Who doesn’t love Gulab Jamuns? Everybody does, right? I am no exception. I love Gulab Jamuns. I could gobble down a very large number of these little balls of joy (provided my mom has not counted and stored them in the dabba!). One of the best Gulab Jamuns I have ever had would be at a local roadside shop at Nathdwara in Rajasthan, which makes the best Gulab Jamuns and Rabdi I have ever had. Huge, round, brown, juicy balls of sweet delight. Dad and I would keep having them one after the other each time we went to Nathdwara.

So, last year around Christmas when I was in Mumbai, I was the bakery of the legendary restaurant – Gaylord, opposite Churchgate station in South Mumbai. Gaylord is a restaurant where the stars and legends of yesteryears used to dine, and I have heard the Parsis still love this place. I have bumped into Delnaaz Irani and a few other Parsi actors here sometimes too. So, when I was at its bakery sometime around Christmas last year, I came across on its display, a beautiful dessert, which brought together two of my favorite desserts – Gulab Jamun and Cheese Cake. It reminded me of the cake that the Masterchef India Season I contestants had made in the episode where Aishwarya Rai had come over for the promotion of her then upcoming movie – Action Replay. It was a similar Rasgulla black forest cake, not cheese cake.

So, when I saw this beautiful dessert on the display, I bought it right away. We walked down to the Marine drive beach, sat there for sometime, and then went back to our hotel. I was so eager to have this dessert. I slid my spoon through and took my first bite. Heavenly. There is a gulab jamun sliced in half on top, and I was wondering if there would be any more inside too. And there were. Gulab Jamuns sliced in half were there inside the cake too. The cheese cake was baked to perfection, Gaylord has as it is never disappointed me with any of its desserts ever. These cheese cake stood firm, had the slightly salty tinge that it is supposed to have. The gulab jamuns add a nice sweet twist to the cheese cake. A western dessert like cheese cake and an Indian dessert like Gulab Jamun, make magic when they come together.

Unfortunately, I was never able to find this dessert in any of my subsequent visits. This happens very often with me at Gaylord. I try a cake there, fall in love with it, and then I never find it there again. I still keep visiting, hoping someday they will make it again and I will catch it.