Today, we're baking something very special: a Homemade Mawa Cake with Cardamom. It's a soft, light Indian cake with a warm spice and crunchy cashew nuts on top. Not too sweet-just right. This is one of those cakes you just have to try. And once you do, I'm sure you'll make it again.
Soft Indian Mawa Cake with Cashews
I made this recipe for a baking challenge by 'The Daring Bakers', and it was an adventure! The most special part was the Mawa - a mixture of milk that you slowly boil down until it is thick and creamy. At first, I thought it would taste like condensed milk, but it is actually less sweet and much fuller in flavor.
Making Mawa takes some time and patience, especially at the end. But trust me, it is worth it.
The result is really amazing. The cake is nice and moist, the cardamom gives it a lovely Indian flavor, and the nuts on top make it complete. I will definitely bake this cake again!
My Tips for a Perfect Mawa Cake
- Patience with Mawa: Mawa is made by boiling down milk. It takes a while, but it really is the base of this cake. Stir well and stay with it, especially when it is almost done, to prevent burning (crucial because the first time it burned, and I had to start over!).
- Flavored cardamom: Use real cardamom pods and grind the seeds yourself. The flavor is much stronger and tastier than ready-made powder.
- Good preparation: Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. This will make the batter nice and airy.
- Adding eggs separately: Add the eggs one by one. This keeps the batter smooth.
- Springform: Use an 8 inch (ca. 20 cm) diameter springform, greased and with baking paper on the bottom. This will make your cake easy to remove from the form.
- Using aluminum foil: Cover the cake after baking for 30 minutes. This will prevent it from getting too dark on top.
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Need more inspiration?
- You can find video recipes on my YouTube channel.
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📖 Recipe
RECIPE CARD
Ingredients
Mawa
- 4½ cups whole milk
Cake
- 1 stick butter, unsalted at room temperature;
- 1 portion mawa, (from above)
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3 eggs, size L
- ½ cup milk
- 6 cardamom pods, pulverize with the mortar and fleece
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 20 cashew nuts
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
Making Mawa
- Pour the milk into a frying pan.4½ cups whole milk
- Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it reduce slowly.
- Stir sometimes, and stay with it when it starts to thicken.
- Cook until you have a thick, moist mass with no liquid.
- Let the Mawa cool completely.
Baking the Cake
- Preheat the oven to
350 °F or 320 °F. - Beat the butter, mawa and sugar until fluffy.1 stick butter, 1 portion mawa, 1½ cups sugar
- Add the eggs one by one and mix well.3 eggs
- Pour in the milk and stir again.½ cup milk
- In another bowl, mix cornstarch, flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Add this to the batter and mix at low speed until smooth.6 cardamom pods, 4 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Grease an 8-inch (20 cm) diameter springform and place baking paper on the bottom.
- Pour the batter into the form and smooth it out.
- Add the cashew nuts on top.20 cashew nuts
- Put the cake in the oven. After 30 minutes, cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for another 30 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if the cake is done.
- Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then take it out and let it cool on a rack.
Notes
- Add saffron to the milk for a luxurious flavor.
- Use pistachios or almonds instead of cashews.
- Add a little rosewater for a soft floral taste.
- Room temperature: Keeps for 3 to 4 days if wrapped well.
- Freezer: You can freeze it for up to 2 months. Let it thaw at room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
Gloria says
This looks similar to coffee cakes. Love the sound of the cardamom, it is so delicious in baked goods. Great recipe.
Kasey Ferguson says
Delicious and perfect amount of sweetness. Thank you for the recipe!
Toni says
Everyone at my house loved it!! So good and delicious!
Nart says
This was cake was really good. The caramel colored milk sounded very interesting so I had to give it a go and it didn't disappoint!
Leslie says
Excellent Mawa Cake recipe! I'm so excited to start baking again during these cooler recipes! What a great first recipe to make!
Andréa says
Thank you Gloria!
Andréa says
Thank you for your nice words!
Andréa says
Thank you Toni!
Andréa says
Great that you enjoyed it!
Andréa says
So am I, baking was low in summer but the oven starts warming up again! Thank you for your nice words!