Rava cake ( semolina) is a popular Indian cake and easy to make at home. In India semolina is known as rava or sooji . Hence this cake is also known as sooji cake. This sooji cake is famous from the famous Iyengar Bakery. This Indian version of the semolina cake is egg free and made with the best available local ingredients. It is sweet dense and super moist. It can also be enjoyed in the evening with hot cup of tea . This cake can also be soaked in sugar syrup to make it more moist. If you are planing on doing this then reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup from the recipe and use that 1/4 cup to make sugar syrup. In this recipe I used tutti fruti. These are nothing but candied papaya. It’s adds an interesting texture and pop of color to the cake. If you can’t find them you can omit them or you may use other candied fruits.

Ingredients:

1 . Semolina (rava) – 1 cup ( fine) .

2. All purpose flour ( maida) – 1/2 cup .

3 . Baking powder – 1 tsp .

4 . Baking soda- 1/2 tsp .

5 . Salt- 1/4 tsp .

6. Curd – 1/2 cup ( room temperature) .

7. Oil- 1/3 cup .

8 . Sugar powder- 1 + 1/4 cup.

9. Milk – 3/4 – 1 cup ( room temperature) .

10 . Vanilla extract- 1 tsp .

11 . Tutti fruti – 1/2 cup and 1 tsp maida .

Method :

1 . If your semolina are not fine variety slightly powder them in mixer grinder and keep aside .

2 . In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder , baking soda and salt. Keep aside .

3 . Prepare your baking tin or loaf by greasing and lining with parchment paper . Here I used long loaf pan that is 15.8 / 4.3 / 3.5 inches.

4. Add 1. Tsp of flour to the tutti fruti mix and coat them with flour and set aside .

5 . In a sufficiently large bowl add curd and whisk it well . Now add 1 cup of sugar powder and mix well till it reaches creamy consistency.

6 . Now add oil and whisk until well blended .

7 . Now add semolina and milk alternatively and mix well . Add vanilla extract and mix well and keep aside for 20 minutes with covered .

8 . Preheat the oven to 180 c or 350 f .

9 . After 20 minutes add flour mixture little by little and fold gently using spatula until no more flour pockets are visible . If needed add milk to adjust the consistency . Do not over mix the batter .

10 . Add tutti fruti and fold in gently .

11 . Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan . Gently tap the pan on counter to release any air bubbles. Top with more tutti fruti .

12 . Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade ( 350 degrees F) for about 30 – 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean .

13 . Take out from the oven and keep aside to cool .

14 . Combine 1/4 cup of sugar powder with 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan , bring to boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 3 – 4 minutes next switch off the heat and allow the syrup to cool down .

15 . When the cake is slightly warm poke some holes into the cake with skewer or toothpick and drizzle the syrup all over the cake .

16 . Allow the cake cool down completely then cut into desired size and enjoy the cake with hot cup of tea or coffee .