Sweets

If I didn’t love desserts, I would never have quit my day job to work in a patisserie. But my sweet tooth had been established at an early age. Our daily tea ritual at four in the afternoon always included some sort of snack or dessert, usually in the form of a pudding or a cake.

Indians have a fondness for sweets. My dad’s family favors more traditional Indian desserts, many of which are dairy-based, while my mom’s family makes a lot of Goan, Portuguese, and Western sweets, which tend to include eggs. Every Christmas and Easter, my mom and the women in her family would spend days making large marzipan treats, cookies, and cakes to share with our neighbors, friends, and family.