Eggless Saffron Thandai Cream Cake, a cake that turned out more special than I imagined. The textures and flavours all came together in perfect harmony, and this dense moist cake literally screams holi. Thandai mix in the filling flavoured the cake beautifully, and the sprinkle on top gave it added texture and flavour.
The suji cake is a twist to my eggless saffron halwa tea cakes inspired by the Middle Eastern basbousa. You will love the custard cream filling which is basically cream and milk thickened to a custard with cornflour. When such basic ingredients like semolina or suji yield such magic, baking is even more fun. Saffron, pistachio and rose petals can really uplift a dessert!
It’s quite fascinating to bake the cream layer between two layers of the cake. The custard sets basically because of the cornflour in the cream filling, and that is has been thickened over the stove first. Have to admit I was a bit nervous when I took the cake out of the tin the first time because I expected the filling to burst the banks and flow all over the place. Such a pleasant surprise to find it well formed!
Hope you try this over Holi, or anytime actually. Feel free to skip the thandai spice mix, flavour the custard filling with saffron, maybe pistachios. Don’t forget to tag me at @passionateaboutbaking if you bake this!
Eggless Saffron Thandai Cream Cake
Equipment
- Bowl
- whisk
- Oven
- spatula
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 150 g semolina/suji
- 100 g clarified butter/ghee melted
- 300 g sweetened condensed milk {3/4 tin}
- 40 g almond meal
- Generous pinch saffron strands
Thandai custard cream filling
- 360 ml cream Amul 20% fat
- 120 ml milk
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp thandai spice mix
Topping
- 50 g condensed milk
- 2 tbsp thandai spice mix
Piping
- 240 ml cream Amul 20% fat
- 1.5 tbsp cornflour
- Rose essence
- Few drops beetroot juice to colour
Instructions
- Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a loose bottom 7″ tin with ghee and dust with semolina. Place on a baking tray.
- In a large bowl, whisk the clarified butter/ghee with the semolina and stand for 10-15 minutes.
- Whisk in the condensed milk, almond meal and saffron strands.
- Add HALF the batter to the prepared tin, and bake for approximately 20 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.
Prepare the cream filling while the cake is baking.
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a heavy bottom saucepan until smooth. Simmer over low heat, STIRRING CONSTANTLY, until it thickens to a custard consistency. Be careful since it can catch the bottom if left unattended.
- Take off heat and whisk well until smooth.
- Pour the thandai cream filling over the first baked layer and sprinkle with 2 tbsp thandai mix.
- Whisk the remaining half batter and gently spoon over the thandai mix and spread uniformly.
- Return the cake to bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the top is light golden brown and firm to touch.
- Take out of the oven, and pour over the 50g condensed milk, then sprinkle over 2 tbsp of thandai mix.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin to room temperature, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours until set.
Topping
- Prepare the cream the same way as for the filling, then refrigerate until cold and of piping consistency. It'll be a light piping consistency.
- Gently remove the cake from the tin and place on serving platter.
- Pipe over with rose cream, scatter over rose petals, pistachio slivers.
