Eggless Semolina Mini Cakes | Refined Sugar-free | Easy Recipe

Festive season for most Indians starts from the month of September itself and goes on well until X’mas and New Year. Add another few months for us folks in Hong Kong and it goes on until the Chinese New Year. Long story short, it is months and months of indulgent and sugary treats. And if you ask me it is hard to say no to indulgence as more often than not it is also what our body craves in cooler months. I am all for indulgence but with a tad bit of mindfulness. Festivities do not mean every single meal has to be a feast and every feast sugar laden.

Eating right during festive season

Feasts when planned mindfully can be a bit of both-indulgent as well as healthy. And a good balance of both helps that we continue to enjoy the festivities longer without any guilt. I do feel that reducing refined sugar in a our diets along with processed food and balancing it out with portion control does work wonders . Anyhoo! Since I am not a registered medical practitioner (well! I could be one if I were in India with my Pharmacy degree) or a nutritionist I shall rest my health advice here and move on to more interesting stuff.

Diwali is my favourite festival and why not!

Diwali for us is very special as it is one of the most fun festivals to enjoy what with all the exciting things to do- lighting diyas, dressing in fineries and exchanging presents with friends. What’s not to love? And one of the most favourite things that I love about Diwali is sharing home made treats with my friends. Mawa gujiyas , pulaao, til-mawa laddoo are some of my favourite things to cook. This year I decided to add a few more interesting recipes to the list and one of them is this Eggless Semolina Mini Cakes which is refined sugar free too. And with just a hint of cardamom it fits in perfectly with your remaining Diwali/festive spread!

Tips to make perfect Eggless Semolina Mini Cakes

1. Even if using the super fine semolina make sure to grind it well in a blender to make a fine powder. However if you would like a grainy texture in your mini cakes then you may grind it only coarsely
2. Make sure the butter is at room temperature and not hot
3. You can use any kind of sugar in this recipe. I used a combination of raw sugar and gud (jaggery) for a more intense flavour. Make sure to grind it to a powder
4. Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately before adding the dry to wet in intermittent additions and mixing gently as you go
5. You can swap half the yogurt with two eggs but make sure the eggs are at room temperature
6. The oven should be preheated well for 15 minutes before placing the batter in for even baking
7. One tip from Sally’s baking blog that has worked for me is baking first at 200 degrees for five minutes and then reducing the oven temperature to 177 degrees for soft and well baked muffins
8. You can adjust the quantity of sugar as per taste

Ingredients to make perfect Eggless Semolina Mini Cakes

1. Semolina (sooji/rawa), preferably fine variety, ground fine-1 cup
2. All purpose flour-1/2 cup
3. Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
4. Raw sugar/ gud (jaggery), ground fine- 1 cup or as per taste
5. Fresh yogurt/ curd- 1 cup
6. Milk- 3/4 cup
7. Baking soda- 1 tsp
8. Baking powder- 1tsp
9. Salt- 1/2 tsp
10. Flavourless vegetable oil-1/2 cup
11. Melted Butter at room temperature- 1/2 cup
12. Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
13. Ground cardamom- 1/2 tsp or a little extra if you would like a strong cardamom flavour
14. Chopped nuts or semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)- 1/2 cup
15. Muffin tins or 8 inch round cake pan

Method to make perfect Eggless Semolina Mini Cakes

1. Grease muffin tins with parchment and non-stick cooking spray or butter and flour and keep aside
2. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees
3. In a bowl sift together refined flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and keep aside
4. In another bowl whisk the yogurt until smooth and then add milk, powdered raw sugar/jaggery, butter, cardamom powder(if using) and vanilla extract and mix well to form a homogenous mixture
5. Add semolina to the above liquid mixture and cover and let it rest for 20 minutes
6. After 20 minutes the semolina batter thickens up considerably; fold in the sifted dry ingredients
7. Do not over-mix as that would lead to a dry and clumpy cake
8. Add chopped nuts or chocolate chips if using and give it one final gentle mix
9. Spoon in the batter into muffin tins or cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes. Bake at 200 degrees for first 5 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 177 degrees and bake for the remaining time or until a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out clean. The baking time may vary depending on the oven so keep checking after 15 minutes
10. Bring to room temperature , bring out of the muffin tins and enjoy!