Shrikand Trifle

Shrikand Trifle, an easy, but absolutely delicious and impressive dessert with layers of saffron infused yogurt, cake, cookies and fruit!

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If you omit the ghee roasted cashew bits on top, it is a NO-COOK, NO-BAKE kinda quick dessert!

My family was literally spooning it away gleefully!

They say “Necessity is the Mother of Inventions”! This Shrikand Trifle is one of those!

When I was craving shrikand (an Indian dessert) but at the same time needed to use up some fridge and pantry ingredients ASAP, this is what I ended up making!

My creative juices flowing and my mind racing excitedly, I could not think of anything other than a multilayered trifle using shrikand instead of custard or cream as one of the layers in my trifle!

With some extra leftover store bought cupcakes, a couple of opened packets of biscuits/cookies and that one lone ripe banana which no one wanted, I managed to put out a delicious, mouthwatering dessert with literally no cooking or baking needed!

A desi or Indian twist on my childhood favorite custard pudding and with layers of creamy, saffron and mildly sweetened Greek yogurt called “Shrikand” interspersed with layers of cake, biscuits/cookie and fruits, it is going to be on my "easy to make desserts" list from now on!

One spoonful and my family was wanting for more! Once you taste it, you will be making this often in your house too!

It is an absolute showstopper kind of dessert (which by the way is totally customizable to your taste) and is perfect for any occasion, be it a family gathering, party or just to celebrate small family wins any time of the year!

WHAT IS SHRIKAND

This Indian dessert is basically sweetened thick yogurt or hung curd/yogurt either flavored with saffron and cardamom or even with fruits like mango, strawberry, cherries etc.

Plain yogurt is drained of excess moisture to form something called “hung curd or yogurt” and then whisked into this creamy, satiny deliciousness with some sweeteners and flavorings.

I have used whole milk Greek yogurt in this scrumptiousness to save time. If making just shrikand, then draining more water from Greek yogurt will add to the creaminess and texture of shrikand.

But here, I needed something that was spreadable between all the layers of cake, cookies and fruit, so decided to avoid that step and chore of draining Greek yogurt of excess moisture. Greek yogurt is thick enough as it is!

SHRIKAND TRIFLE

Trifle is the name of a British dessert, normally prepared in a large dessert bowl with layers of fruit, alcohol doused cake, custard or cream and some crumbled cookies or biscuits. Some use jelly too.

Over time, it is now sometimes called a parfait especially when made in individual dessert cups and the fillings have become a totally a personal thing depending upon everyone’s tastes, availability of ingredients etc.

I love repurposing ingredients and dishes to make different new ones and like I said earlier, this one too is!

This particular one actually came out of my craving for shrikand and the need to finish some cupcakes that I had bought recently from a bakery in San Diego which was too rich for our taste!

So, I removed the top cream, sliced up the cupcakes and lo and behold! Cake for the trifle was ready!

Although I love custard in my desserts or pudding, this time, I wanted to make Shrikand as one of the fillings to give it an Indian, nostalgic touch and I have been wanting to make shrikand for a long time anyway!

I reached out to my pantry for any opened packets of cookies or “biscuits” as we call in India and found couple of opened packets of Belvita cookies that needed to be finished….the cookie or biscuit layer!

For the fruit, I love using bananas in my pudding and luckily there was only 1 which was all I needed.

That is it!

Time to make shrikand and layer up the trifle!

BASIC INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE SHRIKAND TRIFLE

Greek Yogurt – I have used whole milk Greek yogurt here. If using plain yogurt, you must drain it over a cheese cloth for at least a few hours to remove excess water to make it slightly thick. Regular yogurt has too much moisture content that would ruin the layers!

Sweetener – Powdered sugar is preferred here for easy mixing and smooth texture of shrikand . Also, as I was using saffron to color the shrikand layer, any other sweetener would have changed that! But feel free to use your favorite sweetener.

Saffron strands – this not only adds color but an exotic fragrance too.

Milk – just enough to soak the crushed strands

Cardamom powder – Peel, deseed and crush green cardamom seeds.

Cake – any cake will do; homemade or store bought. You can use only one flavor or use a mix of flavors. Just slice them up or break into chunks. I preferred slicing the cupcakes as then I can evenly layer them up.

Cookies or Biscuits – Use any cookie like Biscoff, Parle G or as I have used here, Belvita cookies. They just need to have a crunchy texture but sitting in those creamy layers of shrikand, turn into fudgy puddles of deliciousness!

Fruit – I prefer to use ripe bananas here. Apples would have been good too (gives an amazing crunch and texture to the pudding) but decided against it for this one.

Cashew nuts – This one is totally optional but ghee roasted crushed nuts are something I got to have on my trifle or pudding as that final crunch, texture and of course cashew nuts are my favorite nuts! So you will need a bit of ghee for that too if using.

Garnishes – These again are optional but I had a few strawberries and blueberries left in the fridge which I felt would look beautiful on the golden, saffron yellow background.

HOW TO MAKE SHRIKAND TRIFLE

First step is to soak a few strands of good quality saffron, crushed, in just enough warm milk for about 5 minutes. You will notice the milk turn into this lovely orange yellow color! Set aside.

If using cashew nuts for topping then continue with this step. Roast just a handful of cashew nuts in some ghee (about 1 tbsp) until golden brown. Cool completely and then crush in a mortar and pestle to small bits.

To make the shrikand, in a mixing bowl, gently stir 3 cups plain Greek yogurt along with 4-5 tablespoons of powdered sugar (use according to taste), ½ teaspoon of green cardamom powder and saffron milk. Don’t make it too sweet as the trifle has layers of cake and cookies too! So add accordingly.

Break up the cookies into chunks or smaller pieces.

Slice up the cakes; I had different varieties so just used a sharp knife to slice them up after removing the creamy toppings.

You can use any cake here; homemade or store bought!

Time to layer the trifle

In a large dessert bowl or trifle bowl or any glass bowl with a flat bottom, start by placing the cake pieces at the bottom to cover it. You can use individual glass cups too!

Make sure that the cake can be seen along the edges to give the final trifle a beautiful look!

Spoon shrikand on top to form a layer using a spoon, making sure they are spread all the way to the edge of bowl.

Follow up by the cookie layer, again shrikand, fruit layer, shrikand layer etc. If ingredients are leftover, continue layering.

The fun part is, you can mix and match the ingredients in each layer, make one layer or even two layers of each depending upon the amount of ingredients. Adjust according to your preference.

But the last layer must be shrikand.

The final touch, which is optional, is the “piece the resistance “of this dessert for me!!!! Ghee roasted bits of cashew!

I just could not miss topping it with my favorite pudding topping…crushed ghee roasted cashew bits. You should try it too! I wouldn’t mind a layer of that in the middle of this trifle but I guess that would be too much isn’t it?

Decorated the top with some strawberry slices and fresh blueberries!

That is it!

Time to chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours or even overnight!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

For a fancy serving, top or decorate with fruits, mint leaves, edible flowers etc. I chose to use some strawberries and blueberries.

Serve in individual dessert plates. Refrigerate leftover trifle.

If using store bought cake and cookies and if you omit the roasted nuts, this one is literally a “no bake, no cook dessert” which is so easy to make but is very impressive to serve!

Enjoy and Happy Eating!

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Shrikand Trifle

An easy dessert yet an absolutely delicious and impressive one with layers of saffron infused yogurt, cake, cookies and fruit! If you omit the ghee roasted cashew bits on top, it is absolutely a NO-COOK, NO-BAKE kinda quick dessert!

Course Dessert

Cuisine British, Indian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Chilling Time 2 hours

Author Vanitha Bhat

Ingredients

FOR SHRIKAND:

• 3 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 4-5 tbsp. powdered sugar
• ¼ - ½ tsp. green cardamom powder
• Few strands of saffron
• Some milk to soak crushed saffron

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

• Any store bought or homemade cake
• Some cookies or biscuits they must be crispy and crunchy

GARNISH (optional):

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Mint leaves
• 10-12 Cashew nuts
• Some ghee to roast cashew nuts

Instructions

1. First step is to soak a few strands of good quality saffron, crushed in a mortar and pestle, in just enough warm milk for about 5 minutes. You will notice the milk turn into this lovely orange yellow color! Set aside.

2. If using cashew nuts for topping then continue with this step. Roast just a handful of cashew nuts in some ghee (about 1 tbsp) until golden brown. Cool completely and then crush in a mortar and pestle to small bits.
3. To make the shrikand, in a mixing bowl, gently stir 3 cups plain Greek yogurt along with 4-5 tablespoons of powdered sugar (use according to taste), ½ teaspoon of green cardamom powder and saffron milk. Don’t make it too sweet as the trifle has layers of cake and cookies too! So add accordingly.
4. Break up the cookies into chunks or smaller pieces.
5. Slice up the cakes; I had different varieties so just used a sharp knife to slice them up after removing the creamy topping.
6. Time to layer the trifle
7. In a large dessert bowl or trifle bowl, start by placing the cake pieces at the bottom to cover it. Make sure that the cake can be seen along the edges to give the final trifle a beautiful look!
8. Spoon shrikand on top to form a layer using a spoon, making sure they are spread all the way to the edge of bowl.
9. Follow up by the cookie layer, then again shrikand, fruit layer, shrikand etc. If ingredients are leftover, continue layering.
10. The fun part is, you can mix and match the ingredients in each layer, make one layer or even two OR three layers of each depending upon the amount of ingredients. Adjust according to your preference.
11. But the final layer must be the shrikand.
12. The final touch, the topping, which is optional, is the “piece the resistance “of this dessert for me!!!! Ghee roasted bits of cashew; a childhood favorite and nostalgia!
13. Just spread evenly over the trifle.
14. That is it!
15. Time to chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours or even overnight!
16. When time to serve, garnish (optional) and enjoy, use a deep large spoon to scoop up all the layers in one big dessert spoonful and serve on individual dessert platters.
17. Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Recipe Notes

• Adjust the type of cake, biscuits, fruits etc. according to your taste. But avoid using oranges, grapes, pears, etc. Other choices can be apples which are my favorite.
• If you cannot find Greek yogurt, make your own thick yogurt. Just drain plain yogurt on a cheesecloth for a few hours or even overnight to remove excess water and then use. Shrikand formed should be thick but still spreadable in the bowl.
• Same dessert can be made in individual glasses too.
• If you omit the ghee roasted cashew nuts, this easy peasy dessert becomes a totally no bake and no cook one!
• Use your favorite ingredients and make it your own!
• Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Do check out a couple of more easy desserts you may like:

FRUIT CUSTARD TRIFLE PUDDING (EGGLESS)

LIME CRACKER PUDDING (EGGLESS/NO BAKE/NO COOK)

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