I revised a Hot Milk Cake recipe for a friend today. I just love having friends on Instagram! I never knew how much fun it could be to interact with people from all over the world that have the same interest that I have. This recipe is for one of those friends. We met because of a comment on a post and have been communicating about cookbooks, she recommended a new favorite of mine (French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano)! The other day she posted a picture of a cake she had baked following someone’s recipe that she called an epic fail. She asked me what I would recommend she do differently, so I decided to make a Hot Milk Cake myself and see what I thought. I took the recipe she started with and did a little research into other cakes that use hot milk and let me tell you, the one she followed was way more complicated than it needed to be. I revised it the way I thought it should be and it turned out *^#@*^#!* amazing.
Adding the hot milk to the cake mix gives it a head start on the baking process. According to my research, the recipe for traditional hot milk cake dates back to 1955. I made this one as a two-layer cake. One layer of which stuck to the pan and found new life as a trifle. But the other layer was served up with a lemon glaze and some sugared fresh strawberries. Absolutely decadent!
| PREP: 17 minutes | COOK: 30-35 Minutes | YIELD: 2- 9in. Round cakes |
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ⅓ cup of vegetable or canola oil
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter
- 1 cup of milk (whole milk recommended)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Sugared Strawberries
- 8 washed and sliced strawberries
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 1/2 cup of sugar
NOTE: stir together and refrigerate until serving
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup of sifted powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
NOTE: Whisk together and drizzle over cooled cake.
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Spray and flour 2 9 inch round cake pans. (Spray and flour the heck out of them!)
- Using a hand or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix on medium – speed the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly (drizzle) add the oil.
- Swap the attachment to a regular paddle, and mix in (on low speed) the flour (suggestion-add ½ cup, mix, add ½ cup, mix, etc..), then add salt, and baking powder.
- Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom with a spatula to get all the dry ingredients incorporated.
- Now, in a small pot, melt the butter. Add the milk and vanilla, and bring to a bubble. Once it starts to bubble around the edges, remove from heat, and stir to make sure all the butter is melted.
- Start your mixer back up on low speed and pour the milk mixture into the mixing bowl approximately ¼ cup at a time. NOTE: you do this so the milk mixture does not splash out of the bowl and also so it incorporates smoothly.
- Use a spatula before placing the batter into the pans to make sure the mixture is mixed consistently.
- Divide evenly into the pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes (or until the center of cake is firm)
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then continue cooling on wire rakes until completely cool.
- Serve with the topping of your choice.
Enjoy!
Maurie Kay
