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Home » Indian Mithai & Desserts

Mawa Cake - Step by Step Recipe

Published: Mar 28, 2022 by Tanvi · This post may contain affiliate links

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Mawa cake is a rich and delicious indian cake prepared with mawa (milk solids). It is buttery, not overly sweet and really moist. The cake batter is mixed with mawa (milk solids), scented with green cardamom and studded with pistachios & almonds, it tastes just like mithai (indian sweet).

Indian Mawa Cake With Pistachios & Almonds

Mawa cake belongs to utterly charming Irani cafes of Bombay. Irani cafes were started by Parsi community (an ethnic community with ancestral roots in Persia) in the city. They brought along their cuisine to the subcontinent, Irani cafes are known for their baked goods & breakfast along with the famous sweet irani chai. No surprise, mawa cake is a perfect bite at tea time. I was introduced to this cake during my stay for a couple of years in Pune when I discovered the wonderful Kayani bakery on MG road.

This is a amazing cake recipe perfect for festivals, holidays and beyond. It is my little tradition to use leftover mawa after making gujiyas on Holi to bake this mawa cake.

Jump to:
  • Why You Will Love This Recipe
  • What Is Mawa?
  • Ingredients
  • How To Make Mawa Cake (Step by Step)
  • Tips (Substitutions & Variations )
  • Storing
  • Mawa Cake Recipe

Why You Will Love This Recipe

  • It is super simple & basic cake recipe.
  • It is a buttery cake which is perfect for snacking, as a dessert or with tea.
  • This cake is not overly sweet. One of my favorite things about it.
  • Since the cake is quite dense and super rich, a small slice will satisfy you.
  • This cake is good as it is, you don't need to cover it in frosting.
  • You can turn this recipe into individual cupcakes, loaf cake or mawa mini cakes.
  • My recipe is with eggs. Firstly, I feel that eggs provide the richness to the crumb which cannot be replicated using other ingredients. Secondly, mawa cake is decadent and dense and eggs add structure to the cake. However since few of my readers are pure vegetarian, later in the post I have added a note for egg free version for you to try.

What Is Mawa?

Mawa/Mava or Khoya is dried evaporated milk solids which is used extensively in making indian sweets. The traditional process of making mawa is long and time consuming. Milk is slow cooked with constant stirring until all the water content of milk has evaporated and the milk solids remain.The milk solids are pretty delicious and are used in making sweet as well as savory dishes. These days good quality mawa is available in stores and you can pick a packet or buy from halwai(indian sweet vendors).

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients you will need for making mawa cake. I like to make my mawa cake bakery style using eggs and simply adding green cardamom for flavor.

Ingredients for Indian Mawa Cake With Pistachios & Almonds

How To Make Mawa Cake (Step by Step)

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease the sides of a cake pan with melted butter and line the base with parchment. The fat content in this cake is quite high, if you are using a good quality non stick cake pan, you might as well omit the greasing.
  • In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and green cardamom.
  • In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar. About 3 minutes.
Steps of Making Mava Cake- creaming Butter & Sugar
  • Add in the crumbled mawa. Cream everything together until pale and fluffy. About 2 minutes.
Step - 2 Cream Mawa With Butter & Sugar
  • Add eggs one at a time and incorporate.
Incorporate the eggs
  • Add flour and milk and gentle beat for 30 seconds to mix. Finish mixing with soft spatula to form a smooth lump free batter. Do not over mix. Takes about 2 minutes.
Adding the Flour & Milk
  • Fold in the pistachios. Transfer to a greased pan and top with almonds.
Add chopped pistachios to mawa cake batter
  • Bake for 28-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. A well baked cake will leave the sides of the cake pan. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes and finish cooling on a wire rack. Slice & serve.
Mawa Cake batter in the pan ready to bake

Tips (Substitutions & Variations )

  • Use room temperature ingredients (like butter, milk, mawa) when making the cake.
  • Once you add the flour, fold very gently or use beater at on slow speed.
  • I recommend serving it slightly warm. Its really delicious.
  • You can substitute whole milk with 2 percent milk.
  • Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit for a perfect dessert.
  • You can replace green cardamom with vanilla, orange blossom, nutmeg, rose essence, saffron or with thandai masala.
  • You can substitute mawa with milk powder in equal quantity. Use whole milk powder. I like using Nido brand, it is easily available in american or indian stores. Do not use non fat or skim-milk milk powder.
  • To make eggless mawa cake, simply use ½ cup full fat yogurt instead of eggs.
  • Make It Nut free- You can skip all the nuts in the recipe for a nut free version. Fold tutti-fruitti instead if you wish.
  • You can turn this recipe into individual cupcakes, loaf cake or mawa mini cakes.
Slice of Mawa Cake

Storing

You can store mawa cake refrigerated or 2 to3 days. You can leave the cake out on the counter during winter months. Mawa cake can be frozen for 2 months. Thaw and warm a little before serving.

Can I use oil instead of butter?

No. Butter and sugar creamed together make the cake fluffy. Oil won't serve the purpose.

Can I use low fat yogurt and milk?

Yes absolutely. Low fat dairy won't make much of a difference. I use full fat because I like using whole milk dairy in desserts.

My cake sank in the center? What could be the reason?

There are multiple reasons for cake sinking in the batter. Over beating the cake batter or if your butter is too soft can lead to cake sinking while baking. Sometimes if we are using a 6 month or old leavening agent that leads to cake sinking as well.

Mawa Cake Featured Image

Mawa Cake Recipe

Mawa cake is a rich and delicious indian cake prepared with mawa(milk solids). It is buttery, not overly sweet and is quite moist. The cake batter is mixed with mawa (milk solids), scented with green cardamom and studded with pistachios & almonds, this cake tastes just like mithai (indian sweet).
5 from 11 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Indian
Servings 10 servings
Calories 274 kcal

Equipment

  • Hand or Stand Mixer

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g (7 tablespoon) unsalted butter softened
  • 120 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 110 g (½ cup) mawa grated, see notes on how to use milk powder
  • 1 teaspoon green cardamom powder
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 160 g (1+¼ cup) all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 7 tablespoon whole milk
  • ⅓ cup raw pistachios coarsely chopped (optional)
  • 2 tablespoon almonds sliced

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle of your oven.
  • Lighty spray or brush your cake pan with melted butter. Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment. I used 8 inch springform pan, but you can use a regular cake pan, loaf tin or cupcake pan.
  • In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder and cardamom. Stir together nicely. Set aside.
  • In another bowl, using hand mixer cream together the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy. Takes about 2-3 minutes. Don't over cream.
  • Add the mawa and beat together with butter and sugar until fluffy. About 1 minute.
  • Lower the speed.Add one egg at a time and incorporate.
  • With the mixer still on low, add the flour mix and the milk and beat for 30-45 seconds. Then stop the mixer. Using a soft spatula, gently combine together the batter very well using a fold and cut action until smooth.
  • Fold in th pistachios .
  • Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and smoothen out the top using a spatula. Add the sliced almonds on top (if using)
  • Bake for 28-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. You can start checking at 26 minutes.
  • Once baked, pull the cake out of oven and let the cool in the cake pan for 15 minutes. The cake will pull itself out of the edges else run a sharp knife all around and transfer the cake to a wire cooling rack.
  • Slice and serve. You can serve with hot tea or with a dollop of whipped cream.

Notes

  • Use room temperature ingredients (like butter, milk, mawa) when making the cake.
  • Once you add the flour, fold very gently or use beater at on slow speed.
  • I recommend serving it slightly warm. Its really delicious.
  • You can substitute whole milk with 2 percent milk.
  • Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit for a perfect dessert.
  • You can replace green cardamom with vanilla, orange blossom, nutmeg, rose essence, saffron or with thandai masala.
  • You can substitute mawa with milk powder in equal quantity. Use whole milk powder. Use 110 g milk powder and 8 tablespoon milk in that case. I like using Nido brand, it is easily available in american or indian stores. Do not use non fat or skim-milk milk powder.
  • To make eggless mawa cake, simply use ½ cup full fat yogurt instead of eggs.
  • Make It Nut free- You can skip all the nuts in the recipe for a nut free version.Fold tutti-fruitti instead if you wish.
  • You can turn this recipe into individual cupcakes, loaf cake or mawa mini cakes.
  •  
  • a soft spatula, gently combine together the batter very well using a fold and cut action until smooth.
  • awa mini cakes.
  •  

Nutrition

Calories: 274kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 7gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 71mgPotassium: 108mgFiber: 1gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 388IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 121mgIron: 1mg
Keyword mawa cake recipe, indian cake recipe, bakery style indian cake
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Indian Mithai & Desserts

  • Til Mawa Roll (Makar Sankranti Recipe)
  • Besan Ki Barfi
  • Brownie Trifle
  • Masala Chai Tiramisu

Filed Under: Indian Mithai & Desserts Tagged With: indian baking recipes, indian cake recipes, indian cakes, mawa cake recipe, sinfully spicy recipes

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Hi, I'm Tanvi! If you love Indian food, you are at the right place, browse through hundreds of delicious Indian recipes

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