One souvenir I absolutely had to come home with was a Nepalese cookbook. I loved the opportunity of learning about a culture’s food and customs surrounding food.
I found a lovely little cookbook made by America’s Nepalese Community, each recipe donated by a different individual. I scanned the book before buying it, scouring it for a momo recipe. As well as finding a momo recipe, I stumbled across something that began an obsession for the rest of the trip.
Nepalese sweets.
Immediately we began searching Kathmandu for these apparently all too common sweet shops, finally we discovered one on a street we had walked many times. 
My jaw dropped. These sweets were beautiful. They were adorned with silver leaf, sweet, sugary syrups and all were perfectly cut. 
We chose 4 to share. I can’t tell you what they’re called, what’s in them or how they’re made, but I can tell you that they’re fabulous! The one below is a milk powder pudding, similar to gulab jamun but not as sweet. It’s served in a milk syrup. I cannot describe the smiles that these brought to our faces, the texture was melt in your mouth, like nothing else I know. There really is no other comparison. 
These treats all had a similar texture to that of a soft jersey caramel, a little grainy but still smooth. These I believe are made with milk powder and cream, stirred over heat until all the moisture has evaporated, then flavoured with various ground nuts, then shaped and decorated.
I can’t wait to open the cookbook and try my hand at baking/making some of these treats.
Have you ever tried to replicate things you’ve stumbled across and fallen in love with while traveling?
I’d love to have a look at that cookbook. Those desserts look very interesting. I’m not at all familiar with Nepalese cuisine xx
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I wasn’t either, but I really need to get the cook book out and have a go I think.
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After all that walking I wouldn’t have been sharing those treats I would have had four to myself. I had a dessert last week and I was crowing that it would be dead easy to make at home til I did a little research and it turns out it was a little more complicated than I thought. But yes, it’s always nice to try to replicate something you’ve had on holiday and to extend the memories a little longer.
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Oh we ate many many more sweets than in this post. Just over a few days.
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Oh my gosh jersey caramel is my fave, I would love that! Goodluck with making your own 🙂
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I really can’t wait to give them a go.
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I always find it really difficult to replicate things I eat on holiday. Perhaps its something about needing specific surroundings to taste good. Or perhaps its slight variations in ingredients but somehow I can never get things to live up to my recollection. I hope you do better with your sweets – they sound amazing.
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I will give them a go soon, but I think you’re right about the surroundings.
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