Mawa cake is a moist, dense, decadent and delicious Indian cake. It is not overly sweet and makes for a perfect accompaniment along with your tea or coffee!
Hi guys! Hope everyone is doing great! I’m back after an unexpected mini hiatus. I’ve missed blogging but I also feel super refreshed after the little break. Another break is not very far off but this time I’ll definitely be scheduling some posts.
Mawa cake is amongst the popular Indian cake recipes, an absolute must-have on the menu of every Irani/Parsi cafe/bakery. It is dense, moist and buttery.
Table of Contents
WHAT IS MAWA?
For the uninitiated, mawa is nothing but milk solids, left behind by heating the milk on low heat for hours until all the moisture is evaporated. This resultant dough left behind is mawa or khoya or khoa- milk solids which are used practically for most Indian sweets and savory dishes like the basic white gravy in Punjabi cuisine.
I’ve shared a few Indian sweet recipes using mawa powder in my earlier posts, like this kesar (saffron) peda, mango mawa burfi, and chocolate mawa peda. In terms of savory dishes, I’ve used little milk mawa powder to make this delicious methi matar malai paneer.
HOW TO MAKE MAWA CAKE?
This is a pretty simple and basic cake recipe, infused with mawa, flavored with cardamom or nutmeg and topped with nuts, usually cashew nuts & almonds. This is super rich and also so addictive at the same time. It’s not difficult to sight patrons feasting on some mawa cake or a plate of bun maska along with a cup of chai at these dwindling, old world charm Irani cafes.
Even the mawa cakes at Merwans in Andheri, a Mumbai suburb and B. Merwan in Grant Road, sells like hotcakes. A trip to Mumbai would be incomplete without having a mawa cake from one of these famous cafes/stores.
We had an Irani cafe next to our college, St. Xavier’s in Mumbai, and so a trip to this cafe would inevitably happen every now and then 😀 Oh the bread pudding and baked custard was to die for too! So so good!
You know how some things are outrageously downright delicious and they don’t make the best-photographed food? In my opinion, this mawa cake fits that category. It may look ordinary, but let me tell you, it is one of the best cakes you will ever have! It requires no frosting, is best eaten as is 🙂 So good that you won’t mind eating it for breakfast or dessert, perfect with tea or coffee 😀
So how do you go about making one of the best tea time cakes ever? I simply added mawa to my basic, fail-proof vanilla cake, to yield a delicious mawa cake. Worked like a charm and taste just like the Parsi mawa cakes. Everyone at home attests to this!
Truth be told, I can happily buy dozens of mawa cupcakes from these bakeries. There are none where I live, but thanks to that adversity I learnt to bake my own mawa cake, which I can make and relish anytime!
This recipe is for mawa cake with eggs.
I’ve experimented with countless eggless versions using yogurt and heavy cream. Whilst the cake tasted phenomenal and just like the ones with eggs, the cake sank a little every single time. Not a lot, but yes a little.
I don’t like to share recipes that I’m not happy with or aren’t foolproof. So the eggless version would just have to wait for a little longer probably. My next experiment would be to try it with condensed milk in lieu of eggs!
Honestly, if you don’t mind the little bit of cake sinking, then please go ahead and bake this cake, there’s no compromise on taste at all. Simply substitute the eggs with 1/2 cup non-sour yogurt.
Turn on the oven, gather these ingredients and let’s get baking, folks! This is the best mawa cake recipe, bakery style and I’m sure you will fall in love with it too 🙂
ENJOYED THIS MAWA CAKE? HERE ARE SOME INDIAN CAKE RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY
- Egg-free Orange cupcakes
- Eggless Mango semolina cupcakes
- Baath cake (Goan coconut and semolina cake)
- Tutti frutti loaf cake
- Eggless Mango loaf cake
- Eggless Marble cake
- Rava Cake
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE INDIAN MAWA CAKE
1.Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease an 8-inch cake tin / 9 x 5 loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
2.In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda and cardamom powder. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside. Also, grate the mawa and set aside.
3.In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
4.Add grated mawa, continue beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
5.Add in the eggs next, one at a time, continue beating on medium-high speed.
6.Now reduce to the lowest possible speed. Alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. ( DO NOT OVER MIX ).
7.Transfer the batter to the prepared baking tin, sprinkle the slivered pistachios on top of the batter.
8.Bake in the middle rack, for about 40 – 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not overbake or else you will end up with a dry cake. Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on the rack completely.
NOTE
Update- A reader, Shahin, tried this recipe by substituting mawa with 100 grams of milk powder, and she says it was just as good as the regular mawa cake. So if you have a hard time finding mawa you can use milk powder.
HOW TO MAKE MAWA CAKE?
Mawa Cake | How To Make Mawa Cake
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 214 grams
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp elaichi powder (green cardamom powder)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter 113 grams
- 1 cup fine granulated sugar or castor sugar, 210 grams
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup grated or crumbled mawa 100 grams
- 1/2 cup milk 125 ml
- 3 tbsp slivered pistachios or any other nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease an 8-inch cake tin / 9 x 5 loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda and cardamom powder. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
- Add grated mawa, continue beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs next, one at a time, continue beating on medium-high speed.
- Now reduce to the lowest possible speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. (DO NOT OVER MIX).
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking tin, sprinkle the slivered pistachios on top of the batter.
- Bake in the middle rack, for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not overbake or else you will end up with a dry cake. Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and coo
Notes
PIN IT FOR LATER
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Regards,
Freda
Planning to make it tomorrow. Can we make it without sugar that is can we use jaggery instead? And I have ghee residue can I add in it?
Hi Ashwini! Adding jaggery might change the texture and taste of the cake. Ghee residue should be ok. Unfortunately, since I’ve not tested this recipe with either of these ingredients, I will not be able to tell you how well they will work. I suggest trying the atta jaggery cake on my website. You can try adding the ghee residue in that recipe. Do let me know how it turns out if you try. Thanks!
Can you advise me if I can use whole-wheat instead of maida in this recipe? In that case, do I have to make changes in any other ingredients? As you have experienc of baking atta cake, I think you may understand what changes should be made.
I Sno! You can use atta, but the texture will differ Or you may have to increase the milk by 1/4 cup or reduce the atta to 1.25 cups. The results won’t be the same if you use a 1:1 substitution. I cannot tell you for sure without trying the recipe. You may need to experiment with the suggestions I have mentioned. Hope this helps.
Tried this cake using milk powder (as suggested by shahin) instead of mawa and the taste was very good. But no, it did not taste like mawa cake. Next time will try with actual mawa.
Hi Mina! I’ve yet to try this with the milk powder substitute. Thanks for sharing your thoughts so that it benefits others reading this too. Do try it with mawa, I’m sure you will enjoy it.
Hi Freda ,
Thanks for this gorgeous recipe . Just to let you know I did substitute the eggs with half cup yoghurt and reduced the sugar to 150 grams as we do t like overly sweet desserts . The cake cake out perfect and didn’t sink in the middle . Cupcakes took about 25 mts to bake and the cake around 45 . It’s a lovely cake .
That’s awesome Pavi. Thanks so much for sharing the results. I hope it benefits others looking for an eggless version as well.
Perfect Mawa cake …. My husband is from Mumbai and was missing Merwan’s mawa cake.
I followed your recipe and it came out very well. He loved it!
One observation – I was confused about 100 gm (which is about 1/2 cup) vs 1 cup for mawa.
I tried with 1 cup milk powder and it worked fine.
Hi Sona! Glad you guys enjoyed the cake. This mawa that I used is pretty dry. So the block
is 100 grams, and when it’s grated it comes to about 1 cup. Milk powder is an excellent substitute as tried by one of my readers, so I thought it was worth mentioning as mawa can be difficult to source in some places. Thanks for sharing your feedback:)
I tried out the recipe with mawa made of milk powder. It worked out really well.
Thanks for the detailed instructions.
So glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your feedback, Apurva 🙂
Made this yesterday on the occasion of my father’s birthday. THIS. CAKE. IS. DELICIOUS. Period. Just added a few strands of saffron for that added flavour.
Birthday wishes to your father! Thanks so much for sharing you feedback, Anwesha! So glad you loved it 🙂 A touch of saffron sounds great!
🤗
Awesome….
Thank you 🙂
Hi,
Thank You for this lovely recipe, I made this cake 3 times already.First time it was perfect but the next couple of times the cake sunk & it seemed like it was under baked & very dense, not sure what I could have done wrong
Hi Poonam! Did you change anything? Like the mawa especially? Was it wet?
No I used the Nanak khoya bar all the three times
I can’t think of what could have gone wrong since you said it turned out right the first time. Did you check if your baking powder and soda are fresh? Or did you over beat the batter? Was the flour measured properly? Also, did you use eggs or yogurt? The cake sinks with yogurt.
I used eggs may be it was the over beat of the batter next time I will try to remember that. Thank You so much
Most welcome! Hope it turns out well next time 🙂
Hi, can I substitute eggs with condensed milk?
Hi Apoorva! You could try, I’m not really sure how it would turn out as I’ve not tried it.
HI freda I haven’t tried this cake yet but am gonna give it a shot tomorrow..I wanted to know can I use rose water for the extra flavor??
Hi Jyoti! I suggest using 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon rose essence instead. Rose water won’t give you much flavor plus it will mess with the liquid ratios as you would need to add quite a lot of it to get some flavor. You may need to decrease the milk probably. I’m just assuming, not really sure, that’s what I feel.
Hi. Thank you for such a lovely recipe. Followed same to same measurements and the result was awesome. My son, inlaws and we all loved this cake. It was delicious and super soft. Thanks again.
My only concern is…yes as mentioned by you, it got sunk in between…where as the cake in your photograph looks perfectly fine….not sunk…
So, is it so that cake baked in loaf pan sinks and in round pan doesn’t sink or sinks less. ??
Thanks
Hi Smita! So glad everyone loved it 🙂 Thanks for sharing your feedback! Did you use yogurt or eggs? With eggs, I’ve never had the problem of sinking, but with yogurt it does sink a little. What’s the volume of your cup measurement? Mine is 250 ml and in grams, the flour weighs 214 grams. If you used eggs and it still sunk, I feel the flour quantity you measured was less.
No words to describe the flavour, taste and the texture. My husband ,who is not fan of sweet is savouring every bite of the cake ….says everything of the recipe.
Woohoo!! So glad to hear that!! Thanks for coming back and sharing your experience with us, Ashwini 🙂
I made the cake as per the measurements but it sank in the middle.. couldnt bake it more as the top was already dark brown.. What may be the reason.. I might have pre heated the oven for more than 15 min..
But the cake still tastes divine.. Gonna try again .. nd ya, u have mentioned Mawa around 100 gms which is around 1/2 cup but u have written 1 cup.. So what’s the correct measurement?? I took 100 gms.
Hi Rashmi! Yes 100 grams is 1 cup. Was the mawa that you used wet? That could explain the weight difference and also why the cake probably sank. Next time, you could reduce the milk to 1/4 cup perhaps to reduce the moisture in the batter. Did you also use yogurt? Coz the cake sinks with it, which is why I’ve not posted an eggless version until I further test the recipe for another substitute. I used store-bought mawa and it’s like a block, dry, which is similar to processed cheese on grating. Also, did you overbeat the batter? As beating the butter, sugar, and mawa results in a really light mixture, so the flour and milk should not be mixed too much in the end. Overbeating the cake batter after adding flour can cause it to rise quickly in the oven, because of al that excess air, and then it collapses after taking it out of the oven. You can also use milk powder instead of mawa, tried by one of my readers. It is in the update in the notes section.
Nope, didn’t use yogurt.. I prepared fresh Mawa using milk powder so was wet a bit.. I might have over beaten the mixture I think.. Gonna try it again as everyone loveeed the cake.. It tastes awesome.. It’s my favourite cake now on..
Just one more question, can I use castor sugar instead of granulated one by weighing it as granulated sugar doesn’t dissolve in butter after whisking.. Neways, Thanks a ton for the lovely recipe.. Tried ur rava cake, cookies recipes, all come out really delish..
Hi Rashmi! Yes, the granulated sugar in US is quite fine, like castor sugar. That’s what I’ve always used in baking. I’ve noticed the big sugar crystals that we get in India don’t do well in baking. I’ll mention castor sugar in the recipe card. Yes, since you used fresh mawa, that could explain. Definitely try and judge the amount of milk in that case, the batter needs to be thick. I’m guessing you can reduce it by 1/4 cup. I’m so glad you loved the cake anyways. I hope you try it again, please share how it goes whenever you happen to give it a go 🙂
OH MY GOD!! This was by far the best mawa cake I’ve had. I have eaten the cakes from Merwans, that too I was lucky to be there at 7 am once when they were churning out fresh cakes but this recipe makes better cakes I feel. Also, I used homemade mawa the first time. The second time, I used half cup of rabri (it needed to be cooked another half an hour to get the consistency of mawa). I added a few spoons of milk to get the batter to mix. And 2 sachets of milk powder that I had handy. Yet, best mawa cake ever. BEST. Thanks so much for this!!!
I’m so excited to hear this awesome feedback , Shriti! And that you loved it more than Merwan, I’m still smiling ear to ear 😀 Thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback, I truly appreciate it 🙂
Hi Freda,
Can I use the same measurements to bake cupcakes?
Yes, you can Shraddha. I’m not sure of the baking times though, try checking after 15 minutes.
I was skeptical to try this recipe with milk powder because of the mixed reviews. However, I am gad I did. This cake turned out absolutely delicious.
I halved the above measurements, swapped Mava with milk powder and baked in an 8” pan for 33 mins at gas mark 4.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
So glad to know it turned out well! Thanks for leaving a feedback 🙂
Hi Freda just needed a clarification – you have mentioned11/2 cups flour = 214 grams, whereas for me 1 1/2 cups flour = 195 grams, which one is correct?
Even I use the US 240ml measuring cup for which 1 cup flour= 125 gms
TIA
Hi Ambika! My measuring cup is 250 ml. If you use yours, use the same set of cups to measure everything out. It shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Ok great,will do that- thanks so much for your prompt response !
Most welcome, do share your feedback when you try this 🙂
The best Mawa cake receipe.The cake turned out very well. I now want to try out your other cake receipes. Thanks
Hi Pallavi, so glad to know! Thanks for sharing your feedback, I hope you do try some of the other cake recipes too 🙂
One of my favourites from your blog Freda. Simply love everything about it. Gorgeous pictures and so perfect and heart winning recipe. This festival season would love to try it .
One of my favorite cake recipe from your blog. If I could get my hands on a slice without actually baking would be dream come thru😋😉🤣
Oh! I just want to eat this cake right now. It looks so so delicious.
Thanks, Ritu 🙂
Love this gorgeous mawa cake baked to perfection.Welcome back with a bang Freda.
Thanks, Preethi!
Looks so delicious and perfectly made. I would not mind taking a slice of it..!
Thanks, Jayashree !
The texture of the cake is so perfect. You really gave a best impression for the welcome back. The toppings are absolutely tempting. Nice presentation. Overall, you nailed this cake.
mawa cake looks really like store bought one. Feels like grabbing this piece. I love the texture for this cake. Bookmarking it for my reference. will try it.
Thanks, Bhawana 🙂
Mawa cake looks so moist and tempting. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Glad you liked it, Pavani 🙂
Your mawa cake post reminds me of my dad, who was a brilliant baker in his old days, every trip from Mumbai to a home he would bring mawa cake for us without fail. Yours has turned out so well.
Thats a nice little memory 🙂 Thanks, Jagruti!
The cake looks spectacular Freda..The mava cake is an absolute delish and the way you explained it in details is awesome
Thanks, Lathiya 🙂
What a lovely share for mawa cake… Love all the clicks.. The step by step method is also a great way to give idea to prepare so easily !!!!
Thanks, Sasmita 🙂
The mava cake looks Stunning Freda ! Perfect texture and awesome photography.. bookmarking the recipe .
Thanks, Poonam 🙂
That looks super cool. I love the step by step description with pics which will really help a new baker.
Thanks so much 🙂
Cake looks so moist and perfect, flawless texture. Process shots are very helpful for such recipes. Clicks are super gorgeous….
Thanks, Geetha:)
Wow, what an irresistible and ultimate cake, wish i get a super huge slice of this cake rite now to finish my breakfast with a cup of coffee.. Beautiful cake to bake for a celebration as well.
True! Thanks, Priya:)
Looks so moist and delicious 😋! And I love the top pistachio layer… thanks for sharing and the tip for using milk powder because we don’t get mawa here.
Yes, I thought it would be useful too 🙂 Thanks, Ashima!
Freda the texture of your Mava cake reminds me of the old Irani bakery in Mumbai selling these, it so tempting and perfect.
Thanks a lot, Soma 🙂
I m allergic to egg yolk. Can I use only egg white for this receipe?
I’m not sure, Sharmila! You can give it a try, I think it should be fine.
Looks perfect, lovely photography and such good crumb. This recipe is a keeper.
Thanks, Nandita 🙂
So tempting. Can I substitute butter with oil
Hi!! Thanks 🙂 I haven’t tried making this with oil, but I think you can. Use 1/3 cup of oil or else it may become too greasy. But I highly suggest using butter for max flavor in this tea time mawa cake. Oil will not give a good taste.
Hello, which brand mawa did you use here
Nanak, the one we get here in the US.
Thank you so much for the reply. Please help me with the shelf life . I will be travelling to US with this cake. Also, any tips to store while travelling.
Preeti, since this has mawa, I won’t recommend keeping it out for long. Max of 2-3 days will be good in an air tight container at room temp. Refrigerate it if it still last longer than that, you can warm it in the microwave before serving 🙂
would like to try this mawa cake. Can you please give me the weight of sugar and flour in gms.. thanks.
Hi Linda, flour is 214 grams and sugar 210 grams.
I tried the mawa cake on occasion of the birthday of mamma Mary and I must say it was just awesome.Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe.May mother Mary bless you with lots of happiness
Hi Lily! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂 thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback 🙂
Hi Freda, Such a wonderful mawa cake. Parsis love this cake.
Hi Freda,
Baked this Mawa cake today. I used milk powder instead of Mawa as suggested in one of the comments (duly seconded by you) .
The taste is awesome. But my batter overflew inspite of having sufficient margin to rise. Where did I go wrong?
Hi Ila! What size tin did you use ?
Hi Freda, I used a 7*7 inch tin.
However, today I made two cakes with the same batter. This time I used Mawa instead of milk powder.
The result was good. All the family members liked the cake.
Thank you for recipe.
One question-how can we reduce the crumbs?
Thanks for your feedback Ila. You may have probably overbaked it which may have made it a bit dry and crumbly. If the batter is too thick, add a splash of milk and next time remove the cake out of the oven a few minutes earlier
Can we use jaggery
I’m sorry jaggery will not go well with this cake. You may try if you wish too.
Yum yum, parsis love mawa cakes. I make mawa cakes too. This one is impressive. Good presentation.
Thanks a lot, Rita 🙂
Can we make this into muffins (Like Merwan’s)? What would the bake time be?
Hi Nielet, yes you can use this to make muffins, it would take approx 20-25 minutes. You will have to keep an eye after 20 minutes.
Tried your Mawa cake Freda. It was superb. Thanks for such an awesome recipe.
Hi Cecelia! Thanks so much for your feedback, glad to know you liked it 🙂
Delicious loved the mava cake and the preparation.
Thanks a lot 🙂
This cake looks divine! Mawa intrigues me as I’ve never seen nor cooked with it. Thanks for the recipe!
It’s very rich, Laura. You should try it sometimes. if you taste peda, you will have an idea of mawa. Thanks a lot 🙂
Tried the eggless version by replacing eggs with curd. It turned out yummy. Spongy, fluffy, rich in flavor. Also it didn’t sink in the middle as mentioned above. Great receipe, definitely a keeper !! Thanks !!
Thanks for your feedback, Vidula! I’m so happy to know the eggless version worked for you, I guess I need to try it for the 3rd time, but with condensed milk next 🙂
Looks so delicious..love the perfect texture of the cake..yumm
The cake looks awesome.would like to know if it is sweetened mawa that you used.
Thanks, Sabeetha. Here in the US we just get a block of frozen mawa. It is not sweet.
So delicious Freda! 🙂 Been some time I baked a cake at home and this has me craving for some 🙂
Thanks a lot, Ramya 🙂
Gorgeous!! Cannot take my eyes off the cake!!! Love the texture and your pics are amazing 🙂 A perfect post to come back with 🙂 🙂
Thanks so much 🙂
This cake looks incredible!! I LOVE cakes and I cannot take my eyes off the gorgeous photos!!
Thanks, Archana 🙂
This cake looks amazing!! Beautiful capture as always.
Thanks, Dhwani 🙂
The cake looks so light and I love the pistachios on top. Beautiful! 🙂
Thanks, Ronit 🙂
Welcome back with a super bang!! The cake is super gorgeous..
Thanks so much, Vidya 🙂
Awesme….whts substitute for egg
I’ve mentioned in the post regarding yogurt as a substitute, I’m not too happy with it since the cake sinks, but the taste is just the same.
Looks so amazing – that texture is perfect 🙂
Thanks, Trupti 🙂
Hello mam can u plz share eggless recipe of this mawa cake
Hi pari, use 1/4 cup thick yogurt and 1/4 cup malai or heavy whipping cream in place of 2 eggs.