Vegan Rasmalai Cake

5 from 6 votes

Vegan Rasmalai Cake is a dairy-free spin on the popular Bengali Dessert Rasa Malai that is typically served for Diwali! Moist almond and cashew flour cake squares immersed in a rich and creamy cashew pistachio "milk" scented with saffron and cardamom. Soyfree Glutenfree

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Chill time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 45 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: ras malai cake, vegan Diwali dessert, vegan malai cake

Servings:

Calories: 298kcal

Author: Vegan Richa

Ingredients

For the Malai (The milk sauce)

1/2 cup raw cashews
1 tbsp raw pistachios about 6-7
1 cup water Use scant cup
3 -4 strands of saffron
5-6 tbsp sugar I used half cane and half powdered sugar so that it doesn't add color to the sauce.
1/8 tsp salt
1 cardamom pod,seeds

For the Malai Cake:

1/2 cup raw cashews Use a heaping cup
1 tbsp cornstarch or tapioca starch
1 cardamom pod seeds
3-4 saffron strands
1/2 cup almond flour
1 big pinch of salt
3 tbsp vegan cream cheese I use kite hill plain
2 tsp vegan butter or use oil
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For Garnish:

1 tbsp almond slivers
1 tbsp chopped raw pistachios

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Milk:

Soak the cashews and pistachios overnight, or at least 4 hours. Then drain well and add to a blender along with the rest of the ingredients, and blend until the mixture is really smooth. It will look like milk, and that's okay. Taste and adjust Sweet and set aside.

For the Malai Cake:

You want to convert the cashews into a flour, so add the cashews, cardamom, cornstarch, and saffron in a blender, and blend for 15 seconds, then start pulsing every few seconds. Use a spoon to move the mixture around so there are no cashews lurking in the corners, and pulse a couple of times more until the mixture is a fine meal. If there are any cashew pieces left, remove them, or try to pulse them in by pulsing a couple more times, and then remove any remaining large cashew pieces from the mixture.
Transfer to a bowl, add the almond flour, salt, cream cheese, butter, and sugar and mix. Press and mix with a spatula, or use your hands to make a dough.
Grease a shallow baking dish, and press this dough onto the dish into a square or rectangle, less than half an inch thick, and even out the edges. You can wet your hands before doing that so that it's not as sticky, or use oil on your hands.
Bake at 275 degrees F (135 C) with the fan on(convection) for 25-30 minutes, or until the mixture feels completely dry on top, and has lightened in color. You can also use regular bake if you don’t have convection
Take the pan out and let it cool for 10-15 minutes, then slice the cake into an inch or inch and a half big squares, and slightly separate it out. The center will feel very soft, so separate out only if it's not breaking into pieces.
Pour the entire sauce mixture all over to submerge the cake.
Garnish with pistachios and almond slivers, and let this mixture chill for at least a few hours before serving

Notes

cream cheese substitute: use 1.5 to 2 tbsp of vegan yogurt or use cashew cream (blended soaked cashews )
For a budget version, skip the saffron and add a drop of vanilla to the cake.
To make this refined sugar-free you can use coconut sugar, but it will result in a darker sauce and cake.
Want to make this even prettier? Sprinkle some dried culinary rose petals on top.
You could also add a small amount of rose water to the milk sauce if you're a fan of rose-scented desserts.
If not the whole thing, just make the cashew pistachio milk! Serve in small bowls garnished with almonds and pistachios.
For a Tres Leches cake version, make my white cake with 1/4 tsp cardamom, make the rasmalai milk with 3/4 cup of water. Soak the cake in the milk. Top with whipped coconut cream and pistachios

Nutrition