Sunday, December 25, 2011

How would you like your plum cake... Frozen?

How would you like your plum cake... Frozen?


If Santa Claus comes to town, he would probably stop over for a quick ice break from Mumbai’s ‘there-but-not-there’ winter at Aloha on Bandra’s Carter Road. The small outlet may be barely discernible, tucked in a corner of Sea Spray General Stores, but inside is an exotic world of paletas (Spanish popsicles) made of fresh fruit, chocolate, dairy products and sno (shaved ice).
These fruit bars on sticks are divided into four categories: dairy, fruity, healthy and exotic. At the counter is the 24-year-old ‘chef’, Sudheer Grover, who left his father’s business to pursue something he has been doing from childhood - making frozen candy with watermelon and cola.
For us, Grover produced two Christmas flavours. The first one was the traditional plum cake, except that this one was frozen. But it’s the next one that Grover has named ‘Santa’s favourite’ - a heady mixture of kiwi, raspberry and white chocolate, which are the colours of Christmas. “Kiwi is the only fruit which has a natural green colour, and we wanted to give a mixture of tangy and sweet flavours,” explains Grover.
A blackboard on the wall tells us what’s on offer, which is necessary because Aloha’s menu changes every three days. “Our paletas are completely natural and have no added flavour, colouring or preservative. They have a shelf life of six months, but we make small batches because they slowly lose their taste after a few days,” says Grover.
Our favourite was the Fruitilicious paleta made of pieces of kiwi, strawberry, blueberry and tangerine held together with lemon grass juice. If you are thinking of trying this at home, Grover suggests sticking to plain juices, because layering and getting the fruits in place requires a steady hand and plenty of time and experience.

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