Yesterday we celebrated Diwali - the Hindu festival of light - with my husband's family. It was a perfect opportunity for a family party with lots of firework and some delicious food! Here are the sweets I made which went down well, all decorated with gold leaf as it was a special occasion - chocolate and pistachio fudge and rosewater and cardamom coconut ice.

Rosewater and Cardamon coconut ice
Preparation time 20 minutes plus 2 hours chilling

1 tin (398grams) condensed milk
100ml double cream
15 cardamom pods, crushed in a pestle and mortar
1 tbsp rosewater
400grams desiccated coconut
approx 400grams icing sugar, sifted

Begin by infusing the cream. Place the cream, cardamoms and rosewater in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Then add the cream to a large bowl, together with the condensed milk, coconut and 400grams icing sugar and mix well so that the mixture is incorporated. It should be quite stiff and you may need to add more icing sugar if the mixture seems too wet. If you wish to colour your coconut ice, divide the coconut mixture into two bowls and add a few drops of food colouring. Press the coconut ice (in layers if you have coloured it) into a 9 inch greased square cake tin using the back of a spoon and leave to set in the fridge for 2 hours. Cut in to small pieces and serve!