Coconut Laddus- Blueberry and Raspberry flavoured

Ganpati Bappa Moriya! 
I am writing a post after a long hiatus. It has been crazy - baking, doing party orders, sister in the hospital and sleepless nights. It seems the crazy won't stop, so I have decided to cook and bake amidst all the madness. Today's post is special to me. It is for Gannu (Ganesh); I fondly call Him so. With Ganesh Chaturthi approaching and Gannu once again visiting our home to bless us, it calls for special celebrations and some real awesome sweets :) So, I made coconut laddus with a twist- blueberry and raspberry flavoured. They are super easy to make and they are delicious. Gannu has gone global this time and I am sure He will love these new flavours! And am sure you will love them too.

Ingredients: 
3 cups dessicated coconut
Blueberry Syrup- 2tbsp
Raspberry Syrup- 2 tbsp (I didn't have raspberry syrup, so I used raspberry jam after mixing it well to form a thick paste like consistency)
1 cup condensed milk
2-3 tsp ghee
Raspberry essence (optional) (I didn't have blueberry essence, so I skipped it. If you have, you can use it.)
Purple an pink colour- 1-2 drops (optional)

Method:

 1. Heat the ghee in a hot non-stick pan on low to medium flame. 

 2. Add half the coconut, followed by blueberry syrup and ½ cup condensed milk.

 3. Mix all the ingredients well and keep mixing until the mixture starts leaving 
the edge of the pan. Do not over-cook. It has the tendency to burn, leaving a stench in the coconut.

4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool down for a bit.

5. Grease your palms with little ghee and roll the mixture into little balls of coconut joy.

6. Refrigerate them in a plate / box for half an hour.

7. Now, roll these coconut laddus in dessicated coconut kept aside for this purpose. 

8. You can store these laddus in an airtight container for about a week. Refrigerate them if the weather is very hot and humid.

You can make different flavoured coconut laddus- like strawberry, orange, pineapple, khus, etc. For orange flavoured coconut laddus, you can add orange rind towards the end, about a minute or two before you are about to remove the mixture from the heat and mix it well with the mixture. 

Colourful laddus for my happy go lucky Gannu :) Am super happy!