This Gulab Jamun Cake is inspired by an Indian dessert with the same name. This cake is very moist and is flavoured with saffron, cardamom and rosewater.
What is Gulab Jamun?
Gulab Jamun is a very popular Indian dessert often served at weddings and parties.
The dessert is essentially soft sugar syrup soaked dough balls.
Gulab means rose and Jamun means Berries.
The berry refers to a purple berry that is available in India also known as Java Plum.
The dough balls are usually made with milk powder, khoya or bread.
Khoya is a dairy product and refers to evaporated dry milk solids.
The sugar syrup is flavoured with saffron, cardamon and rose water.
I don't add much rose water in the syrup because my family prefer it that way but you can adjust the quantities in this cake according to your taste.
I love Gulab Jamun served hot with Vanilla Ice Cream.
For this cake, I brought ready made Gulab Jamun.
How to make your own Gulab Jamun
Traditionally, gulab jamun is made using khoya (dry milk solids). Making Khoya is a long process and as such most people buy it or tend to use Milk Powder in place of khoya.
Gulab Jamun Ingredients
Milk Powder, Plain Flour, Baking Powder, Butter, Egg, Milk, Sugar, Cardamom, Saffron, Rose Water (Optional), Orange Food Colouring (Optional).
This is a simple recipe:
DOUGH
1 cup Milk Powder (Full Fat)
2 tbsp Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Ghee or Butter melted
1 Egg
7 - 8 tbsp Warm Milk
Combine Milk Powder, Flour and Baking Powder in a large bowl. Stir in egg and butter.
Add milk 1 tbsp at at time stirring in between.
Knead GENTLY to form a dough.
Grease your hands with a little oil.
Make small balls from the dough and deep fry on medium low until a deep golden (6 - 8 minutes).
Make syrup and add dough balls to the syrup for 30 minutes.
SYRUP
2 cups Water
1 cup Sugar
8 Cardamom Pods cracked open
1/2 tsp Saffron Threads
1/2 tsp Rose Water
You can add orange food colouring too but I don't.
- Add all the ingredients for the syrup to a pan and simmer on low heat for 6 - 8 minutes.
Top tips and trouble shooting for Gulab Jamuns
Make sure your hands are oiled when handling the Gulab Jamun dough
Don't handle the dough too much. Just enough to bring the dough together.
Fry dough balls over medium low heat.
Stick to the correct quantities for baking powder.
Don't over simmer the syrup!
Tips to make the best Gulab Jamun Cake
Soft Cake - Adding Buttermilk makes for a really soft cake. This can be replaced with yoghurt.
How to make Buttermilk - To make your own (Like i did), simple add 1 tbsp Lemon Juice to 100 ml Milk in a cup and set aside for 10 minutes.
Saffron - Infusing Saffron into milk brings out the colour and flavour.
Eggs and Sugar - Always mix eggs and sugar for 5 - 8 minutes to get as much air as possible into the cake batter. I used Golden Caster Sugar but normal Caster Sugar works too.
Flour - Once the flour is added, keep mixing to a minimal.
Eggs - Add eggs 1 by 1 and make sure 1 egg has completely mixed into the batter before adding the next one.
Sugar syrup: The syrup will look thin when simmered but it thickens as it cools. Not over boiling it makes it easier for the cake to absorb the syrup.
Can the cake be made without a bundt tin?
Yes! You can make the cake in a 20cm greased tin for 30 - 40 minutes. Check if cake is done by inserting skewer into the middle.
How to make Gulab Jamun Cake
Preheat oven to 160 C/Gas Mark 3.
If making buttermilk - add the milk to a cup and squeeze in the lemon juice.
Add the saffron threads to the milk. If not making buttermilk, add saffron to the milk and set aside.
Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl and mix on medium high for 5 - 8 minutes.
Add eggs one by one mixing in between.
Add flour and baking powder and mix quickly.
Now add the buttermilk mixture and bring together quickly.
Add batter to greased bundt/20cm tin (lined) and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
Combine all the ingredients for the syrup in a pot and simmer on medium low for 5 - 8 minutes.
Combine icing sugar with lemon juice and a little syrup in a bowl.
When the cake comes out of the oven, leave it to rest for 10 minutes, then remove from tin carefully.
Poke holes all over cake and pour in syrup.
Once cooled, drizzle over the icing. Decorate with rose petals.
How to freeze Gulab Jamun cake
Step 1: Bake and completely cool the cake, adding syrup as mentioned above. If you have used greaseproof paper, leave it on the cake.
Step 2: Once cool, wrap it in cling film twice.
Step 3: For best taste and texture, don’t freeze cakes for longer than 3 months. Add a label to the cling film so you know what cake it is!
Step 4: Cover in foil.
Step 5: Add to a freezer-safe container or cover in 1 more layer of foil. Alternatively add it to a large ziplock bag. Freeze for 3 months for best taste!
How to Thaw Gulab Jamun Cake
This couldn't be simpler. Transfer your unwrapped cake to ta wire rack and leave at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours.
Once the cake has thawed, make and add icing, peel away any greaseproof paper and store it in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 4 days.
More glorious cake recipes:
Caramelised White Chocolate and Passion Fruit Cake
Stem Ginger Banana Upside Down Cake
**if you make something from tiffin and tea, i would love to see your creations! don’t forget to rate this recipe and leave a comment below! we love to hear from you. safira x
Gulab Jamun Cake
This Gulab Jamun Cake is inspired by an Indian dessert with the same name. This cake is very moist and is flavoured with saffron, cardamom and rosewater.
Ingredients
Buttermilk for Cake
- 8 strands Saffron broken
- 100 g Milk
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Cake
- 250 g Butter room temperature
- 250 g Caster Sugar Granulated will work too. I used Golden Caster Sugar
- 5 Eggs
- 250 g Self Raising Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
Syrup
- 250 ml Water
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Saffron Threads
- 6 - 8 Cardamom Pods split open, seeds removed (Adjust if this feels like too much)
- 1/2 tsp Rose Water Adjust quantiyy according to taste
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Cinnamon Stick Optional
Icing
- 175 g Icing Sugar
- Pinch ground Cardamom
- 1 Lemon Juice
- 1 - 2 tbsp Syrup
Instructions
Buttermilk
-
Combine the milk, saffron strands and lemon juice in a cup and set aside.
Cake
-
Preheat oven to 160 C/180 C fan/Gas Mark 4.
-
Grease bundt tin (I used the Bake Easy Spray) or grease and line a 20cm round tin.
-
Meanwhile, combine the sugar and butter in stand mixer and mix on medium high for 7 - 8 minutes.
-
Add eggs one by one, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
-
Stir in flour, baking powder and cardamom and mix through for 1 minute.
-
Now add the buttermilk and mix until just combined.
-
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
-
Leave to cool for 10 minutes before inverting out of the tin.
Syrup
-
Now make the Syrup. Combine all the ingredients for a syrup in a pot. Simmer over medium heat for 7 - 8 minutes. Then set aside.
Icing Sugar
-
Combine the ingredients for the icing sugar in a bowl and whisk with a fork to combine. You may need to add a little extra syrup if it's a bit dry.
Assembly
-
Poke cake with skewer all over.
-
Pour over the syrup whilst still warm.
-
Allow cake to cool completely before adding icing.
-
Decorate with rose petals, pistachios, almonds. (Optional).
Recipe Notes
Tips to make the best Gulab Jamun Cake
- Soft Cake - Adding Buttermilk makes for a really soft cake. This can be replaced with yoghurt.
- How to make Buttermilk - To make your own (Like i did), simple add 1 tbsp Lemon Juice to 100 ml Milk in a cup and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Saffron - Infusing Saffron into milk brings out the colour and flavour.
- Eggs and Sugar - Always mix eggs and sugar for 5 - 8 minutes to get as much air as possible into the cake batter.
- Flour - Once the flour is added, keep mixing to a minimal.
- Eggs - Add eggs 1 by 1 and make sure 1 egg has completely mixed into the batter before adding the next one.
- Sugar syrup: The syrup will look thin when simmered but it thickens as it cools. Not over boiling it makes it easier for the cake to absorb the syrup.
How to freeze Gulab Jamun cake
Step 1: Bake and completely cool the cake, adding syrup as mentioned above. If you have used greaseproof paper, leave it on the cake.
Step 2: Once cool, wrap it in cling film twice.
Step 3: For best taste and texture, don’t freeze cakes for longer than 3 months. Add a label to the cling film so you know what cake it is!
Step 4: Cover in foil.
Step 5: Add to a freezer-safe container or cover in 1 more layer of foil. Alternatively add it to a large ziplock bag. Freeze for 3 months for best taste!
How to Thaw Gulab Jamun Cake
This couldn't be simpler. Transfer your unwrapped cake to ta wire rack and leave at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. Once the cake has thawed, make and add icing, peel away any greaseproof paper and store it in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 4 days.
Recipe adapted from Tasty.co (Cardamom and Tea)
To clarify - By adapted, i mean it was inspired by this cake but the cake recipe itself is a recipe i use often (250g of main ingredients) with a buttermilk mixture, i sometimes use yoghurt, sour cream or milk instead.
I also added saffron and cardamom because they are key ingredients in GJ.
The syrup is a standard Gulab Jamun syrup recipe.
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