Leave a delicious, gooey, caramelized impression with this Indian twist on an American favorite. My Jalebi Upside-Down Cake is the fusion dessert you never knew you needed – and it only takes about an hour
Okay, a confession: I have never been a fan of pineapple upside-down cake, except, one time, I had a bite at a friend’s house and the caramelized pineapples took my breath away. It made me want more immediately!
I knew there was a way to make this classic American dessert recipe into something so much more exciting. Naturally, I had to add a little South Asian spice to it. I landed on using jalebi because it is one of the most popular desserts in India and its sugary sweetness provides a similar caramelized flavor and texture – but better.
Jalebi is an unparalleled Indian sweet, but combining it with the unique flavors of rabri (or rabdi) really makes this fusion dessert stand out from the rest.
Rabri is a sweet dish with a condensed milk base. It is made by boiling milk on low heat for a long time until it becomes dense and changes color. After boiling, different toppings are added to give it flavor, such as spices or nuts, before it is chilled and served.
In my jalebi upside-down cake, I’ve combined these two Indian desserts to mimic the flavor profile and feeling of a pineapple upside-down cake.
The best part about this cake is that it will honestly make you look like Martha Stewart in the kitchen. The presentation of the cake itself is so beautiful with the bundt pan shape that no one will ever know that the jalebi upside-down cake is actually made from a box mix!
UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE TIP + TRICKS
Using store-bought jalebi is the best way to go because it will save you time.
You can make this recipe as cupcakes or in a regular cake pan.
Making the rabri the day before will save you time. All you have to do is heat up the rabri on medium to low heat on the day of serving, with a splash of milk.
As always, you can make this dessert eggless by replacing 1 egg for 1/4 cup of full-fat or Greek yogurt. Keeping the yogurt at room temperature before using will be ideal.
If you don’t have a bundt pan, don’t fret! You can simply use a round baking pan as well. Remember, you can always work with what you’ve got.
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees, spray the bundt pan or muffin tin with a non stick cooking spray.
Mix cake mix according to instructions on package in a bowl, until you have smooth lump free batter. Cut the jalebis in bite size pieces and add them into the batter.
Place a spoonful of batter on the bottom of your muffin or bundt cake pan, next place a jalebi on top and fill with 3/4 of the cake batter and place in the oven for 8-12 mins. Insert a tooth pick to see if cupcakes are baked through out, if tooth pick comes out clean, cakes are good, if toothpick comes out with a little bit of batter place back in the oven couple extra mins.
Rabri
In a large nonstick sauce pan heat the milk, stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Once a layer of cream is formed over the milk, stick it to sides of sauce pan. Bring the milk to boil again and repeat the step of sticking the formed milk to the sides of the saucepan. Repeat this 4-5 times until the milk starts to thicken.
Next add the sugar, cardamom powder and saffron also scrape off the collected cream from sides and give a good stir. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with chopped dry nuts.
Place the bundt cakes on a plate and drizzle with warm rabri on top, serve immediately. Enjoy!
Would you be able to share what size pan for the bundt cake. I can’t find anything listed but I see the bake time is only 7-12 minutes. If they are mini bundt cake pans, how many cakes will this serving make? If it’s a large singular cake, what size bundt cake and how long should the bake time be? I’d like to make this for a party and want to make sure I can account for all guests. Thank you!
Hi Bhavna,
Sorry, yes I will mention that in my blog post. So use a regular bundt pan which is 10-12 inches and you will need to cook the cake for 30-35 mins until the center is fully baked which you can tell inserting a toothpick!
Just an East/West coast girl living the southern life. I love sharing all my tested and perfected recipes here, along with some travel guides and a little bit of my lifestyle
2 replies on “Upside Down Jalebi Cake”
Hi there,
Would you be able to share what size pan for the bundt cake. I can’t find anything listed but I see the bake time is only 7-12 minutes. If they are mini bundt cake pans, how many cakes will this serving make? If it’s a large singular cake, what size bundt cake and how long should the bake time be? I’d like to make this for a party and want to make sure I can account for all guests. Thank you!
Hi Bhavna,
Sorry, yes I will mention that in my blog post. So use a regular bundt pan which is 10-12 inches and you will need to cook the cake for 30-35 mins until the center is fully baked which you can tell inserting a toothpick!