Many moons ago, Bawarchi (an Indian website) was the go-to hub for all things cooking—offering a treasure trove of recipe ideas and countless user-contributed dishes. The site’s design was simple yet elegant, with no overwhelming images or intrusive advertisements. Its clean categories and intuitive layout made it easy to navigate and search for recipes. Contributors even shared their email addresses, inviting feedback—a concept that could be considered an early form of food blogging.
As a newlywed in Boston with minimal cooking experience, I frequented Bawarchi to try out new recipes. While there may have been other recipe websites at the time, Bawarchi was a favorite among our circle of friends. We often shared recipe links that turned out well, discussed our experiences over the phone, and collectively expanded our culinary skills.
During one of these cooking adventures, I stumbled upon an easy, eggless recipe for Mango Cake. While Bawarchi is now part of Sify, the recipe lives on (you can find it ). For a novice baker and cook, this recipe was a game-changer: simple, effortless, yet bursting with flavor. The cake’s soft, moist texture, paired with the heavenly combination of mango pulp and cardamom, was irresistible—reminiscent of Mango Suji Halwa or Mango Rava Kesari.
Over time, I’ve experimented with the recipe by substituting mango with banana, achieving equally delightful results. I’m confident this formula would work well with other fruits too. As the original author suggested, cutting the cake into burfi-like diamond shapes makes for easy serving. While the recipe doesn’t call for nuts, adding chopped walnuts and raisins elevates the flavor even further.
Recipe Source: Here
Ingredients:
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1 cup of Semolina/Rava/Sooji ( I used the fine variety)
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1 cup Mango pulp ( I used ready made Kesar Mango pulp for this/ even fresh mango pulp should be fine)
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1/2 cup Butter (melted)
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1/2 cup Sugar
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1 teaspoon Baking powder
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½ tsp ground cardamom(elaichi)
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¼ cup chopped walnuts, raisins(optional)
Some notes:
1) Please make sure that the mango pulp is thick and light yellow in color. I have seen that some brands of mango pulp are not thick and do not have good flavor and smell.
2) If you use a pulp that is not thick and if you find that the cake batter is not thick then let is stand aside for 20 minutes, until the mango pulp is absorbed by the semolina.
3) I found that if you place not-so-thick batter directly in the oven it takes a longer time to bake and then browns the cake. It does not get that beautiful, rich yellow color.
4) Place it in the middle rack while baking.
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Note: There is no need to roast the rava/sooji.
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Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
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Mix the Sooji(Rava) with sugar, cardamom, nuts(optional) and baking powder.
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Next add melted butter and mix well. Finally add the mango pulp and mix again. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
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Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Be careful and keep a close watch after 25 minutes.
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Check with a fork to see if properly baked. If the knife comes out clean then remove immediately. If it is kept for a longer time, the cake will become hard especially on the top.
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Allow to cool completely and then cut and serve.
i mEaN rEcIpE oF ChOcLaTe CaKe PlZ
hey..i wish to make this cake…can you tell me how much is 1cup equivalent to in grams?
hey it is a bit difficult to say, but I would say 1 cup=220 gms of rava/sooji.
Hi There,
Let me tell you something first that I suck at baking and I made this cake today. It was a super success, my husband enjoyed every single bite of it.
Thank you so much for the recipe. Waiting for an eggless chocolate cake recipe from you
Awesome! so glad it turned out well and thanks for letting me know.
Hi, I have made this cake so many times and we love it more each time.. each bite.. The reason to make this often is because its my son’s fav.. he is turning 2 this december. I was wondering if you would suggest any topping for this cake to make it look more special? I am sure he’ll love it on his bdae.. pls help
Anjana
Awww so sweet and happy birthday to the little boy. Hope he has a wonderful day. Sorry I could not reply to this sooner. How about light some mango cream topped with mango pieces?
Hi RC, i tried it and it tasted gr8. i am just a 11 year old girls who loves baking. thanks for the recipe
Thanks Gowri, kudos to you for starting so young.
Hello RC, referring your recipes for almost a month and one thing i have noticed is your making and writing is very clear to understand….thank for this….Also can you please tell me instead of Mango pulp can i use milk. i aunt use to make Rava cakes but don’t have that recipe with me…so was relating this one. please advise i am looking for Rava cake with no fruits….just plain…thanks once again….and Redchillies…ROCK…
Hi Faiza, thank you for the warm words, I apprecaiate it. You know, I kind of rememebr the rava cake and my mom used to make it often when we were young. I will check with her oen time and let you know.
Hi Faiza, here is one recipe that you might like:
http://enjoyindianfood.blogspot.com/2013/01/ravyacha-cake-eggless-semolina-cake.html
I think this is very close to my mom’s recipe.
Hi RC, found interesting and simple to make. any solution or alternate for not using oven. then i will try and let u know. Thanks for your quick response.
Hi,
Wanted to say that I tried this recipe today and loved it. I tried as a cupcake recipe and loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Rama
Can we substitute wht butter with ghee?
Nice looking mango cake, thank you for sharing:)
Can u recommend any mango pulp brand
Thank you for sharing this great recipe… I tried it at home today and it worked out pretty well… couple of things that I noticed and would like to call out are
1. fine sooji is much better than the thicker variety. I used the ticker one – which still turned out well .. but I felt like the finer variety would have been better.
2. I moved the cake to the top rack about 85% through while baking – so the cake would cook through out and not only on the edges.
Hello,
When I read the ingredients I thought it sounded more like Basbousa( as u have semolina as the main ingredient), but no.. Its no where close to basbousa.
Thank you sooo much for such a wonderful eggless, flour less awesome cake recipe. Tried it out yesterday, turned out super cool. Im a baker by hobby ( make novelty cakes and speciality cakes)and keep trying new things.. Never thought of mango cake which is eggless and flour less.. Love it totally!! Awesome, quick, delicious, easy cake. .. As per my personal taste I would reduce the cardamom quantity. My friends loved and so did hubby m son. Its all season cake!!
I tried your baked nippattu too last year couldn’t leave a comment.. That’s super hit too.. Parents and Inlaws and friends love it… So its made more often than any other snacks…lol
Thank you once again..
Can we steam this cake in pressure cooker instead of baking for people who do not have oven? If so how many mins should we steam it for?
Thanks.
Hi rc cn v make in cooker pls reply soon
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