Layers of eggless thandai cake, thandai and thandai flavored whipped cream come together in these decadent and festive Thandai Cake Jars!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 60 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 80 minutes
  • Yield: 6
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour (195 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons thandai powder (20 grams)
  • 1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup yogurt (120 grams, I used plain whole milk yogurt)
  • 1 cup caster sugar (200 grams)
  • 1/2 cup oil (120 ml, I used avocado oil)
  • 1/2 cup milk (120 ml)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Thandai

  • 1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
  • 1-2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon thandai powder

Thandai Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream (480 ml/16 oz, cold)
  • 3 tablespoons thandai
  • 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar (to taste)

Method

Make the cake

  1. In a bowl sift together flour, thandai powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until well combined and set it aside. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Pre-heat your oven to 350 F degrees.
  2. Add the wet ingredients in another bowl- yogurt, caster sugar, oil and vanilla extract. Mix using a wire whisk for 3 to 4 minutes until the sugar completely dissolves.
  3. Now, add half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Then add the milk and mix. Add the remaining half of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not overmix the batter. Pour the batter into a 9 x 13-inch cake pan and bake at 350 F degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. My cake was baked in around 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool.

Prepare the thandai

  1. Boil 1 cup of milk in a pan. Once it comes to a boil. reduce the heat and let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes. This step is optional, you can skip this step if you want, this just makes the milk thicker/creamier. To the warm milk, add 1 tablespoon thandai powder and sugar to taste. Stir until everything is well combined and remove the pan from heat. Set this aside.

Make the whipped cream

  1. To the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or use your hand mixer), add cold heavy cream, 3 tablespoons of the prepared thandai and powdered sugar.
  2. Beat using the wire whisk attachment on medium-high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful to not overbeat else the cream will separate.

Assemble the thandai cake jars

  1. Once the cake has cooled, cut it into rounds of around 2 & 1/2-inches diameter. You can cut them in any size, my servings jars were this size and hence I cut them accordingly. I have used 7 oz capacity cups here but you can use any size you want.
  2. Take a jar and place a cut round cake at the bottom, followed by 1-2 teaspoons of thandai. Then top with whipped cream and crushed pistachios. Repeat the layers with another cake layer, thandai and whipped cream. Top with crushed pistachios and rose petals. Make all the jars in the same way. Serve immediately!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.