A Milk Cake

A recipe on Facebook that found me is from the page, N'oven Foods. Called a Milk Cake, it's very similar to a Buttermilk Cake. Both are sponge cakes. I'm posting the recipe because I think it solves the problem of too much cake without enough visitors to eat it!

The only cakes worth the calories are either homemade from scratch, or made by a good bakery, not from a box of cake mix, but sometimes a 2-layer cake is too much of a good thing. The following recipe is for a 6-inch single-layer homemade cake ... and you can either bake it in an oven or on a stovetop!

Milk Cake by N'oven

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk (Bump it up to condensed, half and half, or cream if you wish.)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar (I use 1/4 cup sugar.)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

I add a tiny pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Mix the butter and milk in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and set aside.

2) In a mixing bowl, crack 2 eggs and using an electric mixer blend for one minute.

3) Add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue mixing until foamy.

4) Next use a strainer to shift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour in the vanilla extract. Continue mixing either with an electric mixer, a whisk, or even a spatula. 

5) Into the bowl, incorporate the hot milk and butter with the dry ingredients and continue mixing.

6) Pour the batter into a well-greased 6" baking pan, The video places the pan on top of a metal trivet inside a bigger pot with a lid to cook on a stovetop for 30 minutes. I'll bake mine inside the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. But if we're ever somewhere (camping?) without a stove, there's an alternate way of "baking" it!

A-ha, the original cooking method on a stovetop explains why this cake is 6" and one layer. I bet you could make the cake without using 2 pans and a metal trivet by simply pouring the batter into a buttered cast iron skillet covered with a lid. Cast iron skillets get very hot and cook evenly on a stovetop or inside an oven. I think since cornbread can either be baked in an oven or cooked in a skillet on a stovetop, the same would work with a Milk Cake. Like pancakes, only slower and higher.

The recipe ended here on Facebook, but not in Debra's kitchen where dark chocolate and a little bit of milk get melted in a microwave and then poured over the finished and cooled Milk Cake. A  ganache topping is France's contribution to the desert world.:)

Clearly, a Milk Cake is editable plain; sprinkled with powdered sugar; or frosted. Icing with shredded nuts, or chocolate sprinkles would work too. You do you!

I've made cakes when a friend was coming over for coffee. My friend eats a slice and I eat a slice and then I have the rest of the cake I no longer want that ends up in the freezer.

This delicious recipe is a coffee hour or tea time keeper! It solves 2 problems: no oven (but you can bake it in the oven) and unwanted leftover cake. Sometimes all we crave is a single day of cake.

You may also enjoy:

Carla Hall's Caramel Cake

Easy Homemade Strawberry Cake

Buttermilk Layer Cake: Vanilla or Chocolate Icing

Swedish Cardamon Cake With Caramelized Topping