Kid friendly Versions of Regional Indian Dessert Recipes
Written by jheelum basu | October 17, 2025
Kids have an inherent preference for sweets. Science backs this claim. Starting from human milk, which is high in lactose, a highly beneficial natural sugar, kids start to acquire an initial taste for sugar. With the festive season around the corner, the little ones are more likely to indulge in their likings, as, in India, festive celebrations remain incomplete without letting your taste buds relish sweets in abundance.
From Rasmalai and Kheer to fruit custard and chocolate kulfi, India’s diverse dessert palette includes a long list of regional dessert recipes that are extremely indulgent in nature. While the kids these days are more exposed to Western desserts (e.g, cakes, brownies, cheesecakes, doughnuts), here we will focus on some of India’s kid-friendly regional desi delights.
Here’s a look at the most popular regional dessert recipes of India loved by the kids.
Fruit Rasmalai: The Bengali Delight With A Fruity Twist
Engaging kids to eat healthy is always a task. While the little ones always tend to grow a sweet tooth, why not give the desserts a fruity twist? Classic Rasmalai is an exquisite Bengali dessert. While milk and paneer, the base ingredients of the dish, already make it ideal for kids, adding a fruit punch to the classic dish indeed makes it even more interesting for them.
Made from mouth-melting paneer dumplings, Rasmalai (also called ‘Rosh Malai’ in Bengali), epitomizes a delicious amalgamation of flavors and textures with a hint of sweetness and saffron infusion. In Bengali, ‘rosh’ means juice and ‘malai’ refers to cream. This delectable Bengali delicacy is made by curdling the milk to prepare succulent paneer for the super-soft rasgullas and later dipping them in saffron-infused milk when the Rasgullas absorb the aromatic and spicy flavors to make authentic Rasmalai.
While Saffron plays the role of the key flavor enhancer, the subtle tanginess comes from the soft paneer balls.
The combination of fresh fruits with the rich, milky flavor of succulent rasmalai enhances the taste and flavor, and refrigeration of the assembled dessert makes it an unforgettable experience to savor.
Kheer: A Creamy, Nutty Delight That Melts In The Mouth
Kids love devouring desserts. Especially, if they find a nutty twist in it, and Kheer is a quintessential rich and creamy Indian dessert typically made from rice, thickened milk and spices with the unadulterated goodness of nuts like almonds, cashews and pistachios.
Kids essentially prefer this dessert owing to the inherent sense of comfort that comes with the rich, creamy and nutty texture.
This particular dish has several regional versions, which also incorporate ingredients such as vermicelli, semolina, and several other things. However, be it a Rice Kheer, Paneer Kheer, Makhane ki Kheer or South Indian Paal Payasam, across all varieties, the primary ingredients are combined with boiled milk and blended with either sugar or jaggery and cooked well to form the creamy and enriching kheer dessert. The thickened milk is often flavored with spices.
To make it visually attractive for the kids, it can be garnished with crushed dry fruits like pistachios and almonds.
It also makes it a quintessential healthy-and-tasty dessert for the kids.
In India, the most widely consumed kheer recipe is Rice Kheer, which is made for several auspicious occasions.
Indian Fruit Custard: An Absolute Kids’ Favorite
A sweet, creamy vanilla custard topped with freshly sliced fruits and chopped dry fruits. A bowl full of taste and health. Is there anything better than this for the little ones? For decades, the aesthetic mix of fruits and vanilla custard-flavored milk has been enjoyed by kids.
The delicious dessert is made with cut fruits, milk and custard powder. From grapes, apples, and chickoo to banana, pomegranate, and ripe mangoes- a bowl of custard always comes with the benefits of a fruit basket. Apart from the commonly used fruits, the recipe can be made equally tasty with any seasonal and locally available fruit of your choice.
Chocolate Kulfi: The Kids’ Version
You want kids to like a traditional dessert? What’s easier than infusing some elements of chocolate in it? Especially when you have Cadbury Dairy Milk at your disposal.
Widely consumed as a popular chilled dessert made from thickened milk, Kulfi is often considered an Indian version of ice cream.
While it shares a striking similarity with ice cream in appearance, the consistency of Kulfi is denser and creamier than that of ice cream.
Ideally, Kulfi is made with reduced full-fat milk, flavored with either cardamom or saffron.
The addition of spices and dry fruits often augments the delicacy of the flavorful frozen dessert. The addition of chocolate makes it appropriate for kids.
The nomenclature of Kulfi is said to have come from the Persian word ‘qulfi’, which means ‘covered cup’.
Legend has it that adding pistachios and saffron to the thickened milk before placing it on the metal cones and freezing it was the brainchild of the Mughals. While a plethora of varieties are available across the Indian subcontinent, Malai Kulfi, by far, is considered the most commonly consumed Kulfi across India.