Growing up in India, in a Gujarati household, I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of mithai or sweets. The mithai is usually made with lentils and lot of nuts, raisins, earthy spices and ghee that are good for you. They were made in the olden days especially in the winter season, because it would be cold in Gujarat and the sweets laden with ghee and spices would heat up the body. My grandmother or BA still makes the gujarati sweets especially during Diwali time, and some other occasions.
When Hetal from www.milkandcardamom.com shared her first book baby with me called Milk and Cardamom, I was so thrilled for her! Although born and brought up in the United States, Hetal hails from a gujarati background, and loves all the gujarati food! I have had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with her a couple times, and she is such a fun loving girl! She is totally honest, true to who she is, and a lovely person to chat with! I loved that she loves gujarati food and knew about all the dishes that I actually grew up with in my home, and that my mom would prepare for us! We had so many similarities and it was great to connect with her!
Hetal was also part of the Season 6 of Masterchef, and I remember her from that time! The thing that stuck with me, was she made guajrati kichdi for Gordon Ramsay and he loved it! I was so excited that a Gujarati was part of the Masterchef and I was totally rooting for her! 🙂
Talking about her book, it is a beautiful mix of traditional Indian sweets and a twist on the modern day sweets/baked goods, but still keeping true to her heritage! You will find traditional sweets like Laddoo or Barfi, but then you will find modern Indian twist on American desserts like Haldi Doodh Tiramisu, Mango Lassi French Macarons, Gulab Jamun Cake or Parle-G cheesecake(which is so clever!). I really wanted to make the Gulab Jamun Cake too as it looks absolutely delicious, but I saw so many folks making the same one on Instagram. So I decided to showcase another recipe which I loved and it has seasonal ingredients as well – The Apricot and Raspberry Mawa Cake!
Since apricots are not in season, I subbed the apricots with peaches and the cake turned out beautifully! I loved how light and airy the cake was, and with the peaches and raspberries, it really make it fruity and pretty too! I added some whipped cream on the top, and the cake was sublime! My kids loved it as an after school snack and it was my tea time cake, fantastic with some masala chai! I am sharing the recipe of this cake, with permission from Hetal.
Thank you Hetal for such a beautiful book with wonderful recipes, and introducing the world to Indian sweets in a modern and traditional way!
Hope you enjoy this recipe! If you do, please do tag #thejamlab #milkandcardamom on Instagram!
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- 1 (9-inch cake)
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan
- 1 cup plus 1 tbsp (133 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/3 cup plus ¾ cup (260 ml) whole milk, divided
- 3/4 cup (69 g) nonfat instant milk powder
- 1 ½ tbsp. (23 g) ghee
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 gg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 peaches, sliced
- 1 cup (123 g) raspberries
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan with butter and set aside.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a small mixing bowl and whisk well. Set aside.
- Make the mawa by adding 1/3 cup (80 ml) of milk to a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the milk powder and ghee and mix for 2 minutes. Pour the mawa into a stand mixer bowl. Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment and mix the milk mixture for 5 minutes on high to cool the mixture down.
- Add the butter and granulated sugar to the mawa mixture and cream on high for 4 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and mix until combined. Alternately, add the remaining milk and dry ingrediens in 3 additions, mixing in between each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth into an even layer. Arrange the sliced peaches and raspberries in top of the batter.
- Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
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