Hot milk cake recipe – with a lemon twist

Not to be confused with Tres Leches Cake (or 3 milk cake), Hot Milk Cake is an old fashioned cake made with (you don’t say!) hot milk. I discovered it online when looking for more ideas to use up excess milk, and decided it was worth a try.

The OH is used to having pudding nearly every day if he’s eating at the farm, and that includes cake at lunchtimes. So if I can bake a cake once a week, it’ll generally serve him and N for at least a few days. 

N prefers a plain sponge to chocolate cake, so I knew he’d be happy to try this one. 

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Most recipes I’ve seen for hot milk cake suggested using a bundt tin* but as I’m using my aga for baking, it’s a bit hit and miss on timings for cakes, so thought making it as a sandwiched cake would be better. Plus more acceptable to my OH who likes some kind of icing on a cake.

I was horrified at how much sugar this cake needs.  Recipes were generally saying 400g but I decided to cut the sugar down slightly to 350g and it was still sweet enough.  You don’t taste the sweetness when eating it,  so don’t panic about the amount it asks for. It does work.

I used 2 x 20 cm removable base cake tins and didn’t fill them totally up to the top just in case the cake spilled over the top as it baked. (I just ate the raw cake mix left – ssh!).  It’s quite a liquid cake batter, but it will cook through.  

If you’re using a bundt tin, you’ll obviously need to bake for a bit longer (potentially up to an hour). If it’s browning too much, just cover loosely with foil to stop it burning. 

The recipe is so straightforward to do. I prefer heating the milk in the microwave because I always burn milk when I heat it on the Aga, But it can be easily heated in a saucepan on the stove, just keep stirring and don’t let it get too hot.

Once cooled I turned out the 2 cakes, peeled off the baking paper and set on a plate. I spread lemon curd on one cake, topped it with the second cake, then made up some icing from icing sugar and lemon juice to drizzle over. I found my cakes rose well but with a flat top which is perfect for a sandwich cake. And unheard of when I do a Victoria sponge.

Hot milk cake is more dense than plain Victoria sponge, but still light enough not to feel heavy as you’re eating it. I loved it with the lemon flavour, and both the OH and N demolished it over the next couple of days. It’s one I’ll be making again.

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