Pistachio Mawa Cake

In Singapore, as per my knowledge goes, there is only one place where you can get Mawa/Khoya and that is the all-time famous Mustafa Center. My husband fondly tells everyone that apart from parents and kids, you can get everything in Mustafa (life partners too; you might fall in love while shopping!!!) and true it is.

Coming back to the point, last week I had this strong desire for Gajar ka Halwa and since for a yummy one you need to add some Khoya to it. So off I went to fetch some Khoya and halwa carrots (also only available in Mustafa!) to satisfy my innate desire. While my halwa craving was well attended (post coming up soon), I was left with almost 300 gms of Khoya in the fridge. I had almost forgotten about it when suddenly I grabbed it out of the fridge instead of something else. I pondered for a moment on the best possible options of using it and since I did not have much time on hand, the easiest option was a simple Mawa Cake. I hadn't baked one before and so was even more excited to try out a new recipe. The result was a super moist and delicate mouthwatering mawa cake. Only caution is keep a close watch on the baking time as mine got slightly burnt on the outer crust, but tastes awesome nevertheless!

Ingredients

1 cup maida

3 eggs

3/4 cup khoya grated (equivalent to approx 200 gms). You can make this qty of khoya with approx 1 litre of milk.

1 cup brown sugar (you can add regular fine sugar)

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup butter

3-4 tbsp chopped pistachios for garnishng (you can replace with chopped almonds or skip it altogether)

Directions

In a bowl, soften the butter in the microwave and bring it to room temperature. Add the sugar and whisk. Now add the eggs and whisk further. Make sure the butter is at room temperature before adding the eggs. Now sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture. Add the grated khoya and beat into a lump free batter. Finally, add the vanilla essence and stir. If you find the batter too thick, you may add a few tbsps of milk. Mine was okay and did not require any milk. You can either prepare a loaf tin (either grease it or line it with parchment paper) or muffin moulds for baking. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree Celsius. Pour the batter  into the prepared tin or moulds and garnish it with the chopped pistachios. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Keep a close watch on the cake while nearing the finishing time. I was a little careless and ended up over browning it by a few minutes.