Fresh Mawa Cake – An Ode to B. Merwans

When I first came to Mumbai, one of the first few eateries I was taken to visit was B. Merwans at Grant Road. I still remember the taste of their mawa cake and the icecream soda I’d had. Sadly, the place is closing down and its loyal patrons have been rushing to savour the last bits of their beautiful cakes. Turns out it was more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. B Merwan’s is still open people!

Unfortunately, I have never been a fan of mawa cake since it is too milky-sweet (if you know what I mean) for my taste. So, despite the number of cakes that I have baked since then, this particular variety was certainly not on my bucket list. Until my boss at office expressed her desire to have the home-baked version.

Now, given that I have baked cakes (see here and here) for my office people time and again, a lot was expected of me, and I had to deliver. So after scouring around the internet for an easy, understandable recipe, I came across this one. All I needed was some mawa. So I picked up some mawa from a nearby dairy (because it is impossible to make mawa on a weekday; I do not have 2 hours! You should totally make your own. It’s so easy. Check how to, here) and proceeded to bake the cake at midnight yesterday! I love midnight baking – don’t you?

Print Recipe

Fresh Mawa Cake

An ode to the Parsee Mawa cakes of Bombay...

Course

tea

Cuisine

parsi

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

60 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup mawa (made from around 1 litre of milk)
• 1/2 cup butter soft (preferably unsalted)
• 1.25 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups cake flour (in a one-cup measure add two tbsp cornflour and top with maida or APF)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5 - 6 pods cardamom (grind the tiny seeds inside into a fine powder)
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt to tast (omit if using salted butter)

Course tea Cuisine parsi Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 60 minutes Servings people Ingredients 3/4 cup mawa (made from around 1 litre of milk) 1/2 cup butter soft (preferably unsalted) 1.25 cups sugar 3 large eggs 2 cups cake flour (in a one-cup measure add two tbsp cornflour and top with maida or APF) 1 tsp baking powder 5 - 6 pods cardamom (grind the tiny seeds inside into a fine powder) 1/2 cup milk salt to tast (omit if using salted butter)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Sift together the flours, baking powder and cardamom powder (and salt if using).
3. In a bowl, beat the butter, mawa and sugar well till creamy and fluffy.
4. Then, add the eggs, one by one till well incorporated.
5. Now, add the milk and beat well.
6. Finally, add the sifted flour mixture and stir to just incorporate.
7. Pour the batter into a lined tin and bake for an hour till a knife comes out clean.

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