Eggless Gulab Jamun Cake

Introducing the beloved Gulab Jamun or Gulab Jaam (as it is called in Maharashtra) in its cake form. What if the same technique used to make the grueling recipe applied to a cake but with 1/4th the effort? Enter Gulab Jam Cake. This recipe is eggless making it perfect for Sankashti naivedya—a special offering. I found many recipes on the web for the cake version of this splendor but I had to tweak and delete many steps to firstly make it easy and secondly to make it eggless.

What’s more I baked it for my dear friend, mentor and godfairy—Cindy Gallop, for her 64th birthday celebration. Cindy is a total Gulab Jamun fan and #Cindy64 was a grand success in part due to this cake.

When my 7 year old niece and nephew in India saw a picture of the cake they instantly demanded I bake one for them on my upcoming trip. I love keeping promises. So I did.

Here goes, enjoy!

Ingredients For The Cardamom Cake Base

• 1 ⅓ cup All Purpose Flour
• ¾ cup Sugar
• ½ cup Plain Yogurt
• ¾ cup Milk
• ½ cup Ghee
• ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Cardamom Powder
• 8-10 pistachios for garnish (optional)
• A pinch of Salt

Ingredients For TheSugar Syrup

• 1.5 cups Sugar
• 1 cup Water
• ¼ teaspoon Cardamom Powder
• 1 teaspoon Rose Water
• a pinch of saffron

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 360°F.
• Grease and line a 9” round baking pan with parchment paper.
• In a mixing bowl, add all your dry friends – flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix it well. Use a fork—makes it as good as sieved.
• In another mixing bowl, add the rest of the stuff – milk, yogurt, ghee, and sugar.
• Mix the ingredients with a whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
• Now add the dry mixture to the wet one. Gently fold it in.
• Add in the cardamom powder—if you can grind some fresh—chef’s kiss!
• Pour the batter in your pan.
• Bake at 360°F for 30-35 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from oven. Rest for 10 minutes. Patience—this is the hardest step.
• To give us something to do while it cools—hah, get started on the syrup by heating sugar with water.
• Once it comes to a rolling boil, add cardamom powder and saffron. Check for the syrup to be half-string consistency. Pro-Tip: While checking the string consistency use a spoon and cool that darn liquid before holding it between your fingers. Can you tell that I learned the hard way and still forget?
• As it turns sticky, remove from heat and add rose water.
• Poke ½ an inch holes using a skewer or an uncooked spaghetti noodle all over the cake and brush liberally with Gulab Jamun Syrup all over the cake.
• Optionally garnish with crushed pistachios for an added bonus.
• Only two things left to do now—DIG, IN!