Women’s Day Special Vanilla Rasmalai Cake

Ingredients

• 1 kg Milk (for paneer cheena)
• 1/2 kg to 1 kg milk (for rabdi rasmalai milk)
• 300 ml water (for sugar syrup)
• 1 teaspoon green cardamoms powder
• 2-3 chopped almonds
• 5-6 chopped pistachios
• 50 mg safron strands
• 1 lemon (to curddle milk)
• 1/4 cup sugar (for rasmalai milk)
• 1/2 sugar (for sugar syrup)
• 1 cup grained sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 cup wheat flour (mug size)
• 150 ml warm milk (previously boiled)
• 3 tablespoons Vanilla Custard powder
• 2-3 tablespoons ghee (substituted with oil)
• 1 cup curd
• 1/2 cup icing sugar (as required)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup icing sugar (to mix in malai)
• 1 cup chilled malai (150 ml)
• 15-20 chopped pumpkin seeds
• 5-6 chopped pistachios
• 5-6 sliced cranberries
• 5-10 dried rose petals
• 4 peices of rasmalai
• 200-250 ml prepared rasmalai milk (rabdi)
• 1/4 cup grated cheena for cake (left over in rasmalai)

Steps

1. Take all ingredients together to make Ras Malai. To begin with, first make rabri, so that you get enough time for it to cool down. Pour milk in a heavy bottom pan. Bring it to boil on low flame. Note – Full Fat milk is used in the recipe which is previously boiled.
2. Add safron strands, sugar and cardamom powder to the boiling milk.Keep the flame low to avoid milk to flow out from the pan upon boiling. Tip: Optional to add cardamoms powder at this step. Can be added in the later step while making sugar syrup.
3. Mix well and keep on boiling until it remained half in quantity and become slightly thickened. Stir at every 2 to 3 minutes to avoid sticking at the base.The milk will turn yellow in color by adding saffron. Turn off the flame and allow to come at room temperature. Keep 1/4 cup separate from it for pouring upon later on rasmalai or cake.
4. Further, take ingredients to make paneer cheena. Pour milk in a separate pan and bring it to boil on medium flame. Sequeeze one lemon in boiling milk and mix well. Allow the milk to curddle upon it's own. Add more lemon if required.
5. When the milk seems curdled completely, drain water and rinse it again with cold water to remove lemon contents. Cold water will help to keep the paneer cheena soft.
6. Keep it on strainer and sequeeze extra water it may have with the help of a spoon or simply by keeping small portion of paneer cheena in between the palms of your hands and sequeezing gently. You will get 3/4 cup of paneer cheena. Tip – you may wrap it in muslin cloth and then hang in a hook for 45 minutes to 1 hour so as to drain water completely.
7. Put it in a plate and begin to knead until it gets smoothen and non sticky to desired texture.
8. Take small portion of it and begin to make small round balls of equal size by flattening gently with your hands. Smoothen the cracked edges if any. Used just half of the cheena to make 7 to 8 cheena balls. Keep the other half for spreading in the cake base. Cover prepared cheena balls and set them aside.
9. Further begin to make sugar syrup. Bring approx 300 ml of water to boil in a broad pan. Add sugar to the boiling water. When water begins to boil rapidly, add cheena balls in it.
10. Cover immediately and cook for 7 to 8 minutes and they will get slightly increase in size. Turn off the flame, keep it covered and allow to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
11. Open it and take out one by one. Gently sequeeze the cheena balls one by one, by placing in between the palms of your hands. Be gentle while sequeezing.
12. Add them to the prepared warm rabdi. Add nuts of your choice. Simmer for just 2 to 3 minutes on low flame for the milk to be absorbed by the discs. Do not over cook, they may break. Refrigrate and keep aside and refrigrate. Served best when chilled.
13. To begin with cake preparation, first take ingredients for icing sugar. Add 1 cup of grained sugar in a blender jar with 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Tip: Added corn starch to avoid the sugar from clipping.
14. Blend to form a powdered sugar. It is ready to use. Transfer it to cup and keep aside.
15. Take ingredients to make Vanilla Cake. First, take bowl to put in final prepared cake batter. Grease it with butter and dust some all-purpose flour. This bowl will be kept in microwave to bake cake. Tip: Choose pan depending upon your microwave.
16. Keep aside and take another separate bowl to prepare cake batter. Seive wheat flour, Vanilla Custard powder, baking powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt.
17. Mix well and keep aside.
18. Take another small separate bowl to mix wet ingredients. Put curd in a bowl. Add icing sugar and milk in it.
19. Add ghee and mix it well. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients kept aside. (wheat flour, Vanilla Custard powder, baking soda, baking bowder) Note: Oil is substituted with ghee.
20. Mix well and prepare and smooth lumpfree batter. Transfer it to greased bowl and begin to bake.
21. Keep it in microwave at 800 watts for 4 minutes only.Microwave setting may vary. The cake is just ready in 4 minutes. Check if it is completely baked by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, that means the cake is throughly baked.
22. Allow to come at room temperature and flip it to transfer it to plate from the bowl. Keep aside and begin to fill, top and garnish cake.
23. Take all ingredients together to make Cake filling, decorating or garnishing. First cut the cake into two equal peices from the centre depending upon the height of the cake.
24. Now take full fat chilled cream (malai) in a bowl. Add prepared rasmalai rabdi (milk) in it. Then add icing sugar. Note – Adding Rasmalai milk will give a flavour to the cream and it is not required to add any extra color. – Using malai in place of whipped cream as its a Vanilla Rasmalai Cake. So, I preferred malai which goes perfect with it.
25. Mix well and cake topping is ready. Take base layer of cake and whip it with a prepared rasmalai cream.
26. Whip it evenly. Put prepared cheena that was kept aside during the making of rasmalai. Top some chopped pumpkin seeds on it. Note – You may use any other nuts.
27. Put some rasmalai milk on it. Cover it with top layer of cake. Again repeat the same step on the top layer. Whip it evenly with the cream.
28. Top it with prepared rasmalai discs. Add some chopped pumpkin seeds and sliced cranberries and pistachios. Add nuts of your choice and some dried rose petals.
29. Ras malai cake is ready to serve.
30. Malai Cream is just whipped at the top and bottom surface and not entirely on the sides of the cake. Check the sponginess of the cake.
31. Lastly, it is optional to dip the entire cake in a prepared Rasmalai milk. Take a deep plate. Pour some rasmalai milk in it. Put the entire cake in this milk.
32. Take a spoonful of cake by dipping in a rasmalai milk. It came out just fantastic!
33. Healthier, Flavourful and tastier then ever Vanilla Rasmalai Cake is ready to enjoy!! Served best when chilled.