This decadent 7 cup burfi (also known as 7 cups sweet and 7 cup cake) is a tasty fudge-like sweet made with 7 measures of ingredients. All you need is gram flour, grated coconut, milk, ghee and sugar to make this tasty sweet! Make in 30 minutes and serve during festive or religious occasions.
Table of Contents
About 7 Cup Burfi
This yummy and popular sweet is from South Indian cuisine and is usually made during Hindu festivals. It is also known as 7 cup cake or 7 cup burfi or 7 cups sweet as it is made with 7 measures of ingredients.
It can be made using 7 small bowls, glasses or cups as measurements. For this recipe, I used standard measuring cups.
It is easier to prepare compared to Mysore pak and tastes amazing! It is very similar to a fudge and is firm as well as lightly soft. If you are a beginner then make 7 cup cake first and then try making Mysore Pak.
The ingredients include gram flour (besan), fresh grated coconut, milk, ghee and sugar. Make sure you roast the gram flour for 3 to 4 minutes or till you get a nice nutty aroma from it and then you cook it with the other ingredients.
Once the ingredients are cooked well, the burfi mixture is then poured into a pan or tray and left to set and cool. Then cut into equal sized squares, serve and enjoy!
The Measures for 7 Cups Sweet are:
- 1 measure gram flour (besan)
- 1 measure of fresh coconut
- 1 measure of ghee
- 1 measure of milk
- 3 measures of sugar
In my recipe I have used 1 measure and not 1 cup. Thus this includes:
- ½ cup each of gram flour, coconut, ghee and milk.
- 1.25 cups of sugar. I have used ¼ cup sugar less.
I originally added 1.25 cups of sugar but I felt the burfi was too sweet. So feel free to reduce the sugar to 1 cup. These sweets are easy to prepare and can be made relatively quickly for any festival or celebration. In fact, you can even use the Indian steel bowls (vati) or a small glass for 1 measure. If you need to feed more people then double the recipe.
Two of my readers Durga aunty and Shubha shared this recipe of 7 cups sweet with me and I made it a couple of times during Diwali. After perfecting the recipe I decided to share it.
If preparing for the goddess or any deities, then you can add a pinch of clove powder and a pinch of edible camphor.
How to Make 7 Cup Burfi
Preparation to make the sweet
1. Measure all the ingredients and set them aside for later. You will need ½ cup of besan, ½ cup of fresh grated coconut, ½ cup of milk, ½ cup of ghee and 1.25 cups of sugar.
Tip: You can add 1 cup of sugar instead if you don’t want the 7 cup cake to be too sweet. Make sure you fill the ghee to the top of the cup.
Do note that I have not filled the ghee till the top as I did not want it to spill out while taking photos.
2. Grease a tray or a pan with some ghee.
Roasting Besan
3. Heat a heavy iron kadai or pan on low heat and add ½ cup of besan or gram flour.
4. Stir often and roast the besan for 3 to 4 minutes or until you get a nice nutty aroma.
5. Do not brown the besan.
6. Stir continuously while roasting besan.
Making 7 Cup Burfi
7. Add ½ cup of fresh coconut, ½ cup of ghee and ½ cup of milk.
8. Mix very well and don’t worry about the lumps.
9. Then add 1.25 cups of sugar and ½ teaspoon of cardamom powder.
10. Mix very well and stir so that the sugar dissolves. The mixture should eventually become liquid-like.
11. Keep on stirring and cook on low heat.
12. The mixture will begin to thicken and reduce.
13. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Stir and scrape the bottom and sides of the kadai non-stop as you mix. If you do not scrape the pan then the mixture will stick to the pan and get browned or burnt.
Tip: It is best to use a flat steel spatula (palta) when scraping the burfi mixture.
14. Continue to cook the mixture until the ghee gets released from the sides. Once the barfi mixture looks like one molten mass and has some bubbles switch off the heat. Be careful not to cook the mixture too much as the barfi will become hard and crumbly.
Setting the 7 Cups Sweet
15. Immediately pour the entire mixture into the greased tray or pan.
16. Smooth the top using a spatula or spoon.
17. Allow the burfi to cool down to room temperature.
18. Below is a photo of a set 7 cup barfi block.
19. Then cut the block into equal sized chunks using a sharp knife. Serve 7 cup burfi or store in an air-tight box. Store burfi at room temperature in cold seasons for about 1 day or you can refrigerate.
20. If making for religious festivals then offer the 7 cups sweet to the deities or serve as a sweet.
Helpful Tips to make 7 Cup Cake
- Ingredients: You will need to stir continuosly when cooking the burfi so make sure you measure and prepare all of the ingredients before cooking.
- Coconut: It add a delicious flavor and texture to this sweet. For this recipe, I used fresh coconut but you can also use desiccated coconut instead if you don’t have fresh coconut at home. If you are using desiccated coconut then you won’t have to cook the barfi for so long.
- Sugar: Though this recipe calls for seven measurements you can vary the amount of sugar you add depending on your taste. I prefer to add just one cup of sugar to get the perfect balance of sweetness. But in this recipe I have used 1.25 cups of sugar.
- Stir: When making the burfi mixture continuously stir the mixture to prevent sticking and burning at the bottom of the pan. Once cooked, the barfi mixture should resemble molten mass and have a few bubbles.
- Scaling: This recipe typically serves four people but if you would like to feed more people then feel free to double or triple the recipe.
FAQs for 7 Cup Burfi
Yes, feel free to use dry coconut instead if you don’t have any fresh coconut on hand.
The burfi mixture is still sticky because it needs to be cooked for a few more minutes. The stickiness comes from the sugar in the 7 cup burfi mixture when it has not formed 1 or 2 string consistencies. When making burfi a 1 or 2 string consistency is required.
As we are not making the sugar syrup separately you must make sure that the burfi mixture is cooked well. The ghee should release from the sides and the barfi mixture should look like one molten mass with some bubbles. If the mixture looks dense, hard or dry, then sprinkle some water or milk on top to add moisture while cooking.
It usually takes around 30 to 40 minutes for burfi to set. However, it does depend on the season. In winter burfi mixtures set quickly but in summer it takes longer to set due to the heat.
Besan should be roasted for 3 to 4 minutes before adding the other ingredients. Be careful not to burn the besan when roasting as this will effect the taste of the sweet. So stir often when roasting.
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7 Cups Sweet Recipe | Easy 7 Cup Burfi | 7 Cup Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup besan (gram flour) or 50 grams
- ½ cup fresh coconut or 35 grams fresh coconut
- ½ cup Ghee or 100 to 110 grams ghee (clarified butter)
- ½ cup milk
- 1.25 cups sugar or 200 to 210 grams sugar
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
Preparation
- Take all the ingredients and keep them ready – besan, grated coconut, milk, ghee and sugar. Instead of 1.25 cup sugar, you can use 1 cup sugar.
- Grease a tray or a pan with some ghee.
Roasting gram flour
- Heat a heavy iron kadai or pan. Keep the heat to a low and add besan or gram flour.
- Stir often and roast the besan for 3 to 4 minutes or till you get a nice nutty aroma from it.
- Do not brown the besan. Also stir continuously while roasting besan.
Making 7 cup burfi
- Once the besan becomes aromatic, then add fresh coconut, ghee and milk.
- Mix very well.
- Then add sugar and cardamom powder.
- Mix again very well and stir so that the sugar dissolves. The mixture will also become liquid like.
- Keep on stirring and cooking on a low heat.
- The mixture will begin to thicken and reduce.
- Continue to cook and stir till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. While stirring also scrape the bottom of the kadai and the sides. If you do not scrape, then the mixture starts sticking and gets browned or burnt. So you have to non stop stir and scrape. do use flat steel spatula (palta) as this helps in scraping the besan mixture.
- Even after leaving the sides of the pan, Continue to cook till you see ghee releasing from the sides. When the burfi mixture looks like one molten mass with some bubbles and ghee releasing from the sides, then switch off the flame.
- If you cook too much, then the burfi will become hard and crumbly.
Setting the 7 cups sweet
- Immediately pour the entire burfi mixture in the greased tray or pan.
- With a spatula or spoon, even and smoothen the top.
- Let the burfi become warm or cool down at room temperature.
- Then cut with a sharp knife and serve 7 cup burfi or store in an air-tight box. You can keep the barfi at room temperature in a cold season for 1 day or you can refrigerate.
- Offer the 7 cup burfi to the deities or serve as a sweet.
Notes
- The recipe can be doubled but will involve more handwork.
- You can use desiccated coconut instead of fresh coconut. With desiccated coconut, the cooking time will be less.
- You can also reduce the sugar to 1 cup.
- Use fresh besan within its shelf period. Do not use rancid besan.
- Desi ghee gives a really good flavor and taste in this 7 cups sweet.
- A lot of handwork is needed to roast and stir the mixture. At no point the besan or the burfi mixture should get burnt or browned from the bottom. So keep this in mind while making this sweet.
- In a warm or hot climate refrigerate this sweet.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This 7 Cup Burfi post from the blog archives first published in January 2017 has been republished and updated on 29 August 2021.
I loved it. It is super easy . Also, it one of those kind of recipes where you literally get everything at home and is perfect for occassions where you need sweets immediately.
Thank you Anvita. Glad you liked the recipe.
Hi Dassana
Can we use milkmaid instead of milk here? Please suggest.
Thanks in advance.
You can try with milkmaid and I think the recipe should work.
Thank you so much for the recipe and the step by step method. The burfi came out really well and tasted good.
Great to know and thanks for sharing the feedback on the recipe.
So simple and so delicious. Thank you and keep up the good work. 👍
Thank you for the feedback and most welcome.
Hi… Absolutely love your webpage…have some of your recipes and they have turned out to be simple delicious ones 🙂 thank you for this.
Tried the 7cup sweet. Can i use a glass bowl to cool the mix incase i do not have a metal tray?
Thanks Shubhra. I would suggest to use a steel or an aluminium bowl or a baking pan. As when you cut the set 7 cup burfi in slices, the knife will leaves scratches in the glass bowl.
Thank u for your previous reply.
Will get a tray if plan to make more sweets 🙂
Tasted well …but was wayyy off from the texture. Though by now it’s all made and half eaten off as well. Tasted really good. But it was Halwa like(i think someone else also had it of that consistency). Also felt ghee was a bit more…. Reading now that maybe i needed to cook it a bit more…. We froze it …after abt 3-4 hours of hoping it would cool down. And now scooping it off the plate. Thank you again
Welcome Shubra. It looks like more cooking was required as you mention the consistency was halwa like. Sweets like these have to be cooked perfectly so that they set on cooling. It takes some practice and skill. But once you get the knack it is very easy. Ghee is not more in this recipe. Moreover the ghee condenses after cooling and helps in thickening the burfi. I hope this helps and welcome.
Your recipes r super I tried mor than 15recipes of yours
thank you parvathi. glad to know that the recipes are turning out super.
Super
Can I use dry coconut insted fresh coconut
yes you can use dry coconut.
I tried this recipe, however the barfis have not come solid. They are sticky like halva. What’s the solution to that. What could be the possible reason for that
the burfi mixture needs to be cooked for some more minutes. thats why the stickiness. stickiness is from the sugar consistency in the 7 cup burfi mixture which has not formed 1 or 2 string consistencies. for burfi, usually a 1 or 2 string consistency is required. so the mixture has to be cooked more. since we are not making the sugar syrup separately here, we need to check the burfi mixture if its done or not. the method used is that ghee should release from the sides and the barfi mixture looks like one molten mass with some bubbles. you can keep the back the mixture on a pan and continue to cook for some more minutes. if the mixture looks dense or hard or dry, then sprinkle some water or milk. mix and continue to cook.
Dassana, thank you so much for your tips and troubleshooting. Next time I’ll cook it for longer and see how it goes. Good to know that the ghee on top is acceptable. Thank you so much!
welcome anjali. do share how does it turn for you the next time.
Hi Dassana! I love all your recipes and your entire blog. It’s my biggest cooking resource and has helped me impress my family on numerous occasions 🙂
I had trouble with getting this barfi to set. On the first try, the ghee collected on top and wouldn’t incorporate despite stirring for some time. The barfi was moist and somewhat liquidy. The second time, I halved the amount of ghee with similar results. Some people online suggested adding a small amount of water to thicken it, but this also didn’t work. Per my mom’s suggestion, I kept it in the oven at very low heat for a couple of hours, but it did not dry up much. Have you ever encountered this? Would you have any recommendations? I live in a hot & humid area. Thank you so much as always!
thanks a lot anjali. the ghee collecting on top is ghee releasing from the mixture. its fine. when the mixture is still slightly hot or warm, you can remove the excess ghee in another bowl. just like its done when preparing mysore pak. if a lot of ghee is used, then its is removed. depending on the quality and fluidity of ghee, this can happen. liquidy and moist is because the burfi mixture needs to cook more. so cook it for some more minutes.
here the sugar needs to cook to a soft ball consistency stage. this can’t be checked in this recipe. but when the burfi mixture looks like one mass and you see bubbles in it, thats the time to remove it from the pan. also i guess the oven method won’t work as at a low heat the sugar won’t come to this consistency. if ever this happens again, then again take the halwa mixture in a pan. you can add some water or milk it the mixture looks thick. then again cook it for some minutes till the mixture looks like one molten mass. then pour in a pan and let it set.
Hi dassana, Have prepared it last Sunday and it turned out very tasty.
Just curious to know, how long does it take to get set at room temperature?
We could only resist ourself for 15min and emptied the plate before it was even set 🙂
thanks mohana. it takes about 30 to 40 minutes. also depends on the temp conditions. in winter sets quickly and in summers takes some more time.
can I use dry coconut instead of fresh?
shilpa, yes you can use.
I’m a cynic of coconut in sweets since I’ve always felt they don’t go very well together. But of course, that’s just me. I make this often but use ground cashews/ almond in place of coconut and AP flour in place of besan since the latter has a very telling effect on my stomach ulcers.
Thanks Deepti for sharing version of making this dish.
Pls tell what is AP flour.
AP flour is all purpose flour and is known as maida or refined flour in india.
HI, looks yummy, can i replace coconut with carrot, with same measure?
Thanks Nagaveni. I won’t suggest this.
Great recipe, as always. Approx. how many minutes each for roasting besan alone and how many minutes each for roasting all ingredients together. Keep up the fantastic work
Thanks Shilpi. For besan its 3 to 4 minutes. Rest will depend upon the flame intensity, size of pan and thickness of pan. So difficult to say. Even for besan the timing can vary.