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My grandmother made her best cake on the days when the cupboard was nearly bare. No buttermilk, no sour cream, no fruit, nothing fancy at all. Just eggs, sugar, a little flour, a little baking powder, and the milk and butter that were always there. The first time I made it on my own, I poured the batter into the pan and was sure I had made soup. It was thin and runny and it looked like a mistake. I almost threw it out. It came out of the oven tall and golden, with a crumb so soft and springy it bounced back under a finger, and I understood why she never needed another plain cake.
Hot milk cake is an old American farmhouse cake, sometimes called hot milk sponge cake, and it sits halfway between a sponge and a butter cake. The eggs and sugar are beaten for a long time until they are thick and pale, which builds the air. The flour is folded in gently. Then milk heated with butter until it steams is poured into the batter. The heat warms the eggs and sugar, loosens the batter, and helps the cake rise light and even with a tender crumb and a thin, crackly golden top. My grandmother ate it plain with coffee. On Sundays she spread butter, brown sugar and coconut or pecans over the top and slid it under the broiler until it bubbled.
Why this hot milk cake works
- Eggs beaten to the ribbon. Beating the eggs and sugar until thick and pale traps the air that lifts the cake. This is the step not to rush.
- Hot milk with butter. The steaming milk melts the butter, warms the batter and gives a fine, moist, even crumb with no dry edges.
- A thin batter is correct. Because there is so much liquid and so little flour, the batter pours like pancake batter. That is what makes the cake soft.
- Gentle folding. Folding the flour in by hand keeps the air from the eggs. A mixer on high at this stage knocks it out.
- Pantry ingredients only. Nothing in this cake has to be bought specially. It is the cake for the end of the week.
Ingredients
Makes one 9 inch square cake, about 9 squares. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the cake
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk (120ml)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the broiled topping (optional)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (42g)
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (100g)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk (30ml)
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut or chopped pecans (40g coconut or 55g pecans)
Room temperature eggs whip up thicker and higher than cold ones. If yours are straight from the refrigerator, set them in a bowl of warm tap water for 10 minutes before you start.
How to make hot milk cake
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees (175°C). Grease a 9 inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment, or grease and flour it well.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high for about 1 minute. Add the sugar gradually and keep beating for 4 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale and falls from the beaters in a slow ribbon that sits on the surface for a moment.
- Beat in the vanilla. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the eggs and fold it in gently with a spatula, just until no dry flour shows.
- Put the milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the milk is steaming hot, with tiny bubbles around the edge, about 180 degrees (82°C). Do not let it boil.
- Pour the hot milk into the batter in a slow stream while stirring gently, until smooth. The batter will be thin and pourable. That is right.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden, the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- For the plain cake, cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes before cutting. For the broiled topping, stir the softened butter, brown sugar, milk and coconut or pecans together, spread it gently over the hot cake, and broil 4 inches from the heat for 1 to 3 minutes, watching every second, until bubbling and golden. Cool 20 minutes before cutting.
Tips that make the difference
- Time the eggs. Four to five minutes of beating feels long, but it is where the whole rise comes from.
- Heat the milk while the eggs are beating so it is still hot when the batter is ready. Lukewarm milk gives a heavier cake.
- Pour the milk in slowly. Dumping it all at once can deflate the batter.
- Never open the oven in the first 20 minutes. A sponge-style cake sinks if the door lets the heat out early.
- Under the broiler, the topping goes from golden to burnt in seconds. Stay right there with the oven door open a crack.
Variations
- Lazy daisy style. Use coconut in the broiled topping, the way the old farm cookbooks called it lazy daisy cake.
- Lemon. Add the finely grated zest of one lemon with the vanilla and serve plain with a dusting of powdered sugar.
- Strawberry shortcake. Split squares of the plain cake and fill them with sliced sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.
- Doubled. Double everything and bake in a 9x13 inch pan for 35 to 40 minutes.
Storage and make-ahead
Keep the cake covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. A clean kitchen towel over the pan keeps the broiled topping crisp; plastic wrap softens it.
The plain cake freezes well. Wrap squares in plastic and foil and freeze for up to 2 months, then thaw on the counter, still wrapped.
Bake the plain cake a day ahead if you like and add the broiled topping just before serving, warming the cake for a few minutes in the oven first.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my hot milk cake batter so thin?
Because it is supposed to be. There is a lot of hot liquid and very little flour, so the batter pours like pancake batter. The beaten eggs hold it together in the oven, and the thin batter is what makes the crumb so soft.
How hot should the milk be?
Steaming hot, about 180 degrees (82°C), with small bubbles at the edge of the pan, but not boiling. Boiled milk forms a skin and can scramble the eggs when it goes in.
Why did my hot milk cake sink?
Usually the eggs were not beaten long enough, the flour was stirred in too hard, or the oven door was opened early. Beat the eggs until they ribbon, fold gently, and leave the door shut.
Can I use a stand mixer?
Yes, for beating the eggs and sugar. Use the whisk attachment on high. Fold the flour in by hand.
If the batter looks like soup, you did it right. Pour it in, close the oven, and let a bare cupboard make the best plain cake in the house.
Old-Fashioned Hot Milk Cake (The Cake Made From a Bare Cupboard)
Grandma's hot milk cake: eggs and sugar beaten thick, flour folded in, then hot milk with butter poured into the batter. Baked at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes in a 9 inch square pan, with an optional broiled brown sugar topping.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut or chopped pecans
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees (175°C). Grease a 9 inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment, or grease and flour it well.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high for about 1 minute. Add the sugar gradually and keep beating for 4 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale and falls from the beaters in a slow ribbon that sits on the surface for a moment.
- Beat in the vanilla. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the eggs and fold it in gently with a spatula, just until no dry flour shows.
- Put the milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the milk is steaming hot, with tiny bubbles around the edge, about 180 degrees (82°C). Do not let it boil.
- Pour the hot milk into the batter in a slow stream while stirring gently, until smooth. The batter will be thin and pourable. That is right.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden, the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- For the plain cake, cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes before cutting. For the broiled topping, stir the softened butter, brown sugar, milk and coconut or pecans together, spread it gently over the hot cake, and broil 4 inches from the heat for 1 to 3 minutes, watching every second, until bubbling and golden. Cool 20 minutes before cutting.
