My Mithai Cake
This semolina cake is a confluence between Indian sweets (mithai) and a delicate Persian-style cake called Basbousa. It has a delicate crumb with a lingering aroma of saffron and rose water. Basbousa is a popular dessert in Turkey, Egypt, and the Middle East. It is a simple semolina cake made with a few basic ingredients. Once baked, the cake is glazed with perfumed sugar syrup. Each region has its own style of making Basbousa. The taste of Basbousa is very similar to Indian desserts as well. Over the years, I have tweaked this semolina cake recipe according to the locally available ingredients and our taste buds. This is an Indian-style semolina cake enriched with ghee, coconut, saffron, and rose water. You will fall in love with this mithai cake taste after one bite. A few years back, I shared another eggless semolina (rava) cake recipe, which is a HUGE hit among our website readers.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For The Cake Batter:
Semolina: Fine semolina (rava/suji) is perfect for this cake recipe. There is no substitute for semolina in a Basbousa. Coconut: Use desiccated dry coconut or packaged desiccated coconut. Sugar: The sugar is added to this cake in two parts. One, in the cake batter. Second, by glazing it with sugar syrup (chashni). Curd: Plain, thick curd or yogurt is used to substitute eggs. Ghee: Melted butter is used to make this semolina cake batter. I like the taste better with Indian Ghee. Feel free to pick between melted butter, ghee, or olive oil. Milk: Room temperature unflavored milk. To build on the flavor, use coconut or almond milk instead of plain dairy milk. Aromatics: I use cardamom powder, saffron, and rose water. When it comes to this semolina cake, the possibilities are endless. You can add orange essence, kewra water, or stick to vanilla flavor. Other Ingredients: Baking Powder, Salt
Garnish: Almond Slivers, Edible Rose Petals, Edible Silver Leaf
For Sugar Syrup
Water Saffron Strands Granulated White Sugar
My Tried & True Tips
The Golden Colour: To get the beautiful golden colour of the cake, bake it on the top rack of the oven for the last 10 minutes of the baking time. The saffron and the hot sugar glaze also contribute to the perfect colour. Sugar Syrup: The sugar syrup should be slightly sticky and not runny/watery. Glazing: Make sure sugar syrup and cake are warm while glazing. Once the cake is glazed, let it sit at room temperature to cool down completely. Do not try to cut and serve the warm cake after glazing, as it might crumble apart.
Watch Semolina Cake Video
Storage Suggestion
Once the semolina cake is cooled down, transfer it to an airtight container. Store the cake in the refrigerator for 1 week. Reheat in the microwave for 1 minute before serving. The semolina cake tastes delicious when served slightly warm with butterscotch or vanilla ice cream. Do not leave semolina cake at room temperature for more than 24 hours as it spoils quickly.
More Eggless Cake Recipes
Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake Eggless Whole Wheat Cake Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake Eggless Chocolate Cake Eggless Orange Cake Eggless Peach Cake Eggless Ragi Cake
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