The “New Ipswich Community Cookbook: A Collection of Cherished Recipes,” has been compiled and will be for sale Nov. 25 at the New Ipswich Library’s Small Business Saturday event.

Funds from the sales of the cookbook will be contributed to the New Ipswich Library through the Friends of the Library, which created and will be selling the book.

Sarika Rainey, a member of the Friends of the Library, said when they began to reach out to residents to submit recipes to compile the cookbook, they were shooting for about 80 contributions, but have well outstripped that with 120, over a variety of categories.

“We had to add a category for breakfast, because we had so many submissions. I was worried we’d only have deserts, but we got a good variety, and many family recipes,” Rainey said, with the breakfast category joining other cookbook staples such as soups, salads, breads, jams and spreads.

“All in all, we were very moved to have received recipes that were in memory of friends and family, childhood favorites, representative of local small businesses and important to people’s heritages and the history of the community,” Rainey said.

Among the offerings are the favorites of New Ipswich residents, and are often family recipes. Rizreen Siraj of New Ipswich offered her recipe for festival mango delight, a pudding dessert.

“This is a pudding my Ummi (mother) makes during peak mango season. Growing up in Dubai, we had easy access to good Indian mangoes, especially during summer. I have fond memories of gorging down multiple bowls of this pudding after Eid lunches or after the lavish meals we prepared for visiting family,” Siraj wrote of the recipe.

One of the goals of the cookbook was to feature some of the prominent cultural heritage of the area, particularly its significant populations of French and Finnish populations.

Laura Ojala of New Ipswich offered her recipe for rieska, a Finnish flatbread, writing, “This is the break I bake for my children all the time, because it is so easy.”

Carol Alix of New Ipswich sent in her recipe for “memere squares,” with “memere” being an affectionate French term for grandmother. She said they got their name in memory of Alina Alix, who would make them for all of the Alix family gatherings.

“It was a favorite of all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Alix wrote.

The book is spiral-bound with a hardcover. The price is set at $15 to $20, with buyers given the choice to pay the minimum of $15 or to pay more as a donation to the Friends of the Library. Volunteers are scheduled to have a booth selling the cookbook at the New Ipswich Library’s Small Business Saturday event, scheduled for Nov. 25 from 9 a.m. to noon, indoors in the main room at the New Ipswich Library.

Below is a recipe that will be available in the community cookbook:

Festival mango delight

Submitted by Rizreen Siraj of New Ipswich

For pudding base preparation:

2 c. milk

1/2 c. thick coconut milk

1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

4 Tbsp. granulated sugar

For milk-flour slurry:

2 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. milk

Remaining ingredients:

1 tsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla essence

3 tsp. gelatin powder (dissolved in 3 tbsp of hot water)

1/2 to 1 c. mangoes, cut into thin slices 2 inches long

1 c. mango pulp to top pudding

Mix ingredients for pudding base in a heavy-bottomed pot and place over medium heat. Stir continuously until the pudding mixture boils.

Prepare the milk flour slurry using 2 1/2 tbsp. flour and 1/2 cup milk. Add this slurry to the boiling pudding mixture and stir continuously until thickened. Remove from heat once pudding mixture has thickened.

Add the butter to the warm pudding mixture along with vanilla essence. Stir well.

Add the dissolved gelatin to this pudding mixture and stir well. Keep the pudding mixture aside for cooling.

Take a rectangular pudding dish and pour half of the pudding mixture into it. Add mango slices over the top of the pudding mixture. Pour the remaining pudding mixture into the dish. Refrigerate eight to 10 hours to let the pudding set.

Once the pudding has set, pour the thick mango pulp over the set pudding and refrigerate again for two hours. Cut, serve and enjoy.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.