Diwali Desserts: 14 Eggless Sweets to Make and Gift (Cakes, Fudge & Ladoos)
Diwali is the time to fill the house with sweets, and here are my favourite festive bakes and no-bake treats in one place: 14 eggless desserts, from fusion cakes to easy fudge, ladoos and chocolate gifts you can make at home.
Every recipe here is eggless, most need no oven at all, and every one of them makes a lovely homemade Diwali gift. Bookmark this page, pick a few, and start your festive baking early.
Eggless fusion cakes for Diwali
Eggless Gulab Jamun Cake
A soft, spongy bundt cake made with milk powder and semolina for that rich, slightly grainy gulab jamun texture, flavoured with cardamom, saffron and rose. While it is still warm, it soaks up a fragrant rose syrup, so every slice tastes like a gulab jamun. Finish it with pistachios and rose petals and it becomes the centrepiece of your Diwali table.
Baked · Makes 10 slices · About 1 hr 25 min · Get the recipe →
Eggless Rasmalai Tres Leches Cake
A light cardamom sponge soaked in creamy saffron milk with cashews, pistachios and almonds, then chilled and served with extra rasmalai milk poured on top. It is rich and indulgent, not an everyday cake, which is exactly what makes it perfect for Diwali when family and friends come over.
Baked · Makes 10–12 slices · About 2 hrs including chilling · Get the recipe →
Eggless Mawa Cake
A moist, dense cake packed with mawa and flavoured with cardamom and saffron, with pistachios and almonds in the batter and on top. It may look simple, but it is one of the best cakes you will ever taste. No frosting needed: serve it with chai or pack thick slices in your Diwali gift boxes.
Baked · Makes 8 generous slices (6-inch tin) · About 1 hr 20 min · Get the recipe →
Eggless Paan Cake
All the flavours of a meetha paan in a cake: fresh betel leaves blended into milk, gulkand, fennel seeds and sweet supari, topped with pistachios and rose petals. Serve it after a big festive meal in place of the usual paan, and let your guests guess the flavour.
Baked · Makes 8 slices · About 1 hr 10 min · Get the recipe →
Eggless Thandai Pistachio Rose Cake
All the festive flavours of thandai, with pistachios and rose, in one beautiful eggless cake. Thandai is a festival favourite, and this cake is just as lovely on a Diwali table as it is at Holi.
Baked · Makes 8 slices (6-inch tin) · About 55 min · Get the recipe →
4 Eggless Cakes to Gift This Diwali
Four easy homemade cakes, including a chocolate banana cake and a wholewheat tutti frutti almond cake, ideal for gifting. Watch the recipe video →
No-cook fudge and chocolate gifts
Rose Pistachio White Chocolate Fudge
A creamy white chocolate fudge with rose water, toasted pistachios and rose petals that comes together in 15 minutes with no oven and no stove. It cuts into neat squares, travels well and looks beautiful in paper liners in a gift box.
No-cook · Makes 9 big squares (each cuts into 4 bites) · 15 min + 4 hours to set · Get the recipe →
Rasmalai White Chocolate Fudge
White chocolate, condensed milk and butter melted together with saffron milk, cardamom, pistachios and rose petals. It tastes just like a real rasmalai, only with a fudgy, melt-in-the-mouth texture, and it is ready in minutes before the fridge does the rest.
No-cook · Makes 16 squares (8-inch tin) · 15 min + 4–5 hours to set · Get the recipe →
Oreo White Chocolate Fudge
A cookies-and-cream fudge made with white chocolate, condensed milk and crunchy Oreo pieces. Children love it, it needs only a few ingredients, and the big squares can be cut into small bites or bars for gifting.
No-cook · Makes 9 big squares (or 36 small) · 25 min + 4 hours to set · Get the recipe →
Quick 3-Ingredient Chocolate Fudge
The easiest chocolate fudge you will ever make: just 3 ingredients melted together and set in the fridge. Rich, smooth and perfect for the times you need a last-minute Diwali sweet.
No-cook · Makes 9 squares (or 36 small) · About 1 hour including setting · Get the recipe →
White and Dark Chocolate Rose Pistachio Bark
Dark chocolate spread thin, drizzled with white chocolate and topped with roasted pistachios and rose petals, then broken into rough, pretty pieces. Just 4 ingredients and 20 minutes, and it is one of the easiest homemade chocolate gifts you can make.
No-cook · Makes about 250 g of bark · 20 min + 20 min to set · Get the recipe →
Ladoos and sweet bites
Coconut Ladoo with Condensed Milk
Soft, melt-in-the-mouth nariyal ladoos with just desiccated coconut, condensed milk, a little milk, ghee and cardamom. No sugar syrup, no fuss: it is as simple as ABC, even if you have never made mithai at home before.
Stovetop · Makes 16–20 ladoos · 22 min + 1 hour to set · Get the recipe →
Coconut Almond Ladoo
Almond flour and desiccated coconut roasted together, bound with condensed milk and scented with cardamom, then rolled in coconut. Soft, nutty and ready in minutes, they make a lovely gift or prasad.
Stovetop · Makes 18–20 ladoos · 18 min + 1 hour to set · Get the recipe →
Mawa and Kaju Ladoo with Gulkand Centre
Rich mawa and cashew ladoos flavoured with saffron and cardamom, with a surprise centre of gulkand and chopped nuts. A small batch that looks so festive on a platter, topped with pistachios and rose petals.
Stovetop · Makes 10–12 ladoos · About 40 min · Get the recipe →
3-Ingredient Chocolate Coconut Balls
Coconut and condensed milk rolled into balls, dipped in dark or milk chocolate and finished with a drizzle of white chocolate. Just 3 ingredients, no oven and no food processor: think of them as a coconut ladoo dressed up in chocolate.
No-bake · Makes 14–16 balls · 30 min + 45 min chilling · Get the recipe →
My Diwali baking tips
- Start early. Fudge, barks and coconut ladoos keep well in the fridge, so make them a few days before Diwali and save the cakes and mawa ladoos for the last two days.
- Pack with love. Paper muffin liners, butter paper and a ribbon turn any sweet into a gift.
- Mix and match. A box with one fudge, one ladoo and a slice of cake makes a beautiful assorted gift.
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