Bite sized version of Paan Cheesecake, these Paan Cheesecake Truffles are made with cream cheese, parle-g crumbs, real paan leaves and flavored with gulkand and garnished with candied fennel. If you love meetha paan, then you are going to love this fusion dessert.

It’s super easy to make, no-bake and great to make for your Diwali party!

And it’s Diwali yet again and I am back with yet another paan dessert! 😀 You guys know by now, that it’s impossible for me to let go of Diwali without sharing a sweet made with paan leaves. Isn’t it?

For those who don’t know what paan is, these are betel leaves which are popular in South Asia. They are often eaten with tobacco but a non-tobacco version of it known as “meetha (sweet) paan” is popular as a palate cleanser/mouth freshener. It’s stuffed with gulkand (rose petal preserve), fennel and is often eaten post meals. All my paan desserts are based on the flavors of meetha paan.

Ever since my Paan Coconut Ladoo, became popular in 2016, I have shared several paan desserts on the blog. You guys love them and I can never have enough of them and so I keep coming up with new ideas every season.

For Holi this year, I had shared this Paan Cheesecake, and so for Diwali I thought of simplifying it and made these paan cheesecake truffles.

These are like the bite size version of the same cheesecake but are so much easier to make. They are no-bake, no-cook and easy to carry. If you are having a Diwali party, then these will be easier to share and serve compared to a full cheesecake.

These Paan Cheesecake Truffles

• have all the flavors on meetha paan in a bite size cheesecake truffle.
• no-bake and no-cook recipe!
• can be made in advance for parties.
• easy to carry and give as gifts.
• makes a refreshing treat after meals.

I think the reason paan desserts are so loved is that they have a very refreshing taste. All that gulkand, candied fennel, kewra water and of course betel leaves makes them the perfect after dinner treat.

You know at those parties after you have had all that dal, naan and paneer, and you eat one of these, your mouth immediately feels refreshed. At least that’s the way it works for me! Does it happen to you as well?

Ingredients

You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make these truffles!

Paan leaves (betel leaves): use fresh paan leaves for this recipe, I have used around 4 to 5 large paan leaves here. If the paan leaves you have are smaller, you will need to use more. You can find them at Indian grocery stores.

Gulkand: is rose petal preserve which again you can find it at Indian grocery stores. It’s commonly used in meetha paan and hence I have used them in these truffles as well. It’s extremely sweet and because we use gulkand, we don’t use any other sugar in the recipe.

Parle-g: since these are cheesecake truffles and cheesecakes have a cookie crust, I have used parle-g cookie crumbs in this recipe. You can use digestive biscuits or graham crackers as well.

Cream cheese: I like using Philadelphia cream cheese but you can use any brand of choice. Make sure it is at room temperature before you use in this recipe.

Flavorings: to flavor these truffles, I have used rose water, kewra water and also some fennel seeds. Lightly crush the fennel seeds using a spice grinder, that bring out their flavor.

Melting wafers: these can be found at most grocery stores in US and are perfect for dipping. They don’t need to be tempered and set quickly as these are not real chocolate. Candy coated with these stays stable at room temperature so use that for dipping these truffles.

Step by Step Instructions

1- To a food processor, add parle-g biscuits. You can use any other cookie here as well like digestives or graham crackers.

2- Pulse a few times until the biscuits turn into crumbs. You would need around 1 & 1/2 cup of crumbs. Set this aside.

3- Now, to a blender, add chopped paan leaves (chop them before so that it helps in mixing) along with cream, rose water and kewra water.

4- Blend until you have a thick paste. It’s okay if it doesn’t get too fine, you don’t want a uniform paste, some paan leaves are good to bite in. We just want it all to mix together.

5- Now, to the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or use your hand mixer) add crushed parle-g crumbs, prepared paan leaves paste along with cream cheese (make sure it is at room temperature), gulkand and crushed fennel seeds (I crushed the fennel seeds slightly in a spice grinder before using, don’t turn into a powder).

6- Using the paddle attachment, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until all of it is nicely combined. Scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula as needed.

7- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out small size balls from the mixture and place on the baking sheet.

8- Then take each ball and smoothen it out by rolling it between your palm. Place the sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes for the truffles to firm up.

9- Once they are firm, now to dip them in chocolate, melt the melting wafers. I am using white chocolate melting wafers here which do not need any tempering, if using regular real chocolate you will need to temper it first.

To melt, take an inch or two of water in a pan and place it on medium-low heat on stove-top. Then place a bowl with chocolate melting wafers on top of that pan, the bowl should not be touching the surface of water.

This is called the double boiler method to melt the chocolate. You can also use your microwave to the do the same. You can add some green food color (optional) to the melting wafers at this point.

10- Once melted, dip the truffles in chocolate. I used a candy dipping tool but you can use 2 forks as well.

11-. Coat the truffles from all sides and then remove on a parchment paper.

12- Sprinkle saunf (candied fennel) or desiccated coconut on top. Make all truffles similarly.

Storage

These truffles will last for up to 3 days in the fridge. They will also be stable at room temperature provided you do use melting wafers or candy melts that I used and not regular chocolate.

Make Ahead Instructions

You can make the truffle balls and freeze them overnight and dip them in the morning. You can also make these truffles a day in advance and keep referigerated.

I would not recommend making them 3 days in advance for your Diwali party, 48 hours is the maximum you can make them in advance.

Garnishes

You can top these paan cheesecake truffles with lots of things like:

• candied fennel/mukhwaas (use different colors)
• desiccated coconut
• tutti frutti/ cherries
• edible silver/gold leaves

Tips & Notes

• If you don’t have parle-g, you can use digestive biscuits or graham crackers too. The cookie crumbs should measure 1 & 1/2 cups.
• I have not used any sugar here since gulkand is very sweet and adds enough sweetness to the truffles.
• If you don’t have kewra water, you can skip it or double the rose water.
• Using food color is optional for the coating, it just makes the truffles look green but you keep them white as well.
• Please use melting wafers/candy melts only for dipping the truffles. A real chocolate would need to be tempered first.

Paan Fusion Desserts!

I have so many more paan desserts on the blog and if you love paan like me, then don’t forget to check these out!

• Paan Coconut Ladoo
• Paan Peda
• Paan Kheer with Cashew Crumble
• Paan Ice Cream
• Chocolate Paan

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