Ingredients
Cake flour – 185 gm/ 1 ½ cup (refer notes below for cake flour)
Cardamom powder – 1tsp (I crushed it into a fine powder with a pestle and mortar)
Eggs – 6 mediums (separated)
Granulated sugar – 150 gm/ ¾ cup
Milk – 100 ml/ ½ cup approximately
Salt – ½ tsps.
Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp
For soaking
To make Ras
Full fat milk – 500 ml ( 2 ½ cup)
Sugar – 1tsp
Saffron strands – 8
Cardamom powder – ¾ tsp
Condensed milk - I tin ( 390 ml)
Evaporated milk 1 tin (380 gm)
Whipping cream
Icing sugar – 2 tablespoons
To decorate
Pistachios
Dried rose petals ( optional)
Method
First let’s make Ras
In a thick bottomed pan add 500 ml milk, I tsp sugar, saffron strands and boil it on low -medium flame. Once milk boils simmer it to low flame and cook it for further 30 mins stirring every now and then to make sure that it’s not sticking to the bottom. The milk should reduce to half after 30 minutes. At this point add evaporated milk and cook on a low medium flame for 3-5 minutes. Finally add condensed milk and cook for another 2-3 mins. Add cardamom powder and remove from heat. Let it cool down completely.
To make the sponge
In a bowl mix flour, cardamom powder, salt and baking powder. Sift it and keep it aside.
In another bowl take the egg yolks and add ½ cup sugar and beat until pale and creamy.
Add milk and beat until mixed.
Add dry ingredients and fold it in until incorporated.
Whip egg whites in a squeaky-clean bowl for few minutes until soft peaks are formed. Gradually add ¼ cup sugar in a steady stream and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
Very carefully fold the egg whites into the flour mixture with a big steel spoon until just mixed. (Steel works better not to knock the air off). Be careful not to overmix as cake become dense.
Pour the batter into a greased deep 8-inch cake pan and bake at 180-degree Celsius for about 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Once the cake cools down cut the cake into two halves.
Poke holes on both the layers with a tooth pick and keep it aside.
To make whipped cream
Place 300 ml whipped cream in a bowl and add 2 tablespoon of icing sugar, 2 tablespoons of the ras you made earlier and whip until soft peaks are formed.
Assemble the cake
Take one layer of the cake and pour half of the ras slowly on to the cake evenly giving it enough time to absorb the ras before adding more. Once it's soaked spread whipped cream on top of the layer. Place the second layer on top and soak the cake with remain ras and spread whipped cream around the cake. Decorate the cake as you wish. I used rose petals and pistachios for decorating.
Let the cake chill in the fridge for few hours or preferably overnight for the flavours to mingle. Enjoy!
Notes
To make 1 cup of cake flour, remove 2 tablespoons of plain flour from one cup of plain flour and replace it with corn flour. To make 1 ½ cup cake flour you will need to replace 3 tablespoons of flour with 3 tablespoon of corn flour.
