A delicious 5-ingredient burfi or Indian fudge prepared with chickpea flour/besan, sugar, coconut, ghee, and milk, popularly known as 7-cup cake or 7-cup burfi.
One of the biggest festivals of India is right around the corner. Yes, I m talking about Diwali, the festival of lights. This time Diwali and Halloween are back to back, which of course, means tons of treats. Today I m going to present a famous and straightforward Deepavali sweet called 7-cup cake or burfi. Interesting name, huh?
What is 7-cup cake
This recipe calls for only five ingredients. We need one measure of chickpea flour or kadalai maavu or besan, one measure of ghee, one measure of milk, one measure of coconut, and three measures of sugar. Now, if you add the measures, it’s 7. Hence the name 7 cup cake or barfi.
For this Diwali, my mantra is to keep everything simple. I want to try the recipes that I can prepare in less than 30 to 45 minutes. And this seven-cup cake is one such recipe. Barfi is nothing Indian fudge prepared with either milk powder or cashew flour/kaju katli or besan. Check out my milk powder burfi recipe too.
Now talking about the ingredients, I didn’t plan to use black chickpea flour. As I had it in my pantry, I went with it, and I need to say, it came out super awesome. We didn’t find any difference taste-wise, but yeah, the color does differ. Also, adjust the sugar measure as per your preference. Please refer to the other variations in the notes section.
Ingredients
My one measure is a half cup – 120 ml.
- ½ cup chickpea flour/kadalai maavu. (sifted)
- ½ cup coconut, grated
- ½ cup ghee + 1 tbsp to grease the plate
- 1.5 cups sugar
- ½ cup milk
Prep – Work
- Sieve the besan. Grease a cake pan or wide plate generously with ghee and set aside.
How to make 7-cup cake|burfi
- Heat a wide pan or non-stick kadai. When it becomes hot, reduce the heat to low. Add the besan and dry roast it for a minute.
- Then add the grated coconut and roast for 2 minutes.
- Now add the sugar and mix well. It will now look like a crumbled meal.
- After mixing, add the milk and ghee. Mix well and keep stirring the mixture.
- Do not let the mixture sit for more than 2 minutes without stirring.
- Keep stirring until the mixture comes together. It took me about 13 minutes to get the right consistency.
- Consistency Check: (Thanks to Mullai for this wonderful tip)
- In a small bowl of water, drop a small piece of the cake mix. It will sink and settle. Now drain the water and then roll the mix into a small ball, and it should stay intact without crumbling. This is the right consistency, and you can turn off the heat.
- Now pour this mixture into the greased pan and let the burfi set for 15 minutes. Now cut them into desired shapes and let them cool completely before removing them from the pan.
That’s it. The yummy 7-cup cake is ready.
Recipe notes
- You can use regular besan, but as I had kala chana besan went with that.
- Right after adding besan, be ready to mix the besan. As the pan is hot, the besan might get burnt.
- Adjust the sugar as per your preference.
- I did not add any flavors. You can add saffron to the milk mixture or cardamom powder too.
- I used freshly grated coconut for this recipe. Frozen can be used too. Make sure to thaw the frozen coconut before using it in the recipe.
Explore more Deepavali sweets
Loved this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
7 Cup Cake | 7 Cup Burfi with Black Chick Pea Flour
Ingredients
Measurement details : 1 cup = 240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml;
- ½ cup chickpea flour/kadalai maavu. sifted
- ½ cup coconut grated
- ½ cup ghee + 1 tbsp to grease the plate
- ½ cup milk
- 1.5 cups sugar
Instructions
Prep – Work:
- Sieve the besan. Grease a cake pan or wide plate generously with ghee and set aside.
Steps:
- Heat a wide pan or non-stick kadai. When it becomes hot, reduce the heat to low. Add the besan and dry roast it for a minute.
- Then add the grated coconut and roast for 2 minutes.
- Now add the sugar and mix well. It will now look like a crumbled meal.
- After mixing, add the milk and ghee. Mix well and keep stirring the mixture.
- Do not let the mixture sit for more than 2 minutes without stirring.
- Keep stirring until the mixture comes together. It took me about 13 minutes to get the right consistency.
- Consistency Check: (Thanks to Mullai for this wonderful tip)
- In a small bowl of water, drop a small piece of the cake mix. It will sink and settle. Now drain the water and then roll the mix into a small ball, and it should stay intact without crumbling. This is the right consistency, and you can turn off the heat.
- Now pour this mixture into the greased pan and let the burfi set for 15 minutes. Now cut them into desired shapes and let them cool completely before removing them from the pan.
- That’s it. The yummy 7-cup cake is ready.
Notes
- You can use regular besan, but as I had kala chana besan went with that.
- Right after adding besan, be ready to mix the besan. As the pan is hot, the besan might get burnt.
- Adjust the sugar as per your preference.
- I did not add any flavors. You can add saffron to the milk mixture or cardamom powder too.
- I used freshly grated coconut for this recipe. Frozen can be used too. Make sure to thaw the frozen coconut before using it in the recipe.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Willie Murphy says
Still my favorite item for friday. But I add 4 measures sugar with it. Thanks for sharing with us, Srividhya. This item remember my childhood memory also.
Srividhya G says
:-) Thanks
sandra says
Thanks a lot, Srividhya. This is also a popular item in my family. I also spend a lot of time to make this item for my family members.
Srividhya G says
:-) Thanks
Sharmila -The Happiefriends Potpourri Corner says
Awesome share SriVidhya .. Just drafting Carrot Burfi recipe for my tomorrow’s post and seeing your 7 cup Burfi :) Loved it!!
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot Sharmila. :-) Waiting for your carrot burfi now. yum
Anlet Prince says
Delicious and awesome recipe…
Srividhya G says
Thanks :-)
kushigalu says
love the step by step picture. Looks delicious!
Srividhya G says
Thanks da.
seenakoshy says
looks so easy and delicious Vidhya..
Srividhya G says
Thanks Seena. :-)
CHCooks says
Yumm! :) This is one of my childhood favorite.. my athai used to make this for every diwali :) I planned to make it this time but S stopped me from making any more sweets :D
Srividhya G says
Thanks.. Same situation here too. Did back to back sweets this weekend and M did the same thing too. Saving some savories for the diwali weekend and might post after the festivies..
Anupama says
Hi Srividhya,
Can I use Vegan butter instead of ghee?
Srividhya G says
I would try with vegan ghee instead. I am testing few recipes with a new brand. I hope I can share it soon. Thanks