Mawa Cake

Whats special about a mawa cake?
Ask any Indian and you will get various answers, I think its the best accompaniment for your hot cup of Chai on a lazy evening. Available in almost any Indian bakery either as cupcakes , or a loaf cake or a big circular cake, the sweet milky flavour of it is very hard to resist
I personally don't like the taste of mawa or khoya in any desserts and usually use its western substitute..that is Milk Powder.
this is a recipe that I saw ages ago on Khana khazana (when it was the only indian cookery show on tv), its simple, and although the orignal recipe is eggless and turns out pretty good, if you like to add eggs to your cakes you can do that too. ( i think the eggs makes it less crumbly).
I have made this cake hundreds of times and with many variations, you can do whatever you like with the basic recipe. add some whole wheat, or some other flour, can add dried ginger, lemon zest, cinnamon, nuts, tutti frutti (if you like it ), chopped fruit ....the list is endless..use your imagination. its a very flexible recipe.

Ingredients:

¾ th cup butter

¾ th cup powdered sugar

Refined Flour ( or half whole wheat and half refined flour)

5 tbsp milk powder

1 ½ tbsp mawa (optional)

1 ½ cups refined flour

2 tsp cornstarch/1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

¼ cup buttermilk

2 -8 tbsp milk(depending on consistency) 

Method:

cream butter and sugar. Mix in sifted milk powder, maida, corn starch, baking soda and baking powder, add the mawa and butter milk, mix well and add the milk to adjust the consistency of the batter. Bake for 30 minutes at 170°C.

 I had added a tsp of cinnamin powder in this one and dusted the top with a mix of cinnamon and powdered sugar.
But like i said before you can do anything with the basic recipe.