Upside Down Gulab Jamun Cake
If there’s one cake you bake this festive season, let it be this upside down gulab jamun cake. Rich, aromatic and indulgent: it’s the kind of dessert that’ll impress you and anyone you serve it to ♡
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This upside down gulab jamun cake is rich, aromatic and full of festive flavour. It brings together the best parts of a traditional mithai and a classic cake into one indulgent dessert.
The base is layered with soft, syrup soaked gulab jamuns and roasted almonds while the batter itself is made with mawa, sooji, ghee, rose water, yoghurt and warm spices like cardamom and saffron. These ingredients not only make the cake dense and moist like a pound cake but also mirror the flavours of gulab jamun so everything tastes harmonious when baked together. The sooji helps give the batter structure, the mawa adds richness and the ghee ties it all together with that signature festive aroma. Once baked and flipped, you get a golden, fragrant cake that’s soaked with syrup and topped with caramelised gulab jamuns, the kind of dessert that feels special in every bite!
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Upside Down Gulab Jamun Cake
servings
11 slices
prep time
25 min
cook time
50 min
Ingredients
Base Layer
- 30 mini gulab jamun
- 3 tbsp roasted almonds, chopped
- 3 tbsp gulab jamun syrup
Cake Batter
- ¾ cup (150 g) brown sugar {or 1 cup (190 g) if you prefer a sweeter taste ; you can also use white sugar)
- ½ cup (110 g) ghee
- 1 cup (100g) mawa (khoya), crumbled
- ¾ cup (180 g) yogurt
- ¼-⅓ cup (70 ml) milk (adjust as needed for batter consistency)
- 2 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 tsp rose water
- kesar milk (1 tbsp warm milk mixed with a pinch of saffron strands)
- ½ cup (80 g) fine semolina (sooji)
- 1⅓ cup (160 g) all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Garnish
- dried rose petals
- gulab jamun syrup
Instructions:
- Prepare the pan: Grease a 24–25 cm bundt pan really well with ghee. Arrange gulab jamuns as the base and sprinkle roasted almonds over them. In a small pan, heat some gulab jamun syrup and let it cook for around 5 minutes, just until slightly thickened. Drizzle this warm syrup over the gulab jamuns and almonds.
- Make the saffron milk: In a small bowl, soak a few strands of saffron in 1 tbsp warm milk. Let it sit for about 10 minutes for the flavour and colour to release.
- Make the cake batter: In a bowl, add brown sugar, ghee, mawa, yoghurt, milk and crushed cardamom. Whisk really well so the sugar mixes in and everything comes together. Add the saffron milk and rose water, mix again. Now add the sooji and give it a good mix. Let this sit for about 10 minutes so the sooji has time to absorb some of that liquid and soften.
- Combine wet and dry: In another bowl, add all purpose flour, a pinch of salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add your wet mixture into this dry mix and whisk gently until combined. The batter will be thick but pourable.
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Bake: Pour the batter evenly on top of the gulab jamun layer, using a spatula to spread it out. Bake at 175°C for 40–50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: Bundt pans bake differently from regular tins because of the hollow centre which helps heat circulate more evenly. The bake time is slightly longer since the batter is denser and the pan is deeper. If baking in a regular round tin, the cake will bake faster so start checking at around 35 minutes. - Finish and serve: Once baked, take the cake out of the oven and let it cool for around 25-30 minutes before flipping. Drizzle some more gulab jamun syrup on top, garnish with dried rose petals and that’s your cake ready to be sliced and served. I highly recommend serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s unreal!
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