Diwali, the popular festival of lights, is one of the most famous Hindu holidays. Little Sister Baking has taken the liberty to create a unique and fusion Diwali menu that incorporates traditional sweets and food. After their huge success with their famous Rasmalai Tres Leches and Samosa Puffs, Tanvi and Akash Swar decided it was time to create a special menu in the spirit of Diwali this year.
Tanvi shared that Diwali parties are huge affairs, some are celebrated with catered dinners that everyone looks forward to all year. Diwali is basically a week-long party with food and fireworks and fun. Everything is festive, there are lights up on balconies and streets, fireworks, everyone’s dressed up and there’s just an air of excitement everywhere. But for the last few years when the sisters moved to Canada, they felt it's often been cold and a bit sad. They live in downtown, so there’s a few sparkles depending on the time of year, but it’s so different from the energy they felt back home. This year, they decided to extend their excitement around Diwali and bring it to Toronto to share it with their community.
They have created a huge menu that includes Diwali hits, like a Gajar ka halwa cake––a carrot cake with Gajar Halwa (a rich South Asian carrot pudding), topped with Rabri (a South Asian milk pudding with cardamom and saffron) and decorated with 24K gold and gold dragees. It will also include a Coconut Barfi Cake––a sort of rich sweet coconut fudge––and is made with a coconut cake base, white chocolate dip and coconut flakes.
They're also serving up Pineapple Sooji Halwa Cake, Gulab Jamun Cake and Lonavla Chocolate Kaju Fudge Cake. For the savoury, you can expect Green Chutney Khaari Twists––which is cilantro mint chilli chutney twisted with their signature puff pastry––as well as Chilli Cheese Namak Para, which are fried wheat snacks with chilli and cheddar cheese, and of course their signature samosas and chicken puffs.
Since Diwali is heavily based on gifting, these menu items will be offered through a Diwali Party Platter––wrapped up like a gift and including a collectible, reusable wooden platter with the cakes, mini puffs, savoury snacks, flowers, divas (small clay lamps) and a fennel mouth fresher. They will also offer a smaller option called the Mithai (Sweets) Box, and will feature a collectible, reusable wooden box with one of each cake, flowers and divas for gifting.
They were inspired by the way sweets are gifted in India––decorative, gold and jewel-filled boxes of rich little fudge-like sweets made with ghee, milk, fruit and nuts that are popularly gifted during Diwali.
"It just felt natural for us to do our own spin on the Mithai Box, all inspired by our favourite sweets, and make it extra luxurious," says Akash.
For the holidays in December, they plan to have all their Mithai cakes available for gifting and custom orders. They are also going to have a few new items for the store that involve eggnog. They also have some of their fun stuffed buns coming back for the holidays in a really popular flavour.
To inquire about the Diwali menu, you can email littlesisterbaking@gmail.com and keep up with their social media to stay connected. You can pre-order for pick up in store and delivery on Nov. 4-5 with a limit of 12. Diwali deliveries will happen on Nov. 4 and 5, and the menu will be available at their store beginning Oct. 26 and onwards.
