredient for flavor and color in so many recipes. It is so flavorful and works perfectly. It is great for any festival and I love using it in recipes like these. Skip these and the pedas will become malai peda instead of kesar malai peda.
• Milk: I like to use a small amount of milk to bring out the best flavors from saffron. Warm or cold milk will work for the recipe.
• Cardamom: Given that we do not use any kind of nuts or flavoring agents in this recipe, we use cardamom. Break the pods, remove the seeds and crush them to powder. This Indian spice is fragrant, flavorful and makes the pedas amazing. However, skip them or substitute with nutmeg or ground fennel if you desire.

See the recipe card for detailed ingredient information, measurements and nutrition.

How to make this recipe

1- In a mortar pestle lightly crush ½ tsp saffron.

2- Then add 2 tablespoon milk and set aside.

3- In a heavy pan add 32 oz ricotta cheese. Keeping the flame on medium, cook the cheese till all the water evaporates and the cheese thickens.

4- The cheese will start thickening in about 10-12 minutes.

5- Keep stirring intermittently.

6- At the stage when it thickens, add 1 teaspoon cardamom powder, saffron milk and 14 oz condensed milk. Mix well and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

7- Then remove the pan from flame and set aside. Transfer the mix to a plate.

8- Let the mixture cool down a little. Once cool to touch, knead the mixture to mix any stray particles.

9- Then grease a peda mold or a mooncake mold well with ghee.

10- Next divide the dough into 30 gram pieces.

11- Then, press one ball into the mold and press it out on a cookie sheet.

12- Repeat for all the pedas and let them stand for 10-15 minutes to form a nice skin. Enjoy or transfer to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator.

Expert Tips and Notes

• Cook the ricotta cheese completely till crumbly. If there is excess water in it, the malai peda will not hold shape.
• If the mixture with condensed milk is too crumbly and dry, add some whole milk to loosen it. If it is still runny, cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add nuts in the centre of the pedas if you like.
• Moreover, add nuts like cashew or almond slivers to the ricotta cheese mix once it starts to thicken with the condensed milk if you like.
• If you would like a lighter yellow color, add some yellow food color. However, I have not added any here.
• If you do not have the mold, divide them into parts and roll them well into pedas.
• Use a non-stick pan to cook everything as it keeps the ingredients from sticking.
• It is easy to double or halve the recipe; simply work the ingredients and make them.
• Moreover, for bite size pedas, use a smaller mold.

Storage

These pedas are perfect to make ahead of time. In fact we make them at least a few hours ahead so they have a chance to get the signature skin by air deying and then be refrigerated.

The malai peda are best served slightly cold. However, they do taste great at room temperature too.

To store them longer, simply pop into a lidded container and refrigerate. Enjoy straight from the container or place them in a good gift worthy box and bring along as a hostess gift or for any occasion.

Besides, we can easily freeze these pedas. Freeze in air tight containers or freezer bags. To enjoy, simply thaw to till they are not frozen and enjoy.

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes to make with Ricotta Cheese

More Delicious Indian Sweets