Indian Mava Minicakes With Pistachios & Saffron

Tuesday,8th March is our wedding anniversay.I wanted to make something to refresh memories of Pune,a bustling metropolis near Mumbai,India.I couldn’t think of anything else but Mavacake, a unique speciality from Pune/Mumbai bakeries to recapture the moments we spent there.City of Pune has always been special,it is the city from where my career took off with first job and then I met P there for the first time 7 years back.Also referred to as the “Oxford of the East”, Pune is a youthful city with pleasant weather all round the year and attracts a lot of foreign students.I lived in Pune for almost 2 years, and while I was there I got a chance to enjoy the cultural heritage of the city.Due to presence of Osho Ashram ,Pune is a haven for foreign tourists who come here to seek relaxation through meditation and simple, natural living.

The influence of cosmopolitan elements is quite explicit in the city’s culture and lifestyle.Thanks to influx of foreigners, the city has a plethora of world cuisine restaurants and bakeries to choose from. My two favorite bakeries from the city were KayaniBakery on MG Road and German Bakery in Koregaon Park[den of the Osho Ashram]. A visit to German Bakery and you won’t feel you are in India.I usually frequented there to catch up with friends over Masala Chai.The place has less of a bakery feel but its more like a mini eatery serving some of the best cheese sandwiches, toasts and burgers.One of the highlight was that except for chaithey don’t serve any indian food.

Anyhow, since we are talking Mavacakes here, I want to focus on KayaniBakery, a reminiscent of Irani/Parsi Cafés specializing in some of the best milk cakes and biscuits [cookies].Wiki tells me that these Iranian cafés were first opened by Persian travellers to India in the 19th century.Iranian cafés used to be numerous and popular but competition from modern cafés and fast food restaurants have left them behind.One of the most popular eating places is the 102-year-old KayaniCafé, a heritage landmark in south Mumbai.Though I m not sure but I think from the similarities between the setting and menu of both places that KayaniBakery in Pune is an offshoot of the same legacy.The bakery is very ordinary looking, always packed with people, with crowds thronging to queue up as early as 6 or 7 in the morning to get their daily quota of fresh baked goodies. The bakery opens at 8 and by noon, they are out of most of their stuff.I have had the best and most unusual biscuits [cookies] and cakes of my life here.To name a few, if you get a chance to visit, you should not come back without Shrewsbury biscuits and wine [yes] biscuits.

The mention of Kayanibakery is incomplete without mention of Mava cake.Infact, mavacakes have been their shot to fame.A no-frill, milky cake, made with flour, eggs, butter, sugar, cardamom and mava.Mavaor Khoyais nothing but solidified milk, quite comparable to ricotta but less moist.It is used in making most of the indian sweets and desserts. You take one bite of the mavacake and you can discern that unique flavor-dense,scrumptious and milky.It is difficult to describe the luscious mavatingling on your taste buds,the delectable lively aroma of sweet-smelling cardamom complete with a delightful sensation of the dense texture rendered by baked flour and butter.It a feeling you want to prolong.You want to take bite, sit back and enjoy without dunking it down with coffee or tea.Trust me it would be a sacrilege if you want to wash down the cake with a beverage.If you must, couple it with hot milk, it doubles the warmth. Mavacakes from KayaniBakery are superb, unique, matchless, delicious ? the best and freshest milky cake in the world.If you are looking for a fluffy, light cake, this cake is not for you.It is the dense and heavy texture along with exotic taste that leaves you with a full feeling when you eat it.

When I told P abt mava cake, I dont know from where he came up with this idea and suggested a twist with pistachios and saffron.He is totally saffron loving person but in this cake saffron did wonders.It made us feel at home However, the authentic version is made with almonds/cashews and cardamom.You can replace these if you feel.I saw a lot of recipes on the internet, but I settled for this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Tartelette.I used her cake recipe with my additions.For the mava, I used my own proportions.Though I stuck to using evaporated milk and cream for making mava as done by Helen, you can use whole milk to make it too.I do it many a times and there is not much of a difference in taste.But working with whole milk will take little more time to make mava.Below goes the recipe:

Ingredients[Makes 3 mini cakes of the size shown]

For the Mava/Khoya [Yield 1 cup ]

2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cup evaporated full fat milk

For the Mini cakes [Makes 3 mini cakes of the size shown]

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder [use aluminium free]
1/2 tsp green cardamom powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup mava, softened at room temperature
7 tbsp unsalted butter,softened
1 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs
6 tbsp whole milk
2 tsp saffron threads
1/2 cup fine chopped unsalted pistachios for mixing in cake batter
1/4 cup chopped unsalted pistachios for topping.

Mavamaking is basically a process involving low heat cooking of whole milk and/or cream till the moisture content of the milk is reduced and it becomes paste like.Once it is cooked for such a long time,the remaining milk solids and fats in the milk take a butterscotch/caramel color.This paste is then poured into moulds and cooled.Once cooled, mavacan be cubed using a sharp knife or crumbled with fingers. First important thing to note while making mavaat home is that you have to check on the mix quite regularly, scrape it down the sides and prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.Second being that the last few minutes in the process are very important, because the paste can turn into a dry crumble within second so keep a watch. I recommend that if you plan to make this cake, prepare mavaa day or two in advance because mava making takes about 1-1.5 hours alone and cooling time is separate.Mavacan be refrigerated for up to 4-5 days and frozen for 1-2 months without losing taste and freshness.

Making Mava at home:

In a heavy bottomed, wide-mouthed and preferably non stick pan, pour in both evaporated milk and heavy cream.A non stick pan helps to avoid the milk & cream from getting burnt and sticking to bottom while cooking.Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.About 10 minutes.Once boiled, reduce the heat to medium on your burner. Cook with continuous stirring for about 15 minutes.The milk mix will start changing color slightly and start to thicken.At ths point,turn the heat to low on your stove and let cook with occasional cooking.The milk will keep on thickening and start turning into a sauce like consistency.Another 20 minutes.You have to stir the mix continuously now and scrape from the sides. At the end of 20 minutes, the mixture starts looking like a smooth caramel colored sauce.In some cases, it can turn grainy too.Continue cooking on low heat for another 10-15 minutes with continuous stirring.Cook down till there is very little moisture left in the mixture and its pasty, smooth and little shiny due to fats in the cream.At this point remove from heat.

What I do is to immediately measure out 1/2 cup paste and pour it into individual bowl.Such pre measured bowl are easy to use anytime.Just run a sharp knife all around the bowl.and unmould.Let the paste in the bowls cool down, cover with cling film and refrigerate. The whole process took me about 1.5 hours with the quantities I have mentioned.

Note: You can also get Mava/khoya at any of the indian stores easily.It can be used to make this cake.You will just need to measure out, soften it a bit in a pot on low heat for 5 minutes and use.

Method:

Night before: Let the butter, eggs and mavasit on the kitchen countertop to come to a room temperature.
Preparing before cake makingreheat the oven to 350F.Grease thoroughly the sides of whatever baking pan, cupcake pan, spring foam pan you are using for making these cakes.
Heat up the milk for 20 seconds in microwave to luke warm.Add saffron strands to the milk and let dissolve.
Mix flour, salt, baking powder, cardamom powder thoroughly and set aside.
Making the cake: In a large mixing bowl, on medium speed beat the butter with softened mavaand sugar until creamy and light brown in color.About 3 minutes.
Once creamy , add the eggs, one at a time and beat to combine well.About 2 minutes.

Next add the milk + saffron mixture and blend well on low-speed until a smooth mixture is formed.About 1 minute.
Add the flour mixture all at once to the wet ingredients and beat well on medium speed to make a smooth, creamy batter.About 2 minutes.
Fold in the fine chopped pistachios in the batter.
Divide the cake batter evenly into the pan to leaving some room for rising and top with more chopped pistachios.
Bake in oven for 22-25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took 24 minutes exact.
Once baked, remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes to cool and then unmould.
Let cool completely before slicing.

Notes:

The quality of mava plays and important role in the texture of this cake.Generally, the store bought mavahas less oil content so if using one u ll need to adjust the amount of butter so that the cake does not turn dry.I recommend making mavaat home to best use the proportions given above.
The cake sits fresh for upto two days unrefrigerated.
Any kind of nuts : almonds, cashews etc can be used in place of pistachios.

Enjoy!

Sending this to Hearth n Soul #38

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