When I think of a gulab jamun, I think of that characteristic melt-in-the-mouth texture, which is accomplished by it being made by khoya(milk fat and solids), and soaked in the rose syrup until soft and plump. I wanted to accomplish that in cake form, by using a more tender batter, in this case, a hot milk cake. Hot milk cakes have a super soft crumb, so by soaking it with the rose-saffron-cardamom syrup that a gulab jamun is soaked in, we end up with a cake that tastes like a gulab jamun, down to the texture! The syrup is what makes this entire recipe. Almost literally. The cake is soaked with it, the cream is flavored with it, so between the two, two thirds of the final components rely on the syrup being properly flavored. I also made a crunchy pistachio butter, to add some crunchy, contrast, a salty kick, and because gulab jamun are typically served with crushed pistachio anyways. In the honor of holi, and because I had a gigantic bin of naturally colored rainbow sprinkles that I needed to use up(these sprinkles kind of suck because they melt easily and I could not use them in baked goods because of that, but in this case, I figured that melting could be used to my advantage when layered against the cream, staining it various colors). This cake is my love letter to a gulab jamun, embracing all of the flavors and ingredients, but in a fun, celebratory way!

Makes 1 6-inch cake, or 8 portions:
For the saffron-cardamom hot milk cake:
1/2 cup heavy cream
4oz ghee
.1g saffron
a pinch of ground cardamom
1 cup milk, kept cold
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

In a pot, heat up the heavy cream with the ghee, saffron, and cardamom until the ghee is fully melted down. Pour into that cold milk to bring down the temperature. In a mixing bowl, whip the eggs with sugar and milk powder until thick and glossy. In a separate bowl, sift together your flour and baking powder. Combine ingredients together to form your batter. Spread the batter on a lined quarter sheet tray in an even layer and bake at 350 degrees F for about 22 minutes. Cool completely before cutting out 3 6-inch rings, using scraps as necessary.

For the saffron-rose-cardamom syrup:
1 1/2 cup sgranulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water
18 strands saffron
1 1/2 tsp rose water
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
a pinch of salt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp lemon or lime juice

In a pot, bring everything to a simmer, minus the vanilla and lemon/lime juice. Once the sugar is fully dissolved into the liquid, take off heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Allow the syrup to cool. Reserve 1/2 cup for the cardamom-rose-saffron cream.

For the pistachio butter:
2 cups shelled pistachios
2 tbsp ghee, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a food processor, blend everything until spreadable.

For the cardamom-rose-saffron cream:
1/2 cup syrup
1 1/2 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

In a pot, reduce the syrup, gelatin, and salt together by half. Allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. In a bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Add 1/3 of the cream into the syrup first, then fold in the rest to form the cream.

For assembly:
Rainbow sprinkles

Line a 6-inch ring mold with acetate and place onto a transferrable sheet tray. Start by placing down one of the cake rounds, and applying 1/3 of your syrup. Then spread 1/3 of the pistachio butter, then 1/3 of the cream, adding in generous amounts of sprinkles and swirling those in. Repeat for the next two layers and freeze the cake solid before attempting to unmold.