Decadent, delicious and arguably the butteriest delight, mawa cake is a must-have delicacy for the festive season.
If you’ve been to a Parsi café, especially in Mumbai or Pune, you know their love for food and delightful baked items. But the one that deserves special mention is mawa cake - a sumptuous plateful of calorie-laden indulgence.
The iconic tea-time snack that the community introduced to us is not merely an Irani specialty it is a time capsule of an era gone by. Enter any Parsi café and mawa cake will be on the menu.
With the festivities in the air, I wanted to cook something simple but steeped in tradition, and I thought what better than a mawa cake. Though, laying all my cards on the table, I did add a little personal twist to the recipe.
How to Make a Traditional Mawa Cake?
When you are making something that is literally a bite right out of history, it takes time. With mawa cake, it is the khoya that adds the hours.
What’s khoya (or khoa)? It is evaporated milk solids. When the Parsis came to India in the 19th Century, there were no refrigerators. It meant café owners had to boil their milk, again and again, to keep it from being spoilt. The constant heat slowly reduced the milk to solids, giving birth to khoya!
If you have time at hand, I recommend making it at home from scratch using this wonderful recipe. If you can’t be bothered, khoya is readily available in the market. FYI, this is the easy twist to mawa cake recipe – buying soft, crumbly khoya from a nearby store.
Now on to the recipe…
Beating the sugar-butter mixture
In a mixing bowl take regular, salted butter and raw sugar. Beat them together till you have a light, fluffy mixture. You can use regular sugar, but I’ve been baking everything with raw sugar lately, and it works like a charm.
To this, whisk in some yogurt. Word of caution - make sure the yogurt is at room temperature otherwise your mixture will curdle.
Assembling the mawa cake batter
In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
The conventional mawa cake recipe doesn’t have any other spice except cardamom powder, and it is more than enough to give the buttery cakes the quintessential “Indian” scent.
Because I am making the cake for Holi, indulgence was very much called for. So, along with the cardamom, in went a few strands of luxurious saffron and a light touch of desiccated coconut. Both are absolutely optional ingredients, but they do give the cake a bouquet of flavors.
Baking the mawa cake
Fold the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture and then add the crumbled khoya to make the cake batter. Pour it into a pan, top it off with thinly shaved slivers of almond and pistachio and then let the oven do its magic.
Serving the Mawa Cake
Not too sweet. Decadent with saffron. And laced with just the right hint of cardamom and coconut. The buttery mawa cake is ultra-soft. The khoya brings an intense, fragrant, sort-of nuttiness to it while keeping every morsel moist and spongy.
Don’t be fooled by the photos, the mawa cake only looks airy and light. With one divinely caramelised bite, you realise it is a rich, rich dessert and one slice goes a long way.
In my home, we don’t bother with any garnishing and serve it as is with a spiced cup of tea or coffee. It is a perfect #TAFEverydayCake. But if you really want to take things up a notch, serve the mawa cake with saffron-flavored whipped cream, which is quite amazing.
Nice, simple, wholly doable and somehow reminiscent of the sweets I used to demolish by the fistfuls in childhood, the eggless mawa cake is the perfect recipe for Holi. I genuinely hope you try your hand at making these lovelies!
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Mawa Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Butter, softened I used regular salted butter
- 1/2 cup Raw Sugar
- 1 cup Yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 cup Wholewheat Flour
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1.5 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 tbsp Desiccated coconut Optional
- 1.5 tsp Cardamom powder
- 1 tsp Saffron strands Optional
- 1/2 cup Crumbled Khoya /mawa This is about 100gms of khoya
- Pistachio and Almond Slivers for Topping the cake
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease an 8" cake tin.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and raw sugar until light and fluffy.
- Whisk in the yogurt.
- Sift the flours, baking powder and baking soda in another bowl.
- Stir in desiccated coconut, cardamom powder, and saffron.
- Fold in the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Gently stir in the crumbled khoya.
- This is a thick batter. Scrape into the prepared pan and top with pistachio and almond slivers.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning out on a cooling rack.
- Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
- You can store the leftover cake in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Saral Baijal says
Beautiful beautiful recipe...can't wait to try it
Natasha Minocha says
Thank you so much Saral! xx
Devaki Bhadgaonkar says
Do we use greek yogurt? Or regular curd will do?
Natasha Minocha says
Greek yogurt would be good here, but I used homemade dahi /yogurt just the thick part. 🙂
Prachi says
What is raw sugar ? Does aamul butter work? Also how will it turn out with ghee instead ?
Natasha Minocha says
Raw sugar is less processed than regular white sugar. Nutritionally though, there isn't much difference. Yes, Amul works just fine. That's what I used here. I'm sure it will be great with ghee as well though I haven't made it with ghee. Happy baking! 🙂
Hana says
Hi
This looks amazing!
Can we use skim milk powder instead of mawa?
MOUSUMI BISWAS says
Can I use oil instead of butter to make the cake
Natasha Minocha says
Yes, I suppose so. I think that will work. 🙂
Monika Prashant Khamar says
Can we add milk powder instead of mawa?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Monika, I'm not sure as I haven't tried that. 🙂
Monica says
Cup size you used 200ml or 240 ml
Natasha Minocha says
Hi, the cup size I use is 240ml.
Monica says
Thank you
Natasha Minocha says
Sure! 🙂
neeta mohandas says
hi...I'm jst abt to make ur cake...the last line said " the batter is thick "
hopefully the cake doesn't turn out hard?? or can we add a lil milk to make it dropping consistency??
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Neeta, this was a thick batter. If it's feeling really doughy, then please add a couple of tablespoons of milk to it. This will loosen up the batter a bit. Its not a soft dropping consistency batter. Hope this helps. Happy baking and looking forward to your feedback.:)
sneha says
Hi the oven has to be set at what temperature and for how much time ? This would be the first ever cake am gonna try! Got a new oven so no clue about all this ????
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Sneha, the cake should be baked in a preheated oven at 180C for 45-55 minutes. All the very best for your baking! xx
Shital says
Hi..
Can we use oil instead of butter?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Shital, I haven't made this with oil, but I think you can use it in place of butter. 🙂
Deepa says
Can I replace khoya with grated paneer?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Deepa, I think paneer may change the consistency and texture of the cake. Not sure if that will fit in well here. But now I'm curious too! 🙂
Hana says
Hi
This looks amazing!
Can we use skim milk powder instead of mawa?
Natasha Minocha says
Thank you so much Hana! I really don't know as I haven't tried that out myself. I'm sure you will get a nice, rich taste though. Happy Baking! xx
Sharon says
Hi,
Instead of desiccated coconut, can i use fresh coconut or coconut milk powder?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Sharon, I think fresh grated coconut will work well here. 🙂
box of cake says
really i appreciate, you made and guide properly regarding cake recipe now i want to try this recipe pictures also looking very awesome
Urvee says
Can we use all WWF n no APF...?if yes do we have to change anything else..??
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Urvee, yes, that should not be a problem at all. You may need to increase the quantity of yogurt to adjust. Happy baking 🙂
Prasanna Raja says
Hi Natasha,
I am going to make this delicious cake for girls lunch get together. I am planning to make a day in advance. Can I store the cake in room temperature? Thanks so much for giving us delicious mouth watering recipes!
I had bookmarked this one for a long time. Cant wait to serve to my friends!
Natasha Minocha says
Thank you so much for your kind words, Prasanna. I'm so glad you enjoy the recipes here. 🙏🏻
Yes, you can make the cake a day in advance. I would refrigerate it though as it's really hot here and the cake can get spoilt if left outside.
Have fun with your friends! xx