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Mawa Cake is a buttery, soft, moist, and light cake with a beautiful taste of Mawa/Khoya and an enticing aroma of cardamom. With a perfect balance of sweetness and a rich influence of milk, this is a classic cake for a teatime snack.

Mawa cake holds a very special place in my childhood memories. This cake was originally found in the Parsi bakeries in Mumbai. Simple yet delicious it was served as a snack along with tea in many houses. Garnished with slivered almonds and pistachios it was one of my most favorite cakes.

My earliest memories were of the Mawa Cake from a local cake shop near my house. My mom used to get the cake for us and I sometimes used to carry it as a snack for my school lunch box. As I grew up I tried the Mawa cake from many other bakeries around Mumbai and finally found a new favorite place for Mawa Cake, the Merwans!

There are so many Indian fusion cakes and desserts that are popular nowadays but this classic, simple and flavorful Mawa Cake still stays at the top of my list. What makes it special is the addition of Mawa/Khoya to the cake batter. Mawa is basically dried evaporated milk solids and it imparts a rich, decadent, dense milky flavor to the cake. Believe me, you have to try it to actually appreciate how delicious this cake is.

When I moved to the US I tried many different cakes over here and over the period of time fell in love with quite a few of them. But as time passed I started missing my favorite cake back in India.

As you all know by now that I love baking so after baking my own versions of fusion cakes like Rasmalai cake, Gulab jamun cake, Motichoor cake, Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake, and much more I realized I was missing the Mawa cake. Because no matter how many fancy cakes you eat you always long for that simple nostalgic cake/food that you grow up eating.

So I ventured into making my own version of Mawa Cake. With a few tweaks to my own vanilla cake recipe and a few trial and errors, I got this perfect Mawa Cake recipe. Trial and error is the fun part of my baking journey, some experiments are necessary to get a perfect recipe. I always say baking is a science which is why I call my kitchen my food lab.

What is a Mawa Cake?

Originally known as the Parsi Mawa Cake, this cake is soft, moist, milky, rich, and so very delicious. Made with everyday simple ingredients like all-purpose flour, eggs, butter, milk, and Khoya/Mawa it is so easy no-frills cake. What makes this cake so rich is the Mawa that is added to the batter.

Mawa is made by reducing milk to get milk solids, it take hours to make it at home. I don't have patience to make it at home so I get the one from Indian store and it works just perfect for this recipe. As it is made from reducing milk it has that dense rich milky and a slightly caramelized flavor.

Mawa cake is best served warm/hot and doesn't need any other fancy decorations to entice you to eat it. The fresh aroma of the warm cake is all you need to draw you to devour it.

Ingredients for Mawa Cake

All-purpose flour - I prefer using bleached all-purpose flour for this cake as it gives the cake the tender texture that is desired in any good cake.

Unsalted butter - Use unsalted room temperature butter for this recipe. Unsalted butter is always recommended while baking as different brands have different amount of salt in their butter and hence it is good to have control over the amount of butter that goes into the recipe.

Eggs - Large room temperature eggs.

Sugar - White granular sugar

Milk - Always use good quality whole milk

Mawa - if possible use fresh Khoya/Mawa however I don't get fresh Mawa in US so I use the frozen store bought one. If you are using frozen one the defrost the Mawa to room temperature and then using a grater grate it finely.

Baking powder - Check expiry date for the products before baking.

Salt

Elaichi Powder - Using good Elaichi powder is very important. Since we are not using any extract in this recipe the Elaichi powder is the one ingredient that will help cut down the flavor of egg.

Garnish - Slivered almonds and pistachios.

How to make Mawa Cake step-by-step

Pre-heat the oven at 350F and let it heat up till you make the cake batter.

Grease and line a loaf tin pan with parchment paper for baking or you can just line an 8 inch round pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and Elaichi powder. Once sifted whisk it all together gently.

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Take a bowl for stand mixer or a regular bowl for hand mixer. Add butter and granular sugar to it and using the paddle attachment beat the mixture at medium speed for 7 to 8 minutes till the butter and sugar incorporate well and become light and fluffy. It will look cream in color and have an airy texture.

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Now add the eggs and beat it till well incorporated.

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Add the finely grated Mawa and mix it all together so that Mawa is well incorporated with the batter.

Finally add sifted flour mix and the milk in 3 parts to the cake batter and gently mix it all together. Do not over mix the batter.

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Pour the batter in the pan lined with parchment paper and top it with some slivered almonds and pistachios.

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Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes in loaf tin pan. However a round 8 inch pan will take 50 to 55 minutes. Check if its done at 55 minutes by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean the cake is done. If there is some batter sticking to the stick then bake it for another few minutes till the stick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool off for sometime on the work surface.

After 30 minutes or so take a thin knife and run it around the edges. Transfer the cake onto a wire rack and cool it further for 15 to 20 minutes or till the cake comes down to room temperature and then store it in an air tight container.

However this cake is absolutely irresistible when it comes out of the oven so if you would like to eat it fresh then you can serve it as soon as you transfer it to wire rack. Half of my cake always gets over when it is still hot. It is an absolute delight when its fresh out of the oven, in my son's words "totally irresistible". Enjoy the cake warm with your friends and family.

Also If you liked the recipe I would love to hear back from you. Hearing about your experiences really warms my heart. Do Drop a comment below and you could also connect with me via Facebook or Instagram.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my cake dense at the bottom?

There are a few reasons your cake would be dense at the bottom.

Firstly, if the Mawa is not finely grated then it would be in bigger chunks when you add it to the batter, thus it will not mix properly with the batter and settle down at the bottom while baking. Mawa is milk solids so when heated up the ghee separates and tend to go and sit at the bottom. If the Mawa is well incorporated into the batter then you will not face this situation.

Secondly, there would be excess moisture in the batter. If you are using 2% or low fat milk in this cake recipe instead of the whole milk then that could result in excess moisture in the cake leading to a dense bottom. The 2% or low fat milk is thinner than the whole milk and thus it will be much thinner. So If you are using any other milk than whole milk you have to adjust the quantity that goes into the cake. I would suggest reducing a couple of tablespoons of milk at least in such situation.

It could also be because of uneven heating in your oven so definitely check that aspect too.

Lastly it could be because the cake is undercooked. So check the Mawa Cake properly by inserting toothpick before getting it out of the oven.

Can I use instant homemade Mawa in this Mawa cake recipe?

Yes you can use instant homemade Mawa in this recipe. Just shred it finely so it mixes with the batter properly.

What do i do if i don't have Elaichi powder?

If you do not have Elaichi powder you can replace it with cardamom extract. So instead of ½ teaspoon Elaichi powder you can use ¼ teaspoon cardamom extract.

You could also check out some other simple cake recipes

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Eggnog Cake

New York Cheesecake