Hot Milk Sponge Cake

You can now make soft, fluffy, light as air sponge cake right at home. This hot milk sponge cake is just like the fresh sponge cake you buy in bakeries. My Maamiyaar thought it was a boxed sponge cake mix and was surprised at how fluffy the cake was. This sponge cake was a runaway hit with the entire family and the best part was that Yuvi, my 2-year old little tyrant loved it. He is generally never interested in food, but he loves beverages (He drinks Pepsi, Coke, Bovonto, Maaza and even Paneer Soda). He really enjoyed this sponge cake and I was pleasantly surprised to see the last few slices gone the next day when I returned from office. Hasini and Yuvi had polished them off. I was the happiest woman that day.

I know the pictures do no justice to this cake. But please bear with me.

The recipe is from “The Cake Book” by Tish Boyle. It’s a beautiful book full of delightful cake recipes and this Hot milk sponge cake is one of the simplest in the book. I bought it off Amazon and had it shipped to Jagan’s UK address. Everytime Jagan travels abroad, I order books from Amazon because I can’t afford their shipping fees to India which usually work out to more than the book cost.

This sponge cake bakes beautifully to a fine crumbed, lovely golden crusted cake. It keeps well refrigerated for up to a week but I am sure it won’t last that long. It’s delicious as it is but if you want to fancy it for guests or a party, you could top it with a little jam or whipped cream. It is great for kids’ snack boxes. I packed these for Hasini and Yuvi’s snack boxes and they came home empty. An empty box is always a good sign. I am sending this to Srivalli's Kid's Delight Potluck party event.

Prep time: 20 mins
Baking time: 30 mins
Makes: 16 small slices

Ingredients

Cake Flour – 1-1/2 cups
Baking Powder – 1-1/4 tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Milk – ½ cup (120 ml)
Butter – 4 tbsp
Eggs – 3 large
Granulated Sugar – ¾ cup
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Method

1.      Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch pan. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.

2.      In a saucepan, heat milk and butter together until the butter melts. Switch off and set aside.

3.      Sift together flour, baking powder and salt twice. Set aside.

4.      Beat eggs at high speed until blended. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until tripled in volume - about 6 minutes.

5.      Sift one-third of the flour on to the egg mixture and gently fold. Repeat with remaining flour adding it in 2 more additions.

6.      Re-heat milk mixture to just under a boil. Add it all at once and fold it in. Scrape batter into the prepared pan.

7.      Bake for 20-25 minutes or until it springs back when lightly touched. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 mins. Slice and serve as is or with fruit jam.

Notes:

1.      Make sure to reheat the milk before adding to the batter and make sure it is just under a boil. Once the milk is added, make sure to fold in thoroughly from the bottom of the pan, otherwise it forms a skin at the bottom.

2.      I used ordinary all purpose flour (maida) instead of cake four. To make 1 cup of cake flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour from 1 cup of all purpose flour and replace with 2 tablespoons of cornflour. I replaced 3 tablespoons of maida with 3 tablespoons of cornflour to make 1-1/2 cups.