Have always fancied soft cakes in Parsi bakeries and here is a rendition which I made and which turned out fantastic.
Ingredients:
1. Maida – 1/2 cup
2. Baking Powder – 1.5 tsp
3. Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
4. Cardamom Powder – 1.5 tsp + 1/4 tsp
5. Salt – 1/4 tsp or none if salted butter
6. Saffron – pinch
7. Sugar – 3/4 cup or 150g
8. Unsalted Butter – 1/2 cup or 115g
9. Yoghurt – 1/2 cup
10. Milk full fat – 3/4 cup
11. Mawa – 3/4 cup or 125g
12. Pista Unsalted – 1 tbsp
13. Almonds – 1 tbsp
14. Rose Petals Dried – pinch for garnish
Recipe:
1. Preheat Oven 350°F or 170°Celcius with 8 inch pan fixed with butter paper. In case pan is smaller, make cakes in 2 rounds with a larger and smaller dish.
2. Prepare dry ingredients by sifting flour, cardamom, baking powder, soda, salt and then whisking it to mix well
3. Beat sugar with butter at room temperature and add saffron. Do ensure it gets creamy
4. Whisk plain yoghurt (dahi) and mix to batter
5. Now mix dry mix in parts of 2-4 with wet ingredients and fold it in without over-mixing it.
6. Then gently fold in crumbled mawa
7. Transfer mix to an 8 inch pan and top with chopped pista, almond and rose
8. Bake for 45 mins and do the toothpick test. It should come out clean without wet ingredients stuck to it. Additionally, base of cake browned is a healthy way to check doneness. Some other ways are sponginess to bounce back when pressed and cake not collapsed into the centre like an inverted volcano.
9. Let cool and the refrigerate or indulge
