Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake

I can count the number of times I have bought birthday cakes. Practically never! It was always home made cakes for everyone since my childhood. Every year, as out expertise improved, the cakes got better and better. One of my favourite pastimes is browsing recipe books and surfing the internet especially www.pinterest.com in search of recipes that I adapt to suit myself. Some time ago, I came across this Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake that people were raving over. So I read a few versions and decided to make my own, since the Vanilla Cake recipe that I have is a superb one. To cut a long story short, I made a large Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake for the office friends and a mini version ( 5 inches) for the two of us.

All in all the Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake was a big hit and I got some rave reviews from those who ate it. At the end of the day the Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake is a scrumptious Vanilla Cake studded with Gulab Jamuns inside and on top and decorated with crushed pistas and rose petals ( which I excluded as I did not have them).

Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake

Makes 1 Cake 9 inches

This is the basic recipe for all my cakes.

1 cup butter; 2 cups brown sugar ( I use a lot less- 1 cup); 3 cups flour; 4 large eggs

Pictorial For Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake

Vanilla Cake Batter

Consistency

Pour half the batter into pan and top with jamuns

Cover with remaining batter

Bake 10 minutes

Arrange remaining jamuns on top and continue baking

Baked

Nehru with his cake

Brush with syrup and scatter pista on top

Inside

Ingredients For Gulab Jamun Birthday Cake:

15 Gulab Jamuns, cut in half and 2 tbsp of the syrup for the top

50 gms roasted pista, crushed

Fresh rose petals if available ( I did not use)

1/3 cup brown sugar (or more to taste)

1/2 cup butter

2 medium eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 cups wheat flour

1 ¾ tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 x 9 inch round greased and lined

Ghee for brushing pan and paper

Method For Gulab Jamun Fusion Birthday Cake:

Beat sugar and butter at room temperature till creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time and then beat in the vanilla essence. Add the sieved flour and baking powder to the batter 1/2 cup at a time, gently stirring to incorporate the mixture. Divide batter into two.

Pour one half into the greased and lined pan. Arrange half of the gulab jamuns on the batter. Pour remaining batter over the jamuns ensuring they are completely covered. Tap gently to remove bubbles.

Bake in pre heated oven at 175 Degrees Celcius / 350 Degrees Farenheit for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and arrange the remaining jamuns on top. (This prevents the jamuns from sinking into the cake).

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until skewer inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool completely and transfer to cake board. Brush with the sugar syrup and scatter the crushed pistas and rose petals (if available) on top. Slice, serve and enjoy!