Mawa Cake Recipe (Eggless & Whole Wheat)
This Mawa Cake is a rich and delicious cake made with mawa (khoya or evaporated dried milk solids), whole wheat flour, butter, milk, cream and sugar. Scented with cardamoms this is a rich buttery eggless mawa cake that has an exquisite taste and can be made for special occasions.
About Mawa Cake
As the name suggests Mawa is the key ingredient in a mawa cake. Wondering what is Mawa? Mawa is basically dried milk solids and also called as ‘khoya’ in Hindi.
In our cooking school, we would call it evaporated milk, as all the liquids and moisture is evaporated, by continuously simmering the milk for a few hours, till you just get the milk solids remaining in the pan.
Mawa can be made at home or purchased from shops. To make this cake, I got the mawa from the shop. This was a soft crumbly kind and did not require any cooking.
If you have the hard types, then please cook till the khoya softens and then add it to the cake batter.
Mawa or khoya can be made at home too from whole milk. It takes a lot of time, but worth it, if you can make mawa at home. I have shared the method to make mawa at home at this recipe post -> Khoya Recipe.
Usually mawa cake is made with eggs, but I have developed this recipe to be made without eggs. Eggless baking at home often with its share of hits and disasters, has made me pretty good at baking cakes.
Mawa Cake and Vanilla Cupcakes hold special memories for me. One of the schools which I studied in, was a hop skip jump away from Ahura bakery in Andheri West, Mumbai.
After the exams or just before the holidays would begin, we would as a custom, buy mawa cakes from this popular Parsi bakery. It was not only mawa cake but some other baked goodies as well.
Another bakery close by would be Merwans. Since Merwans was just a bit far away, we would usually opt for Ahura bakery.
This habit of buying from Irani and Parsi bakeries continues even today. While coming from my college and later office, I would sometimes, visit to either of the bakeries and do buy the parsi mawa cake and some other pastries.
The cakes at times would be warm and not to forget the ladi pav which was sold like hot breads, literally.
Even sometimes a visit to South Mumbai, would see me buying cakes or other baked goods from the Irani and Parsi bakeries based in Grant road, Fort and Colaba. Bun maska and chai from these bakeries is still one of my quick, go to breakfast or brunch.
Some years ago, during my visits to Pune, I would always unfailingly buy mawa cake and shrewsbury biscuits from Kayani bakery. I would have eggs then in my diet.
Folks back at home would liked the shrewsbury biscuits. But I was not fond of them. I felt them too sweet for my taste. I would even pack shrewsbury biscuits for friends and office colleagues.
The parsi mawa cake I have had from these bakeries was just amazing. The cardamom scented cake with a caramelized milky flavor used to be a special treat for me and my sister.
About My Recipe
This mawa cake is a lighter textured cake since no eggs are added. The original ones are a bit dense. The taste of this one, is more like a buttery cake with the caramelized nutty flavors of the mawa coming through.
I have kept the recipe basic, like the ones made in the Irani bakeries. There is no addition of nuts or saffron or any spice, besides green cardamom.
However, if you really want some exotic touch to the cake, then please go ahead and add your favorite nuts and saffron.
I made this eggless mawa cake many times – both with all-purpose flour and with whole wheat flour. Every time the cake is a success and a hit at my home. So you can make the cake with any of these flours or in half-half ratio.
This eggless recipe is my tribute to the mawa cakes made and served by the various Irani and Parsi bakeries in Mumbai.
I also made cupcakes from the same recipe, though I did not take photos. The cupcakes got over quickly in no time.
So, you can make even mawa cupcakes from the cake batter. If baking cupcakes, then just bake for 20 to 25 minutes or till the tops are browned.
Since the temperatures differ from oven to oven, the baking time may vary. follow these few simple guidelines –
- The cake should get browned from the top and the toothpick should come out clean when you insert it in the cake.
- When you taste the cake, it should not stick to your mouth or palate or teeth. This means that the cake need some more baking. If this happens, then place the cake back in the oven and continue to bake for some more minutes. About 5 to 8 mins.
- In case, the top of the cake starts getting browned quickly, then place a butter paper or aluminium foil on top of the cake. Apart from reducing the quick browning, this will also not make the top layer crusty.
Mawa cake is not your everyday cake. The cake is rich, so I would suggest you making it for special occasions or parties.
There is no need to do any kind of frosting or icing on the cake. The cake tastes good as it is. Simplicity at its best.
Serve eggless mawa cake with tea or coffee or for high evening parties. The photos are a mix of both the mawa cakes made with whole wheat flour and all purpose flour.
How to make Mawa Cake
Cream Butter and Sugar
1. Take 140 to 150 grams butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar in a bowl or pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Due to habit, I still cream butter and sugar with a spatula (as thats how we were trained and the habit is still there).
But to make things easy, you can cream them with an electric beater or in a stand mixer.
Make Mawa Mixture
3. Add ⅔ to ¾ cup crumbled mawa (about 120 to 140 grams of mawa). Make sure to crumble the mawa finely. Or else there will be large bits or chunks of mawa in the cake. You can choose to grate the mawa also.
4. Mix the crumbled mawa with the creamed butter-sugar mixture. Mix the mawa very well.
Make Mawa Cake Batter
5. Next sieve 2 cups whole wheat flour with ½ teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder directly into the bowl.
Instead of whole wheat flour you can also use all-purpose flour or you can use half-half of both the flours.
6. Add 1 teaspoon cardamom powder.
7. Add 1 cup milk and 4 tablespoons of light cream (low fat 25% to 30%). Instead of light cream, you can use 2 to 3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream.
8. Fold everything till the flour, milk and cream are incorporated well in the cake batter.
9. Pour the batter in a greased or lined round pan of 7 to 8 inches or in cupcake liners or pans.
Bake Eggless Mawa Cake
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 to 1 hour till the cake is completely done. Check the baked cake with a bamboo skewer and it should come out clean.
If there are sticky batter bits on the bamboo skewer, then keep cake pan back in the oven and continue to bake for some more minutes.
Do remember to preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes.
The baked mawa cake photo is below. The cake cracked on the top, as the electricity conked off, right after 15 minutes of baking and then came back after 20 minutes. I had no choice but to keep the cake in the oven.
11. Cool the cake. Then slice and serve it. You can also refrigerate the mawa cake in an airtight container and just microwave for some seconds before serving. This cake is good enough to be made for birthday parties or any party.
Update: One of our reader’s Sushma has been kind enough to share that this mawa cake can be made in the pressure cooker. Sushma made the cake twice and the time taken to bake is from 30 to 40 minutes.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour – 240 grams or all purpose flour or half-half of both
- ⅔ to ¾ cup Mawa crumbled and tightly packed, (khoya or evaporated milk solids) – about 120 to 140 grams
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons light cream – low fat 25% to 30%, swap with 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 140 to 150 grams White Butter or yellow butter, unsalted – at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar or 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder or 8 to 10 green cardamoms crushed finely in a mortar-pestle
Instructions
Preparation
- Grease a 7 to 8 inches round pan with butter. Dust some flour on it. Shake and tap the pan so that the flour spreads evenly.
- You can also line the cake pan with butter paper or parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Grease some butter on the butter paper or parchment paper.
- Crumble the mawa and keep aside. Make sure you crumble it finely as you don't want large chunks of mawa in the cake. You can also grate the mawa.
Making mawa cake
- Take butter and sugar in a bowl or pan.
- Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. You can use a stand mixer, food processor or an electric beater to cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the crumbled mawa and mix very well.
- Then add the flour sieved with baking soda and baking powder directly into the cake mixture.
- Sprinkle the cardamom powder. Pour the milk and cream.
- Fold everything till the flour, milk and cream are incorporated well in the cake batter.
- Pour the cake batter in the prepared cake pan.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, till you see that the top is browned and a toothpick or bamboo skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- If baking cupcakes, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes or till the tops are browned.
- Allow the cake to cool by placing on a wired tray or rack.
- When cool, slice the mawa cake and serve plain with tea or coffee.
Notes
- You can even make mawa cupcakes from the same cake batter.
- You can make the cake with all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour or with a half-half mix of both flours.
- The leftover cake can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a few days.
- Make sure that the mawa is fresh and has not become stale or rancid. Mawa should have a mild sweet taste. If it tastes sour, then discard it.
- Also ensure that the butter is fresh and within its shelf life. If in case the butter has gone rancid, it will have a bitter taste.
- The recipe can be scaled to make a small batch of the cake.
Nutrition
Mawa Cake recipe from the archives was first published on June 2014.
Maam, can we replace butter with the refined oil?
Hi Monila, yes, you can use refined oil in place of butter for the mawa cake. You can substitute it with about ½ cup + 1 to 2 tablespoons (about 120 to 130 ml) of a neutral oil like sunflower oil.
The cake will turn out soft and moist, though the buttery flavor will be missing. Mawa will still give a good taste and richness. Hope this helps.
I am fully satisfied with the cake recipe, giving 4 star. I think it could be looking more nice when the decoration would have done. Thank you dear.
Thank you so much. I am glad you enjoyed the mawa cake. Traditionally, mawa cakes aren’t decorated or frosted — their rich flavor is the main highlight.
At the most, they are topped with a few slivered nuts like pistachios or almonds before baking.
But of course, you can decorate it if you like. It’s always nice to add a personal touch.
Substitution of unsalted butter. Flavourless oil can be used? Or ghee? If oil or ghee used please say measurement also.
You can use ghee. Do not use oil. Add about 140 grams of ghee. The ghee must be in its natural state at room temperature; which is semi-solid.
Thank you.
I made this and it turned out great.
I made them today. Came out very well. Thank you so much. Instead of cardamom I used cinnamon powder. Thanks again. Wish you and your family a very happy new year.
Welcome and glad to know. Thank you and wish you and your family also a happy new year.
Comes very good!! Great recipe. Made with whole wheat totally, baked in around 50 minutes. Very nice texture and yum.
Perfect recipe for a delicious Mava cake. So happy it turned out the way it did, golden, spongy and moist. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hi Dassanna, thank you for the recipe. I am planning to try it this weekend. One question- to get the taste be more similar to the one we get at Merwan’s, should one use whole wheat flour or maida?
Welcome Monisha. Use maida. The taste will be more similar to the one’s at Merwan’s minus the eggy flavor.
Thanks so much ma’am for your reply. I had couple more questions that I missed posting earlier.
1. For creaming the wet ingredients, can one use hand blender if we do not have stand mixer?
2. Can the prepared batter be kept for a few hours or 1 day before baking?
Welcome Monisha. Yes you can use a hand-blender for creaming the wet ingredients. Do not keep the prepare batter for any number of minutes or hours. It should go immediately in a preheated oven as soon as the batter is made.
can we make mava cake with jaggery?
Yes you can.
Can we use oil in place of butter?
Yes you can, but add a neutral tasting oil.
thanks for sharing .
Made mawa cake using the exact recipe and it was delicious. My guests finished the entire cake and were asking for more. Thank you very much for the recipe.
thank you nisha for sharing this lovely comment. glad to read it. happy baking.
Hi,
I baked this wheat Eggless mawa cake today for my customer. It came out very well except it was very low in sweetness! I had to correct it by pouring sugar syrup on it and bake again for 5 minutes.
the taste of sweetness differs from person to person. a same sweet dish can be less sweet for one person and more sweet for another person. you can always add more sugar in any baking recipe as per your taste preferences. if a cake or cookie becomes less sweet, then another way to add more sweetness is by dusting some powdered sugar on the top of the cake or cookie.
Hi dassana, I baked this cake last night. In fact it is 3rd or 4th time that I’ve made it. As usual it turned out amazing. I brought Mawa from a dairy store.. was feeling too lazy to make it at home. Along with cardamom powder, I also added saffron to the milk that was used in the batter. Result was a milky & aromatic Mawa cake. By the time it was done baking, the aroma of mawa was wafting through the whole house.
(In fact I brought double the amount of Mawa thinking that I’ll make some other dessert too. Now, I think I might bake another one.. )
In northern India where we live, bakeries don’t sell Mawa cakes.. maybe they are sold in Maharashtra regions only, I don’t know . So the only way to have it is to bake it at home. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe with everyone.
nice to know ruchi. your description is so vivid, i can imagine clearly ????. mawa cakes are sold in mumbai and pune only. for mawa, i will be sharing an instant method. gives good mawa at home and comparable to the mawa we get outside. the mawa which i get here is from buffalo’s milk and i do not like the smell of it. so when i need some mawa for sweets or to add to some gravies, the quick and instant mawa recipe comes handy, rather than making mawa the traditional way.
Yeah here also dairy stores make mawa from buffalo milk. I asked them about it once. They said that they make mawa from buffalo’s milk and chhena from cow’s milk. A quick instant way to make mawa at home would be very nice. I’m especially wary of buying mawa etc around festival times. Have heard stories about sellers mixing all kinds of strange things in mawa esp in festival times to make profit. Also we are never sure how fresh their stock is.
in most places i guess this is what they do. even i have heard about strange things getting mixed in mawa. so i have also stopped buying mawa from outside. i prefer making the instant khoya or if i need the traditional version, i make it that way.
can u help me guess how much will this cake cost if i make exactly as mentioned.
i have no idea.
Hi dassana…recently i prepared your oats khichadi,brinjal pan fry dusting besan,mawa cake, capsicum besan subzi..all were fantastic….thank you for recipes….my idea of steaming your rajasthani mirch was a big floph..u had said it will b different….n mawa I prepared n then baked cake….i found taste of cake is close to your pound cake…which I always bake….n macaroons I replaced half cup with oats..I found with full dedicated coconut is tastier than this version ….one doubt ….once condensed milk can is opened, how many days can it b kept in fridge..thank you
thanks a lot shubha. rajashthani mirchi can work, i think if steamed. the batter has to be very thick. like the batter for pathrode (colocasia rolls). yes the mawa cake taste is near to the pound cake taste.
it stays good for a month and sometimes even more than a month. i have used many times this way. just cover it and keep in the fridge.
Thank you dassana.. I did very light coating of besan…forgot to mention I had also prepared Suva moong daal subzi….fantastic recipe…
okay. a thick coating would have made a nice khandvi type coating on the mirchi. thanks for the feedback on suva moong dal sabzi and welcome shubha.
wonderful and elaborate recipe. Its my husbands all time favorite. Thanks for sharing.
welcome lachu. do try.
Hello! Amit,
Thank you for this rich, simple and unique recipe.
I made this twice already for family and with great success. This time around I made a quick Thandai glaze icing to to the already rich cake, to bring in a little more Indian Summer.
With best regards,
Devasena
Welcome Devasena. Glad to know this. Thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
Hi Dassana, I baked this cake for my family and everyone loved it. Thanks for sharing such foolproof recipes 🙂
thanks a lot abha. glad to know that everyone like the mawa cake.
Dear Dassana,
Though all your recipes which I have tried out till date from your blog have been sure successes, I still wonder why did i not try your mawa cake recipe earlier. I referred to some random recipe on web and wasted everything as it didn’t cook and got burnt. I was scared to attempt mawa cake again.
Today morning I tried your recipe and it was yum. My 2.5 yo toddler loved it and said yum on each bite. I baked it in a loaf tin today morning and just a small piece of it is left as I write this.
The way you present your recipes is really simple and your dedication commendable.
A big thank you for all the hard work you do for making it appear so simple (which its not).
Your blog has transformed me over the last 5 years. Earlier i didn’t use organic veg/grocery and preferred eating out. But the more I read your blog, the more I loved cooking and started treating it like a puja. I have stopped eating outside and prefer to carry food cooked by my self or MIL everywhere. I didn’t hire a cook inspite of my corporate job and believe me coming back home to cooking is what I look forward to.
I thank you once again for your recipes and philosophies. May you be always blessed.
Welcome Richa. Thanks a lot for this awesome feedback. trust me your comment has touched me deeply and i am glad that i could you help you in cooking. thanks for your best wishes and the positive energy you have send via this comment. your kid saying yum with each bite is the best response every baker will like to hear.
Hello,
Happy new year 2017!
This recipe looks promising. I can almost feel beforehand that it is going to be an aromatic milky cake. I’ve got a little doubt though.. That with 2 cups of flour and all the other stuff, don’t you think that the amount of batter would be too much for the prescribed 7-8 inch pan? Unless one has got a cupcake pan to share the task.. Just a thought.
Your blog is beautiful and elaborate!
Regards
thanks a lot gordon and wish you too a happy new year 2017. its a lovely cake and you can try it.
the batter is on the thicker side, so it can come into 7 to 8 inch pan. when i made the first time i had divided the batter in 4 cupcake liners and the rest went in the pan. second time i added all the batter in the same pan. pics in the post are of both instances. i wanted to show that even muffins or cupcakes can be made, thats why i chose the the pic which shows the batter in pan as well as cup cake liners.
Hi,
I am also a former resident of Andheri, Bombay and loved the mawa cake from Ahura and Merwans Bakery. I tried your recipe with all purpose flour and replaced mama with evaporated milk from a can. I did not use the additional milk in the recipe but used the cream, butter and other ingredients exactly as mentioned. I made the cake(s) in a small and a mini muffin pan. They were absolutely amazing. Came out perfect the first time. I am sure I will make these again. Thank you.
thats nice to know ranjani. glad that the recipe turned out good for you. thanks for this feedback.
Hi… I’m planning to try this cake tomorrow. (have got more mawa left after trying the coconut ladoo)
Have got three doubts regarding making cake:
1. Will a hindalium pan do for baking?
2. I’ve read your suggestion to cover the top of baking pan with aluminium foil to get a soft crust and prevent its overbaking. So can I directly put the pan with the foil cover right from the beginning itself?
2. I have full-fat malai with me. Can i substitute cream with it?
ruchi, your queries answered below:
1. about hindalium pans, i am not aware as i have never used them. the hindalium pan should be able to take heat at a high temperature. if you have borosil glass pans, which are oven safe, you can use them. but the flip side of glass pans that baking in them takes a lot of time as glass is not a good conductor of heat.
2. yes you can do that. even i do it at times. but later towards the end of baking, you can remove the foil so that some golden color comes on the top.
3. yes you can use full fat malai. just beat the cream first in a mixer or using a hand held beater to get a smooth consistency and then add.
hi, I tried it today but it didn’t turn out well… I’m sharing the details of my preparation:
All milk related Ingredients, maida, baking powder etc were within shelf life. (wasn’t sure about baking soda)
I measured everything by machine.
My batter was more liquidy than the one shown in pic here.
I baked in pressure cooker for 30 min on very slow flame. When I checked, it looked almost exactly the same like when I poured it. Now I’ve again put it back to see if anything works out. Any kind of help/advice will be appreciated. Thanks
ruchi, since the batter has become liquidy, it will take more time to bake in the pressure cooker. thick batter bake faster. i have also baked one cake for 1:30 minutes in pressure cooker once. so just continue to bake for some more time. batter being liquid or thick, depends on the quality of flour. sometimes some flour varieties, absorb more liquids. do let me know how the cake turned out after baking for some more time.
I’ve sent you a mail… It’s a bit too long to write here
ok ruchi. will reply to you.
Hi my cake did not turn fluffy at all followed the recipe exactly what could be wrong
could you let me know in detail what happened like texture is dense or outside crust is hard etc. then i can pinpoint the issue.
Dear Dassana
The mawa cupcakes turned out excellent, really soft and flavorful. Just wanted to share with you a little twist I added to half of the batch. I placed o blob of Amul pista badam shrikhand in the centre of each cupcake and then baked them. They were delicious, just like a cheesecake/ cream cheese filing. Of course they were great by themselves too! Thanks for the excellent recipe.?
radhika, thats a really great twist. too good. the taste will match a cheesecake filling. thanks for sharing the twist. i will give a try and also thanks for sharing your feedback on the recipe.
2 cups of maida is how many grams??
about 250 to 260 grams.
Amazing recipe. Have tried it twice, and it was quite a hit in my family. Everyone really loved it! My mumbaikar relatives got nostalgic over the taste! Thanks a ton!
thank you sameera. good to know. in fact even when i prepare mawa cake, i get nostalgic 🙂
Can u pls try making fondant
Without glucose,glycerin and gelatin, thanks
difficult one as the recipe i have been taught uses glucose, corn syrup and what not. so lets see. cannot promise as creating such a recipe is tricky.
I’m a secret follower of ur recipes ur pictorial explanations have been a great help to us and made our cooking easier got a chance to comment for the first time thanks for your quick reply
thanks sindhu and welcome 🙂
I’m using full cream milk can can I skip cream
even i have used full cream milk. so cream needs to be added. but you can try skipping the cream.
Love your recipes. Can you also let me know how to make cakes with eggs, what to exclude if adding eggs for all your cake recipes
eggless cakes are made differently than the cakes made with eggs. in cakes made with eggs like sponge cakes for example, there is no need to add any leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder. each recipe of cakes made with eggs will be different, so its difficult to mention in a comment what the recipe is. moreover i always try, test and then the add the recipe, so it will be difficult for me to give you a recipe.
What are the changes to be made if I add egg
i do not know, as with eggs some of the ingredients will have to be skipped or changed.
Hey bymistake I kept the cream in freezer and after removing it has become watery can I use it
keep the cream at room temperature for some minutes. the cream will be settled down and the watery part will be up. just discard the watery part and use.
I have an 8 inch sandwich cake tin. will that work with this recipe or a 2lbs loaf tin is ok for it? help me with my confusion as I really want to bake this cake and take my kids back to my childhood. thanks in advance.
pratichi, you can bake the cake in 2 lbs loaf tin. happy baking and i hope your kids enjoy the cake as much as you have 🙂
Awesome recipe, thanks for posting. Can I reduce the amount of butter?
reducing the amount of butter will take away the richness and moistness in the recipe. its will be an experimentation and you will have to give a try. i am not sure what the final results will be.
Can i use evaporated milk tht comes in “can” instead of mawa? Can u please suggest me
riya, you can use the evaporated milk which comes in can. but then add less milk. sugar you can adjust depending on the sweetness of the evaporated milk.
Hi
Made d mawa cake it was superb awesome. ..can u pl make eggless donuts
thanks heena for this feedback. good to know. i have a lot of requests for eggless donuts. will add in some time.
Hi ,sorry dassana for so many questions . Also right now I use fan with a circle and I keep at 160C if a recipe calls for 180C . Please also suggest the temperatures I should go , for the below question . Thank you .
no problem shamala. convection ovens have fans and due to the fan the the baking is fast. so for any recipe, either you can reduce the temperature or reduce the time. for temperature reduce it to 15 to 20 degrees less than what the original recipes mentions. yes you can keep the temperature to 160 degrees celsius if the recipe calls for 180 degrees celsius.
Hi , I already posted one comment but cannot see it here , so asking again . I already tried mawa cake with maida and it was awesome . Now I wanted to halve both mawa and pound cake recipes and try this time with wheat flour . Can I halve the recipes ? Thank you dassana for your step by step instructions . I also tried orange cake , vanilla cake , veg Manchuria , poha dosa and all of them were good .Planning to try spring rolls . Now a days any new recipe I wanna try , I directly come to your site and no need of Google search . Thank you dassana for your wonderful explanation .
thank you shamala for the feedback on all the recipes. in cake recipes halving can lead to differences in the final result. as baking is all about proportion and precision. you will have to give a try and see. for wheat flour, the batter might thicken as wheat flour absorbs too much liquids. in this case, you can add some milk or water.
Hi , can I also halve the recipe for pound cake ? I have a built in oven ( not microwave with convection mode) and I always get confused which oven function I should use , a fan enclosed in full circle or no fan with upper and lower heat elements . Can you please help me ?thank you .
replied to your query on this shamala.
Hi , I already tried this mawa cake once with maida and it turned out awesome . Thank you dassana for your step by step explanation . I wanted to try this cake again (this time with wheat flour),but can I halve the recipe ?
answered your query in your other comment shamala. and thank you.
Can I make this in microwave convection mode? I don’t know much about baking and this diwali I want to try cake recipes apart from Indian sweets..
yes you can make in the convection mode of your microwave oven. preheat your oven to 160 or 170 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. after minutes place the cake pan and then bake. the baking time will vary. so you need to keep a check.
Hi Dassana . Thankyou for sharing all the recipes .
I tried this cake today. The taste of this cake really turned out well. But I have a question. I baked it for 45mins .The cake from outside looked perfect but inside it looked like sheera consistency. Should I have cooked for 1 hr?
welcome diana. i feel the cake needed to be baked more. may be more 10 to 15 minutes.
Hiii Dassana
Your 1 cup wheat flour is equal to how many grams and all purpose flour as well…
pooja, 1 cup wheat flour is equal to 120 grams. 1 cup all purpose flour is equal to 125 grams.
Can I use walnut to the mawa cake
yes you could lysander 🙂
Felt very good while making the cake .. Kept in microwave oven .But m tensed .. I just forgot to add cream …
Is it still fine ??
khushboo, i don’t know how the cake will turn out. but cream is required.
Thanks for the awesome recipe, I tried it yesterday and it came out great.
welcome shweta
Hi
I tried this recipe,it came out very nice and yumm.thank u so much.
I tried it today with condense milk cos there was no Mawa and even it turned awesome. House was smelling so good and cake got over when it’s still hot.
welcome diya. good to know this. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
Hi,
I just love all the recipes here….especially the cakes are too good and I have got good response from my family.. The step step by pictorial representation is just awesome…
Keep up the good work going
thanks indhumathi for sharing motivating feedback.
Thank you for the recipe. 🙂 Can I add vanilla essence in the mawa cake? And if yes, when should I add it?
yes you can add vanilla essence. add when you add the milk and cream.
Very good taste
thanks premajha for sharing positive feedback.
hi!!
can i replace butter with ghee, let me know if i hv to keep same measure..i hv to try this for my son’s birthday tomorrow..
archana, yes you can replace with same amount. but the cake will have fragrance and taste of ghee. it will taste like a ghee cake.
Amazing recipe!! Well depicted.
thanks gayathri
M planning to bake this today. Just one query. Can I flavour milk with saffron and throw in a bit of nuts in to the cake. Also how to ensure tht the kesar flavour comes through.
richa, yes you can. take more quantity of kesar. i suggest to take 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of kesar.
Very nice recipe dear. Have not tried yet.. but the way u wrote it n explain is nice.. surely gona try it tdy evening.
Btw u have any fb page so it will b easy to follow u.
Keep the good wrk going.
thanks. you can follow on our fb page here – https://www.facebook.com/vegrecipesofindia
Hi Dassana and Amit,
I tried this recipe day before yesterday with half atta and half maida with evaporated milk, sadly dont have access to khoya or mawa here. I never leave replies to blogs, but I dont want to keep the praises to myself. This is by far the best cake I have ever made and hubby claims its the best cake he has ever eaten!! 😀 Both of us are pretty happy about the cake. This will be my go-to recipe when I want to pamper him 😉
I have been looking at recipes for a long time and used to see the author of recipes as dassana amit and thought whoever this person is must be writing recipes all day (I did not know about your blog till then) and then when I had seen your name at too many places, I finally googled it and found this website.. and BOY!! am I happy.. I am elated and want to make everything that is here. I love the fact that they are mostly no onion no garlic and eggless and some of them are with atta! what more can I ask for.
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Thank you so much for sharing them with everyone. You are an angel ! 🙂
hi aru
firstly thanks for commenting and giving the feedback. i smiled when i read that i write recipes all day. not possible 🙂 you can try the recipes which you like and even the baking ones. if you have liked this cake, then i would suggest you to try the whole wheat pound cake. its a very good cake and eggless. along with the banana cake/bread, vanilla cake, chocolate and orange cakes – mawa cake and pound cake is a favorite at home. so you can try it at your own pace.
Hi Dassana,
Very well illustrated recipes and flawless measurements…Made the Mawa Cake yesterday.. and the result was gorgeous little cuppies that took me straight to the Ahura Bakery in Mumbai…
I bake often but don’t do a lot of egg-less cakes, I must compliment you on the perfect crumb of the cake.. M sure will return to try some more of the egg-less cakes..
God Bless you for your generosity to share with others
thanks sharon for kind words and blessings. its nice to know that you liked this eggless recipe of mawa cake.
Dear Dasanna,
I stumbled upon your blog while searching for Iranian Mawa cake recipe. I must say you have done (and are doing) a wonderful job!! I loved the way you provide detailed step by step instructions along with amazing pictures! Your writing is simple and to the point. I appreciate your hard work and efforts! Keep up the good work!
I had one small question – can we use salted butter? I believe it will enhance the buttery taste..
I am going to try your recipe this weekend and I am sure it will turn out nice 🙂
thanks rutujaa for your positive and encouraging feedback. you can use salted butter. there will be a very faint salty taste which most people will not be able to make out. the cake will taste good.
hi dasanna,
I tried this mawa cake, once for trying another once for new year. Both the times it turned great. And as one of your reader asked, can we make it in a cooker, yes we can coz, I dont have an oven both the times I tried it in a cooker n just kept it for 30 to 40 min. Sorry for the delay in adding a comment.
thanks sushma for sharing your positive feedback and also for letting us know that this recipe can be made in a pressure cooker. i will update it in the post also.
Hii can u give step by step recipe of how u made in the pressure cooker…..i would really be thankful to u….i dont have oven…thanks
Hi dassana
Ur r my baking goddess….tried da mawa cake,though made certain modifications due sheer laziness on my part to buy certain ingredients….da cake was fabuluous….recently went for an eggless baking class in a renowned place….must say ur recipes r far far better…..hav already started reccomending my fb friends to checkout ur site for fool proof baking.thanks once again for all the praise i am receiving is due to ur recipes.
Can u pls post a recipe for eggless choco lava cupcake….tried it once but the choco nugget sank to the bottom and neither did it melt though cupcake came out soft.
Krutika
thanks krutika for the encouraging words. i am humbled. also its kind of you to share the blog with your friends.i have 3 more baking recipes lined up but i am not getting enough time to post them. your comment has inspired me to post them soon. i tried choco lava cake twice. but like in your case, the chocolate sank in the bottom and once the chocolate didn’t melt only. so i am still trying and perfecting the recipe.
Hi dassana
i hav a query,why is dere no acidic ingredient like lemon/vinegar/curd in dis recipe as u hav used baking soda….doesnt presence of baking soda call for addition of an acidic element as den only da co2 reaction will take place to make da cake rise..also can i use condensed milk in place of cream.
i tried ur vanilla sponge cake recipe yesterday…it was simply superb..it got over in no time…thanks for posting such wonderful recipes…
krutika
hi krutika, acidic ingredients need not be added in all cake recipes. it also depends on which other ingredients are being added. here butter, milk, cream and mawa play a major role. since they form the bulk of this recipe, there is no need to add any acidic ingredient. also this cake is all sweet in terms of flavor and taste. so addition of lemon juice or vinegar will change the taste a bit and will give a subtle tang or sourness which is not suited taste wise for a mawa cake. usually in recipes which are low fat or use oil instead of butter, acidic ingredients can be added. when butter is beaten till creamy with sugar, this beating helps the butter to become light and fluffy and this eventually helps the cake to be soft. in most condensed milk based cake recipes too, acidic ingredients are not added. wherever you have no butter no no cream or no milk etc or no fruit pulp, you can add an acidic ingredient. recently i made banana muffins following my banana bread recipe and i added some lemon juice for the muffins to become lighter. i hope i have managed to answer your doubts.
thanks for the feedback on the vanilla sponge cake recipe. in this mawa cake recipe, you can use condensed milk instead of cream. i would suggest to add 1 or 2 tbsp of condensed milk. cut down the sugar also to 2/3 or 3/4 cup as condensed milk is very sweet.
Hello, I liked ur recipe mawa cake. I am little confused about Cream. We don’t get Amul cream. What we get in our local grocery store is Double or Thick Cream, single cream, cooking cream or Nada Fresh Cream (Which is very very thick) If u can help me which cream should I use then it will be really helpful. If I have to use fresh cream or double cream then should I beat it first to make it soft or should I directly add in the batter?
hi diana, you can use double cream. just beat the cream lightly and then add it along with the milk.
Hi Dassana,
I have made mawa cake. As my khoya was not so sweet so I added half cup more. I whipped the double cream till soft and added.
The cake started becoming brown on top but it wasn’t cooked so I kept silver foil paper on top so that it doesn’t burn. It came out prefect and everyone loved at my place.
thanks diana for the feedback. thats a good thing you did to cover the cake with the foil. even i do at times with some baking recipes.
hi, would really like to make this cake but can’t find mawa. possible to use powdered milk? same measurements?
or should i use condensed milk? if yes, what will the measurements be? thanks and happy new year!
don’t use powdered milk. you can use condensed milk but then cut down heavily on the sugar. also you might need to add less milk. you try and just get the consistency like you see in the pics. wishing you happy new year.
You have mentioned about the usage of mawa in mawa cake recipe twice like half cup n 120-140 gms. which measurement should be used. pls suggest
i have given both cup as well as metric measurement. there is not much difference in the quantities. the texture and quality of mawa varies from shop to shop and place to place. thats why i kept the variation in the measurements. you can easily add 120 gms as well as 140 gms. if you do not have a measuring scale then 1/2 cup also works well and so is 2/3rd cup.
Hi.. let me 1st tell u being hotalite I don’t know cooking then too I made gulab jamun from ur site and that was unbelievable.. amazing was perfect..
Now I want to try mawa cake but plz suggest how to bake it without oven.
Lots of Thanks..
welcome priya. glad to know this. for making this mawa cake recipe you need oven.
I tried this recipe and it turned out to be amazing..! The cake was very very soft and my family loved it.. Will definately make it again..
Your website is simply awesome. The way you post with the help of pictures, it is easier to understand for someone who is new to cooking. I’ve tried your various dishes like vegetable pizza from scratch, vegetable pasta in white sauce, garlic bread from scratch etc. All turned out to be very tasty. Everyone in my family loved it.
If ever I’m in search for a new recipe, yours is the site I first visit..
Good work guys.
Cheers 🙂
thanks kalyani for this positive feedback on recipes. it motivates to post more recipes.
Simply awesome
thanks namita
Well…I am an amateur baker…I tried this Mawa cake yesterday… And all I can say is that..it was simply a awesome meltdown cake
thanks preeti. glad to know that you liked the mawa cake. do try some more cake recipes and you will soon become a pro baker.
Can I use evaporated milk(liquid form) instead of mava ?I cant find mava where i live…
yes you can. you can cut down on the milk if required.
Thank u so much…made many of ur recipes they are amazing……:)
welcome nisha
Very nice recipe, I prefer using butter milk instead of milk which helps cake to rise more and it comes out more fluffy. Thanx
Dr Renu tiwari
Welcome Dr Renu
I made this cake with wheat flour today..It was fantastic..Thanks for the recipe!
thanks for the feedback.
Dear Dassana, I have tried out many receipes and it turned out well. Thank you and continue the good work. My query is regarding baking the mawa cake. For how long do I need to pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees. (duration for pre-heating the oven?). second query is , if I don’t get fresh cream, any other substitute for that. Looking forward to bake the mawa cake.
Prithi
preheat for atleast 15 minutes at 180 degrees celsius. you can add malai, instead of cream or increase the quantity of mawa to 3/4 cup.
Hi Dassana,
I was searching for punjabi receipes and Google landed me in ur blog. I’m so very impressed by the receipe collection. Gonna start following blog right this instant. Never heard of mawa cake before and ur clicks are very tempting 🙂
If it’s not 10 pm here I might bake the cake 🙂 thanks much for sharing 🙂 once again love ur blog.
thanks a lot santhya. mawa cake is a specialty in the bakeries of mumbai and poona. do try making the cake at home. its too good not to miss it.
First time baking anything on my own. The cake turned out really well and tastes so good!
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
thats nice to know ashwini, especially since you are baking the first time. thanks for the feedback.
Hi, I have never tried baking, as I use to think its really tough than cooking. But I tried mawa cake and it was the hit. First time and got all perfect. Thanks for posting this recipe.
thats great sunitha. baking is not tough. its easy and quick unlike cooking. thanks for the feeback on mawa cake too.
Love your recipes. Huge thanks for sharing them. I was wondering if condensed milk can be added to shorten the process since it has sugar n thick milk. If yes, what would be the approx. quantity needed for 2 cups of flour?
Thanks again and enjoy,
Suchita
thanks suchita. i think 1/2 cup of condensed milk should work.
Hi Dassana, appreciate your hard work for putting all the lovely recipes in detail.
I want to try this recipe but whenever I bake pound cake or vanilla cake I don’t get nice brown crust I don’t know what goes wrong. Kindly Suggest. Thank you.
the browning depends on the ingredients as well as the oven temperature. let me know how you use the oven, meaning preheating time and heating elements etc.
Hi Dassana, Thanks for the reply.
I have convection oven at home.
1) I use ingredients as per mentioned in the cake recipe. For baking I preheat oven at 180 degree and bake at the same temperature for 30 to 40 mins. Still the cake (mostly Vanilla or Pound) looks very light brown.
2) Is OTG better or Convection.
Kindly suggest. Thanks again. Wish you a happy and prosperous Diwali.
hi vrushali, my answer in points for baking in convection oven:
1. preheat the oven for at least 15 to 20 minutes before baking.
2. in convection oven, its always better to bake 10 to 15 degrees less than what is mentioned in the recipe which uses regular oven or OTG. the fan in the convection oven causes to speed up the heating and baking. so in the same amount time, the cake might get over baked. actually it should happen that the cake should be browned or over browned. but i think in your case, you can bake for some more minutes. may be the oven is not getting heated enough.
3. OTG is better as it does even baking, which is what we look for in baked good.
Thank you for your detailed inputs.
welcome vrushali
Hi.. The cake look really Yum… I have a question here.. the cup mentioned is same for all??.. As i believe Maida 1 cup=128 gms.. . is the milk and sugar can be measured for 125 gms??? what exactly is cup size here..TIA
the cup used is same for all, 250 ml measuring cup. milk is measured in litres and sugar in grams. here milk is 250 ml and powdered sugar is 125 gms.
How to make unsweetened mava / khoya at home? Please help because I live in UAE and we do not get mava in the shop. Please guide. Thanks.
will add a post soon on how to make both traditionally and instant method of making mava/khoya. hopefully before diwali.
Really gr8 fan of urs each n every recipe so beautifully elaborated n explained no chance of mistake want to try each of ur dish.I prepared d cake n it was marvelous thanx first time i made it so well that it is after 1 yr.perfect recipe.tc
thanks a lot ruby. glad and happy 🙂
Came across your blog while looking for parsi recipes. Very nice recipe collection. Did you pass from MA school around 88-89?
thanks nesa. i only did few years of schooling in MA school. i didn’t do my 10th there.
Hi today i made yr mava cake recipe for my dad bday .. made with half flour n half all purpose flour . Gud result it was airy n sponge .made cup cake n big cake aswell .. thanks for the recipe
welcome fagun. thanks for sharing your positive feedback on mawa cake.
Nice one cake…
recipe is eexcellent Can heavy whipping cream be used. If not what kind of cream can be used
maya, use a low fat cream otherwise cake will become very heavy on stomach.
Hi,
I don’t have round pan.can I make it in loaf pan.
vibha, yes you can make this cake in load pan.
i had never heard of mawa before. interesting post! and the cake looks great!
Hi! Were u by any chance in MA high school? Coz even i studied there for a year or two. Thats how i got introduced to Merwans n Ahura. Killer mawa cakes..also did u study in juhu SNDT? I did my majors from there as well n thats how thy thought us too.. In food science practicals.. Btw awesome cake will surely try it
thanks nancy. i studied my primary schooling in MA high school. but i didn’t go to juhu SNDT. remembering those days, i must say awesome cakes.
hi, i loved the recipe, i will try making one this weekend.
I still visit the merwans shop in andheri just for those mawa cakes. they are delicious as heaven. it just melts in your mouth. Thanks for the recipe, Dassana.
welcome abhilasha. you are lucky. i remember my days when i would actually go and buy from there.
Can I replace the butter with oil? We do not eat butter and I was wondering if oil would be a good replacement?
shweta, i won’t recommend adding oil. because then steps will change and one has to readjust all the ingredients. basically one has to redevelop the recipe with oil. in this recipe, we are creaming the butter and sugar. the creaming process helps to eaerate the batter and makes the mawa cake soft and moist. with oil, the whole recipe will have to be changed.
Hi,dassana m a big fan of ur blog hv been a silent follower love the pics and precision u create ur recipes
Hv a query is it OK if we use salted amul butter in this recipe if unsalted is not available
thanks sirisha. good to see your first comment. i have tried other cakes with salted amul batter and what i feel is that there is a slight taste of salt in the cake. if you are OK with very mild taste of salt in a cake then you can add it. otherwise i don’t recommend. since mawa cake is on more buttery, milky and sweet.
Hello Dassana, am a silent follower of your blog, have tried many recipes and all have turned great, I have one query, may be I may sound silly, to make cup cake, can we put the batter in cup cake liners and bake them on their own or has the liners with the batter to be placed in cup cake pan, I am checking this as I want to make cup cakes since long time but don’t have the pan. Thanks.
hi anisha, its not a silly question at all. a cup cake pan is good but you can still bake without the pan. if you have a tray or pan you can also keep the cupcake liners with the batter in the tray or pan and keep the pan/tray in the oven. just remember to fill the cupcake liner with 2/3 or 3/4 batter. as what happens is that since there is no cupcake pan holding the liners, the cake batter expands and the liners also expand. as a result you may not have a properly shaped cup cake, but nevertheless they taste good.
Thanks Dassana. You are very helpful.
welcome anisha
Hi Dassana, it’s Anisha again, I have a query if you can kindly help, long back, we used to get just few cakes in shops like Italian bakery (these were shops in the city I grew up, when there were few bakery shops n cake shops were very rare), then we used to get muffin in pack of 6, ( am not sure if they were muffins, because back then we used to call it cake), my mother is very much fond of them, can you kindly help me with its recipe if possible.
Thanks.
welcome anisha. in mumbai, in some shops i used to see pack of 6 muffins in one pack. but they were called as cake. we would never called them as muffin, as u also said. my feeling is that these were just plain vanilla cakes without any flavoring added to them. i will try to post the recipe in coming weeks (after experimentation)
Thanks Dassana, I agree I have seen them in mumbai too and used to call it cake and also agree they tasted like vanilla cake. Thanks for trying and experimenting recipe for my mother, can thank you enough.
thanks anisha. this will take some time as i need to try and test a couple of times 🙂
hi,
i baked banana cake.it was good in taste but lil dense.may be as i didnt know n follow folding method.in mawa cake main ingredient is mawa but it is not easily available or cant trust quality n takes long time to make at home.can u tell me any substitute for mava.thanx
actually in the banana cake the folding technique has to be done. if mixing method is done, then there are chances that the batter gets over mixed and the result is a dense texture in the cake. you can add condensed milk. the taste will be different but still a bit close. and add less sugar if adding sweetened condensed milk. you will also have to add less milk. you can easily add upto 1/2 to 2/3 cup pf condensed milk.
Nice one…would try soon..Thanks for sharing..
welcome anu
Wow, your cake has turned out so well despite the electricity issue. I have ended up throwing out a few things when the power suddenly goes off 🙁
thanks preeti for taking time and commenting on so many posts. for baking cake, before you start and electricity goes off then put the batter in fridge. in between baking, if electricity goes then you cannot help.
thats a beautiful cake Dassana. I have been baking a lot of cardamom flavoured cakes for my kiddo, who seems cant get enough of these.
thanks sayantani
How to make cream at home.
you will have to heat the milk. once it cools, collect the malai or cream floating on top in a bowl or box and keep in the freezer. collect the floating cream every time when you get fresh milk. use your own mathematics and when you get a good bowl of malai. defrost it for some hours. then add in a blender or stand mixer. whip up till the malai becomes smooth and flowing. collect this cream in a bowl and refrigerate.