How to Make Milk Cake

Baking a Hot Milk Cake

Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Place the oven rack in the middle position.

Grease and flour a 12-cup tube pan. You can also use a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. You can rub about a teaspoon of butter on the pan before you use it, as it will add an extra layer of depth to the flavor of the cake. You can also use shortening or dab just enough vegetable or coconut oil to evenly cover the pan. Both of these options will prevent your cake from sticking to the pan. Try not to use cooking sprays to grease your pan, if possible. These are convenient, but areas where the heat doesn’t burn the spray off can become sticky or pasty over time, meaning you’ll have to replace your pan sooner rather than later. Coat the greased cake pan with a couple of spoonfuls of flour, enough to create a thin dusting which will prevent the grease from absorbing into the batter when the cake is baking.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together. You can do this in a mixer bowl. If you have an electric mixer, whisk on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Do this in a medium bowl. Stir in vanilla.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium heat.

Stir in the milk and vanilla. Stir until the mixture is hot but not boiling. You can tell you have reached this sweet spot between hot and boiling when you see small bubbles start to form around the edges of the saucepan. That is your indication to reduce the heat to low. If the mixture does boil, simply lower the temperature immediately. Boiling milk will cause it to curdle, thus potentially affecting the texture of your cake. If you notice that the milk has curdled too much, it may be best to start again - melt the butter once more, then add the milk and vanilla. Otherwise, go ahead and use the milk - it is safe to do so.

Add the egg/sugar mixture and the flour mixture to the saucepan with hot milk. Do this slowly, alternating between adding egg mixture and adding flour mixture. Keep mixing throughout this process. When you have added both mixtures to the saucepan, pour the batter into the greased pan.

Bake the cake for 1 hour at 325°F (163°C). Rotate the pan at least once during this hour. Check 15 minutes prior to the end of the hour to make sure your cake is baking evenly. To test whether the cake is baking evenly, remove the cake from the oven and poke it in the middle with a toothpick. The toothpick should come out clean or with only a few crumbles. Batter on the toothpick means the cake needs to stay in the oven for longer. The cake should be golden when it’s ready.

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. You can then transfer the cake to a serving plate to allow it to fully cool down.

Top the cake while it’s still warm. Great toppings for a hot milk cake include fruit, broiled coconut, or powdered sugar icing.

Baking a Tres Leches Milk Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Place the oven rack in the middle position.

Grease and flour a 9x13in (23x33cm) baking pan. Using a stick of butter or spreading a small amount of vegetable or coconut oil on the bottom and sides of the pan are all good ways to grease the pan.

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Do this in a medium bowl.

Mix ½ cup of butter and 1 cup of white sugar together. Do this in a medium bowl. Add in eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix until the ingredients are well integrated.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Do this 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing the ingredients continually. When you have mixed your ingredients, pour the batter into the greased pan.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes. Rotate your cake at least once during the half hour. Test the readiness of the cake by poking it with a toothpick; the toothpick should come out clean.

Cool your cake in the pan for 30 minutes to an hour. This will allow you to get your desired texture and to be able to release the cake into a plate once you are ready to store or serve it.

Mix the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour the combination of the three over the cake.

Mix the heavy whipping cream, ½ cup of white sugar, and ½ tsp of vanilla together. Spread this over the top of the cake.

Baking Indian Milk Cake/Kalakand

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan. Heat milk on a high setting until it comes to a boil. Lower the heat to medium once the milk is boiling. Stir the milk at regular intervals as it comes to a boil. This will prevent it from sticking to the pan.

Add 1.5 tbsp of lemon juice to the saucepan. Keeping the heat at medium, mix in the lemon until it curdles.

Strain the whey. Strain 2 ½ cups (600 ml) to reduce the sourness of the mixture. Keep stirring the mixture, now on a low heat, until the consistency is dense, which should take about 10 minutes.

Add all of your sugar. Keep stirring the mixture.

Add 1 or 2 pinches of cardamom powder to the mixture. Using a small amount of green cardamom can lend your cake a minty yet sweet flavor.

Add ½ tbsp of ghee to the mixture. Stir until well mixed. Use the other ½ tbsp of ghee to grease the plate or pan you will place your cake on.

Transfer your mixture to the plate or pan. Shape the cake by pressing firmly on all sides until it molds to the shape of the plate/pan.

Garnish the cake with pistachios. You can use a handful of pistachios - just enough to be decorative but not too much that the flavor is overpowering.

Wait 24 hours for the cake to cool. You can leave the cake on the countertop or place it in the refrigerator if you would like it to cool faster.

Serve your cake. To remove the cake from the pan, run a knife around the edges, re-heat the pan for 5-6 seconds over medium heat, then flip the cake over a plate. Cut the cake into square pieces.