This egg free and butter free semolina coconut cake recipe is perfect for your snacking or even to be enjoyed as your breakfast cake. The light and crumbly texture of the cake make this one of the best snack cakes ever!!!
This butter free and eggs free Semolina Coconut Cake will blow your mind. This can be your perfect tea cake or that perfect afternoon pick-me-up cake. This is a very popular cake in many parts of the world though named differently. This Semolina Coconut Cake is also known as the famous Baath Cake in Goa or the Basbousa Cake in Egypt and Middle East.
In this semolina coconut cake recipe, I have added tips and tricks, variations to make your baking process a success.
BUT FIRST WHAT IS SEMOLINA?
Semolina is made from durum wheat. The general baking flour that we use (AKA all purpose flour) is made from common wheat. Semolina, on the other hand, is made from a species of wheat called “durum” wheat, which also has a few other names, including pasta wheat and macaroni wheat. The main difference you may be able to see is that semolina is a good bit coarser than traditional flour, and may be darker and more golden in color.
Semolina is known as sooji or rava in India. Rava is used in many sweet and savory dishes. One of my most favorite sooji desserts is – sooji pitha
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS SEMOLINA COCONUT CAKE
- The cake is egg free and butter free. If you are allergic to eggs, this semolina cake will be perfect for you. Butter wasn’t needed for this cake recipe. Oil makes the cakes more moist.
- You need simple and basic ingredients to make this moist and delicious semolina cake.
- Can be an one bowl recipe. Since there are no eggs or no butter in this recipe, mix semolina, sugar, milk, yogurt and oil in one bowl and bake into this cake. You can call this semolina coconut cake as a no-mixer cake too.
- Semolina gives the cake a uniquely light, crumbly texture.
- This is a cake that stays moist and delicious for days and is great this time of year
INGREDIENTS USED IN THIS EGG FREE SEMOLINA CAKE RECIPE
- Semolina – I have used not very coarse Semolina in this semolina coconut cake recipe. You will probably be able to find semolina in your regular grocery store, right next to the all purpose flour.
- Yogurt – I have used full fat Greek yogurt in this recipe. However, you can use any basic no-flavor yogurt or home made yogurt. As this recipe is egg free yogurt is used as a replacement for the egg. It activates along with the leaving agents baking powder and baking soda and give the necessary rise to the cake. NOTE – Use fresh yogurt for this recipe. The yogurt shouldn’t be sour. If the yogurt is sour, it will ruin the taste of the cake.
- All-Purpose Flour – All-purpose flour binds the other ingredients and give the cake the right texture.
- White Sugar – I use granulated white sugar.
- Coconut – I have used frozen coconut. I thawed the coconut before adding it to the cake batter. You can opt for desiccated coconut.
- Vegetable Oil – I nearly always make this with vegetable oil for a neutral flavor. Light olive oil will work awesome too.
- Milk – I have used full fat organic milk. Milk helps in hydrating the flour.
- Vanilla Extract, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt – Standard baking ingredients that you hopefully already have on hand.
HOW TO MAKE EGG FREE SEMOLINA COCONUT SNACK CAKE
STEP BY STEP METHOD
Grease your cake tin with little oil and line with parchment paper. Keep aside
Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F
In a large mixing bowl, add yogurt, milk, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk well to incorporate all the ingredients.
Mix in coconut.
Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until well combined.
Whisk in the semolina (sooji). Set aside for 30 minutes
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking tin.
Bake in the middle rack, for about 35 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
TIPS & ALTERNATIONS FOR MAKING THE PERFECT SEMOLINA COCONUT CAKE
ROOM TEMPERATURE INGREDIENTS: Use room temperature ingredients for best result.
MIXING the BATTER – This is an one bowl semolina cake recipe. Do not over mix the batter.
FRESH INGREDIENTS – Make sure all the ingredients for this cake are fresh. If your yogurt has a sour taste, that will ruin the taste of the cake. It is very important that the yogurt needs to be fresh.
REST THE BATTER – For this semolina coconut tea cake, make sure you rest the batter for at least 30 minutes. This is because the semolina absorbs the liquid and fluffs up. This step will result in a dense and moist cake.
BAKING PAN – This cake can be baked in a square, round or loaf cake tin. Make sure to grease it well with oil and line it with parchment paper.
SYRUP – You can soak the hot cake with some simple syrup to make the cake even more moist.
ADD INs – You can add tutti frutti to make an eggless tutti frutti rava cake. You can add whatever you like or skip the add-ins altogether.
COCONUT – You can use fresh or frozen coconut. If you are using frozen coconut, make sure you thaw the coconut.
OIL VS BUTTER – Melted butter can be replaced with oil
EGGS vs YOGURT – You can replace 1/2 cup yogurt with 2 eggs.
SOME OTHER EGG FREE CAKES
Semolina cake with orange cardamom syrup
KEEP IN TOUCH – Are we friends yet? Let’s connect on-Facebook| Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter. Pin this photo for future reference.
Semolina Coconut Cake (Egg Free & Butter Free)
Equipment
- 1 9 inch round cake tin
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 Cup Semolina (sooji/rava) 170g
- 1 Cup All Purpose Flour (maida) 120g
- 1 Cup Sugar 200g
- 1 Tbsp Corn flour
- 1 Tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 Tsp Baking soda
- 1 pinch Salt
WET INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 Cup Vegetable oil or Light olive oil 162g
- 1 Cup Milk 240g
- 1 Cup Fresh Yogurt 245g
- 1 Cup Coconut (fresh/desiccated)
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 350 degree F
- Mix all the wet ingredients – oil, sugar, milk and yogurt.
- Mix the coconut and vanilla essence.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add into the wet ingredients. Mix to incorporate. Don't over mix
- Add the semolina. Mix and Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or till a inserted tooth pick comes out clean.
Notes
- To get a flat top, put a handful of ice cubes in a small baking tin and place it in the lowest rack, just before you begin baking the cake. The moisture from the melting ice, helps the cake bake evenly, resulting in a flat top.
- Never over mix your batter.
- Also never open the oven door during baking. If you keep opening the oven door, you will let some of the heat out, which will lower the temperature inside, causing the cake to collapse.
- Always spoon the flour into the cup until it overflows, then level it off with a knife. This will ensure that you have the right amount of flour
- If you plan to use whole wheat flour, then I recommend using whole wheat pastry flour or including equal proportions of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour.
This looks super soft ! I just love the cake recipe without eggs & butter.
Excellent
This looks awesome…. have to try
can we have a video.. Do we add water to the pressure cooker with the greased
bowl ?
Do we have to put salt or water at the bortom of the pressure cooker?
Hi Preeti. No we don’t have to put salt or water. Just pre heat the pressure cooker for 15 mins on high with a stand inside in it.
Hi Preeti. No we don’t have to put salt or water. Just pre heat the pressure cooker for 15 mins on high with a stand inside in it.
Hi Rashmi. Thank you
Thank you!
Thank you Megala. Me too.
Thanks for recipe I love coconut n semolina. Will make this lovely cake on the weekend.
Can i use butter instead of oil
Absolutely!!
Can I bake this in oven also
Without water.. How can we bake in cooker.. The surface might get burnt of continuous heating.. Pl solve my confusion… Will it be safe?
Amazing Recipe. Without Butter! Wow!
Can I skip coconut or replace it with something?
Yes! You can. I have given the oven method in the recipe too
Water will make it cook. Water won’t bake it. And to avoid the over heating, we have to cook the cake in medium heat. But it’s important to pre heat the cooker before you put your cook tin inside it. Also make sure to use s stand inside the cooker.
Yes! You can. Add 1/2 cup chopped dry fruits instead.
I just started to reallllllly love coconut a couple years back. I have never had it in a cake though, so I’m definitely saving this one to try out asap! Sounds amazing!
Yum, this cake looks so light and airy.
This cake is so unique! I love that it can be made two different ways. Perfect for an afternoon sweet treat.
How much time is required if we are cooking in microwave.pls share the procedure.
M definitely gg to try this in the cooker
Nidhi, I haven’t tried this cake in microwave. I have only done it in cooker or oven.
Thanks Louiza
Oh my gosh! This coconut cake looks unreal–definitely going to give it a try! Thanks!
This looks so lovely! I can imagine now, a slice with my morning coffee! I can’t wait to try it!
Can I use dry coconut powder?
That looks really good!
Hi Anjana, yes you can.
What variety of semolina have you used? Fine or coarse?
Thanks Fozi! I used the regular upma variety that we get from store
Can I use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour
Yes,Shipra. You can but the texture will be a little dense.
hey ,i tried d recipe… taste wise its awsome… but d texture s a little dense… vl it b so? or did i do smething wrong… ?
Hi, can we use jaggery instead of sugar?
Hi, amazing recipe…just want to know why to keep for rest after mixing .
Must try cake it is .. amazing
Two questions
should milk and yours be at room temperature?
what difference does oil make in cake instead of butter ?
TIA
Hi Aish, have you used loaf pan ?
what size ?
Awesome….I was desperately looking out for this…great! Thank you so much.
Thank you so much!
I used a small loaf pan.
Butter makes the richer. But I use oil to make the cakes a little healthier. 🙂
Anita – we rest the batter for few minutes so that they rise a bit.
Yes you can.
Its supposed to be a little dense.
Hi
Can I use tutti frutti in it
In the pressure cooker do I cook for an hour without water ?
Thanka
Made the semolina coconut cake..Such an awesome super moist cake. loved the taste of it…Thanks a ton for sharing it…
Can I use butter or cream icing over it later…thanks in advance
So yummy one of my favorite cake . It’s really yummm . I love to eat with white chocolate ganach 😋👌🎂
So yummy one of my favorite cake . It’s really yummm . I love to eat with white chocolate ganach 😋👌🎂
Please give me idea,if I want to use egg how many I should take n what should I remove from recipe.
I tried this recipe last night. The cake cane out smelling great but its literally oozing oil… its soaked up almost 5 kitchen towels of oil. And it still looks oily. Is 1 cup of olive oil too much for these measurements or have i dont something wrong here? I used the exact measurements to a T otherwise
Mam can’t you upload the video for better understanding if it suits yoi
Hi,
I read many of your cake recipes, you have written, sugar, whether it is powdered sugar or normal crystal Sugar, little confused. And in few you said mix sugar with Maida. So I felt it must be powdered sugar. Can you please clear the doubt. Thank you.
Tried it.loved it. The top dried out a bit(probably cos convention mode of microwave,rods on top). But the cake tasted great. This one is a keeper😊 thank you.
Hi! I live in California. The sugar is very fine here. Almost like powdered sugar. But its regular table sugar/castor sugar.
It was little granulated sugar, so I powdered it and used in one of the cake from your website. Sorry I forgot to mention my name here. Shall I use powdered sugar?
Hi Hema! Yes you can use powdered sugar
Thanks a lot.
Hi
I followed your recipe of Coconut cake…it turned out too delicious n soft .First time when I made it turned out super soft n spongy but now when I make it isn’t that soft .what could be the reason ? I tried Pressure Cooker Method.
How to make it spongy ?
Baking soda is not needed here?
You haven’t used baking soda in recipe. Any specific reason?
This is an excellent perfect recipe. I halved it since I had a small loaf pan only. Already made it twice in the past week. Thank you so much. Today tried with whole wheat flour and raw coconut sugar and it tasted great. Thank you once again.
Thank you Nithya! If you liked the recipe, would you mind giving it few stars? 🙂
Hi! Its not required. )
Any specific reason for not putting salt in pressure cooker? I always bake my cakes in cooker with saltat bottom and cake tin on stand
Such a beautiful and spongy semolina coconut cake. Just like you said this will be great snack with a cup of coffee!
So moist and flavourful, I love this semolina cake!
great easy recipe that came out perfectly .thanks for the easy instructions
I like that its egg free and can be enjoyed for breakfast too.
Thank you Uma!
Thank You
Thank you!
Thank you!
I am not very fond of baking cakes but this recipe of yours is so tempting that i would definitely give it a try.
Thank you 🙏
This semolina coconut cake turned out to be the best teatime recipe. We loved it. The texture of semolina and the fragranc of the fresh coconut giving the moistness, was perfect.
The cake look rich and delicious even without the absence of eggs or butter. I definitely had this cale on my to make list and now I have the perfect recipe for it to try. Lovely pictures BTW.
We love semolina cake and the the flavor of this cake with coconut is just amazing. Even better it is eggless. Loved the texture of the cake and was perfect for our evening snacking.
How lovely to have found your semolina coconut cake that’s butter free and egg free as well. I have bookmarked this and gonna try this soon as coconut is my super favourite ingredient.
Love how tender and sweet the cake is! Perfect coconut flavor.
I am a huge fan of coconut cake and when I read in the recipe that I can use desiccated coconut, immediately made the cake and we loved it. Super moist and best part is that I could easily half the recipe for a smaller cake.
Oh wow!! Thank you so much 😊
Amazing recipe. You made the steps easy to follow. Will try the recipe sometime and will tag you, if I do.
I have never tried Semolina Coconut Cake before. You made the steps easy for even beginners like me to follow. I don’t eat eggs so i’m so happy that i could find this cake recipe. I am so excited to try this recipe.
Thank you 🙏
It was so delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Something about coconut and cake. It’s just meant to go together!
this coconut cake is amazing. I’m so surprised there are no eggs or dairy!
It’s so hard to find an egg free cake that doesn’t fall apart , but this recipe really works. I especially love the coconut flakes. Soft and delicious
This coconut cake was amazing! The perfect dessert to satisfy my sweet tooth!
Thank you so much Andrea!!
Thank you so much Natalie!!