Badam, rose water and ricotta cake is inspired by very popular persian cakes called cake yazdi or mawa cakes available in the irani cafes in India.

What are Mawa Cakes

In US, cupcakes are invariably adorned with frosting. But mawa cakes are  buttery cup cake sized cakes which are served without any frosting and lightly sweet. It is indeed hard to find cupcakes in usa which are not frosted and are lighter on sugar.

The Mawa cakes in india are sold at Persian bakeries and Irani cafes. Merwans in Mumbai and Kayani in Pune have a bit of a fan following. The irani cafes were started by zorostrians who immigrated to India and i have a guess that this mawa cake is similar to the cake yazdi from persia. Cake yazdi uses yogurt in the cake along with cardamom powder and rose water.

In mawa cake instead of yogurt, a dairy product called mawa or khoya is used. It is milk reduced to almost dry and crumbly texture on low and slow heat. In flavor these cakes are very similar to french madeleines, in being buttery in flavor and without a frosting. They also have a distinctive crumb.

We wanted to focus on a fatter crumb and we wanted a airy  cake which is not too sweet but fragrant. This is where we depart a bit from the traditional cake yazdi or mawa cake recipes. We use a little bit if fine semolina flour to enhance the crumb.

However what makes these special is like a cake basque we also use badam or blanched almond flour to give it a nutty taste and also a pleasing texture. If you are making your own almond flour try using peeled or blanched almonds and grind it as fine as possible, sifting it frequently. We used fine almond flour which is suitable for making macaroons. We use cardamom and rose water for the aromatics just like cake yazdi. For the yogurt or mawa we use ricotta cheese for its dairy flavors and creamy texture and it works really well helping make a moist cake.

Our recipe for badam, rose water and ricotta cake

We start by whipping butter and sugar with the eggs and mix in the ricotta.

We then mix flour, almond flour and semolina along with baking soda and powder. We then fold the dry ingredients into the whipped mixture just like when making muffins. We also add rose water and cardamom here. Now we let this rest for 30 minutes to allow the semolina and flour grains absorb the moisture and give us a bigger crumb.

Only thing left is to bake. Depending on size of your cupcake mould this could take from 20 to 35 minutes.

The resulting crumb is much fatter and makes for a airy light texture.

Serve it on the side with some milk and tea, and these taste good even the next day. You should refrigerate them thereafter, and lightly microwave if you prefer them a bit warm.

Badam, Rose Water and Ricotta Cake

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• Author: www.breakingnaan.com
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Yield: 6 large cupcakes 1x

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Description

These are inspired by cake yazdi or mawa cakes but use almond flour and semolina for a fatter crumb.

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Ingredients

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• 6 Tbsp Butter softened to room temperature
• 0.75 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 0.5 cup ricotta drained
• 0.5 cup flour
• 0.5 cup almond flour
• 0.25 fine semolina flour
• 0.5 tsp cardamom powder
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp rose water
• 0.5 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp drizzle of honey

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Instructions

1. Whip the butter and sugar together.
2. Add the eggs and whip for couple of minutes.
3. Add the ricotta gradually and whip.
4. Sift and Mix the dry ingredients.
5. Add rose water, vanilla and honey to whipped mixture then gradually add the dry mix and fold into the wet mix with a rubber spatula.
6. Store batter in refrigerator for 30 minutes
7. Pre heat oven to 350 F
8. Grease 6 large cupcake molds or 12 small cupcake molds
9. Add batter to molds (bring to room temperature if required)
10. Bake for 30-35 mins for larger cupcakes and 20 to 25 minutes for the smaller ones.

• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: Indian, Persian