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Gulab Jamun cake decorated with pistaschios, roses and gulab jamuns.
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5 from 4 votes

Yummy Eggless Gulab Jamun Cake

Gulab jamun cake, always a party hit, is an easy, delicious,moist, saffron simple syrup-soaked cardamom cake with gulab jamun baked inside!The cake is layered with a light rose whipped cream or can be made without it.Read on to learn more about this yummy moist cake!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: indian fusion
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: eggless gulab jamun cake, indian fusion cake
Servings: 16 people
Calories: 318kcal
Author: Shilpa Joshi

Equipment

  • 2 mixing bowls
  • measuring spoons / bowls
  • 2 8 inch round cake pans (if you divide the recipe by half you can make this a one layer cake and only need 1 8 inch cake pan)
  • 1 Whisk

Ingredients

Cake (2 8inch round cakes)

  • 2½ cup all purpose flour 350g (2 8inch round cakes), 175g (1 8 inch round cake)
  • 1½ cup sugar 300g (2 cakes) , 150g (1 cake)
  • 2 tsp baking powder 8g (2 cakes), 4g (1 cake)
  • 1 tsp baking soda 8g (2 cakes), 4g (1 cake)
  • ½ tsp salt 2g (2 cakes), 1g (1 cake)
  • 1 tsp cardamom powder
  • ½ cup full fat milk powder 50g (2 cakes), 25g (1 cake)
  • ⅔ cup oil or butter If using butter (75g for 1 cake) should be at room temperature (leave out at least 30 minutes before using)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract ½ tbsp for 1 cake
  • 1½ cup milk ¾ cup for 1 cake
  • 2 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp for 1 cake
  • 1 can ready made gulab jamuns I used Haldiram brand - 2.2 lbs size

Saffron Simple Syrup (Chaasni)

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 big pinch saffron strands
  • ¼ tsp cardamom
  • cup water

Rose Whipped Cream (see ingredients that follow) or Rose Buttercream (click for buttercream link)

  • 1 pint heavy whipping cream 16oz / 2 cups
  • 2 tbsp sugar It's very lightly sweet
  • ½ tsp rose water I used Nielsen Massey brand, it is very strong
  • 1 tsp pink food coloring powder (optional) I used McCormick's natural food color powder in Berry. If you use another food color such as a liquid one, I would do 1 drop as the color comes through much brighter.

To decorate (optional)

  • 1 tbsp pistachios crushed
  • dried rose petals, roses I used Suncore brand

Instructions

Get the cake in the oven

  • Mix milk and apple cider vinegar together, set aside
    Curdled milk
  • Set oven to 350F. Line two 8 inch round cake pans with parchment. Drain the canned ready made gulab jamuns to separate them from the sugar syrup.
  • Mix dry ingredients together. (To make it easier and get even cake layers, recommend halving the batter recipe and mixing in two different bowls)
    If using butter, mix all dry ingredients except sugar.
    Mixed dry ingredients.
  • Mix wet ingredients in bowl.
    For oil: Add in wet ingredients and mix until combined (don't over mix).
    For butter: Cream together room temperature butter and sugar until well combined and color becomes lighter. Then alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and wet ingredients.
    Mixed gulab jamun cake batter.
  • Divide batter by two and pour 3/4 of batter into two sheet cake pans. Then, place the gulab jamuns on the batter.
    Cake batter filled cake pan with gulab jamuns placed in it.
  • Top with the remaining 1/4 of batter on each. Place in oven to bake 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
    Cake in pan.

Make the simple syrup and whipped topping

  • Bring water, sugar, saffron strands and cardamom to a boil. Let simmer 5 minutes. Turn off and remove from gas. Set aside to let cool.
    Saffron simple syrup on stovetop in a pot.

Make Whipped Rose Topping

  • Add ingredients to bowl (heavy whipped cream, rose water, sugar and color).
    Whipped cream in a bowl
  • Whisk until stiff peaks form. In a Kitchen aid mixer, it only takes about 3 minutes on the highest setting. Topping is ready.

Assemble the cake

  • Once cake is baked and you have let it cool completely you can use a brush or spoon to brush one layer cake with the saffron simple syrup. I like to let it soak in a little and do it about 3 times each.
    Brushing gulab jamun cake with simple syrup.
  • Top one layer with half whipped topping. Place 2nd cake on top. Brush the top layer with saffron syrup a few times.
    Two layer gulab jamun cake.
  • Top with remaining rose whipped topping. Decorate with crushed pistachios, rose petals and gulab jamun halves.
    Gulab jamun cake decorated with crushed pistachios, gulab jamun and roses.
  • You will have extra saffron simple syrup. I like to drizzle a little on each cake slice when serving or you can serve with a little pipette for guests to drizzle over the slice themselves.
    Slice of gulab jamun cake with saffron simple syrup.

Notes

There are 3 options to make this cake:
  1. Cake + Saffron Simple Syrup Only: Tastes just like gulab jamun, but it is baked! See the blog post for an image of a slice of cake with saffron syrup. I would make single layer cakes, brush each with the simple syrup and also serve a little syrup on the side for guests to pour over right before digging in. You can use pipettes like these:
  2. Cake + Saffron Simple Syrup + Rose Whip Topping: Super delicious, the lightly sweetened rose whip topping is easy to make.
  3. Cake + Saffron Simple Syrup + Rose Buttercream frosting: Also, delicious.  Uses butter cream instead of whipped topping.
Note: The ready made gulab jamuns come in a sugar syrup.  While you can use it, I don't think it tastes as good as making your own saffron simple syrup.  You can use it in place of making the saffron syrup if you wish.
To make a one layer cake, simple half the recipe and use 1 8 inch round cake pan instead of two.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 212mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 474IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg