Pamela Timms' Recipe for Mawa Madeleines
Mawa madeleines, a recipe from Pamela Timms’ new book Uparwali Chai: The Indian Art of High Tea, is a weekend project to throw yourself into, sinking into the soft aromas of mawa and cardamom, enjoying these sweet rewards at the end of a summer day with a cold glass of milk.
‘Mawa’ and ‘cake’ are two words that can reduce a homesick Mumbaikar to tears, and I’m not surprised. When I first encountered them at the Britannia cafe in the city, I was initially underwhelmed by their plain looks. Beyond that unprepossessing exterior, though, thanks to the addition of mawa, or khoya, lies a rich, milky, buttery heart as well as a hint of cardamom. Extraordinary how the smallest changes to a basic recipe (in this case a classic sponge cake) can transform it into something completely different.
Mawa, or khoya, is one of those Indian ingredients that is a complete mystery to most foreigners but is still readily available in most local dairies. One day, though, when I was craving mawa cakes, my local dairy had run out of khoya and I had to make my own, so I give the recipe for that too (essentially, standing over a simmering pan of milk for about 2 hours). I’ve tinkered slightly with the look of the cakes by baking them in a madeleine mould.
I make no claims to authenticity here; I’ve just retraced what I assume was the mawa cake’s own journey—an Indianized British sponge cake. With or without the madeleine makeover, though, memories of every milky treat you’ve ever loved will come flooding back with every bite—barfi, Milkybar, Old Delhi’s extraordinary winter treat daulat ki chaat, or a puddle of evaporated milk on childhood fruit salad.
Pamela Timms’ Recipe for Mawa Madeleines
INGREDIENTS
Makes 24
For the mawa, or khoya
1 litre full cream milk
For the madeleines
150 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
Seeds of 4 green cardamoms, finely ground
100 g mawa
100 g butter
100 g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
75–100 ml milk
A madeleine mould or a cake tin and paper cake cases.
METHOD
Grease a madeleine mould with melted butter or line a muffin tray with small cake cases.
If you have to make the mawa, you will need to think ahead as the process takes up to 2 hours. Put the milk into a large, heavy-bottomed pan and slowly bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and let the milk simmer gently. Stir regularly to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn. Eventually the milk will darken slightly in colour and thicken.
Once it resembles the thickness of porridge, don’t take your eye off it—stir continuously until all the liquid has evaporated and you’re left with about 150 g mawa.
This can then be stored for a few days in the refrigerator or months in the freezer. Bring it to room temperature before you use it to make mawa cakes.
When you are ready to make the cakes, preheat the oven to 180°C.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and ground cardamom in a large bowl.
Put the mawa, butter and caster sugar in another bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well to incorporate them into the mixture.
Mix in the flour mixture and enough milk to make a mixture that drops off a spoon banged on the side of the bowl. Divide the mixture into madeleine moulds or cake cases.
Bake the cakes for about 10–15 minutes, until they are lightly browned on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
They are perfect fresh and warm from the oven with, what else, a glass of milk.
BUY Uparwali Chai: The Indian Art of High Tea by Pamela Timms.
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