Hot Milk Sponge Cake

This Hot Milk Sponge Cake is the last cake recipe from Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoë François for the Cake Slice Bakers group that I'm making this year.  It's been an amazing book and I definitely recommend it for delicious cakes.

Her cakes are familiar, but updated with modern and interesting twists.  You can search on my site for her cakes and you'll get a list of the cakes of hers that I've made this year. 

One of my favorites is Blueberry Muffin Cake...outstanding!  But for now - here's the Hot Milk Sponge Cake:

It may sound ho-hum, but the end result is a soft, loose crumbed cake that's very tasty. 

Zoë recommends serving the cake with a dollop of whipped cream, lemon curd, or just sprinkled with strawberries.  That's great advice for this simple cake so that you'll get full flavor and texture of it in every bite.

Of course, in my house if it's a cake, it needs to be frosted (not so much for me as for my husband), so I used my all-time favorite chocolate buttercream frosting for it.  You can find the recipe here.  

A Few Things About This Recipe:

• It only takes 2 tablespoons of oil  (no butter).
• The 'hot milk' part is a combination of milk, the oil, sugar and vanilla lightly boiled on the stovetop.
• Use parchment paper for the bottom of the cake pans, but don't grease/spray the sides so the cake can climb up the sides while baking.
• Be sure the eggs are at room temperature so they'll incorporate into the batter better.
• Beat the egg mixture as long as the recipe says - it makes the cake have that 'spongy' texture.

Hot Milk Sponge Cake is fairly easy to throw together and the 15-20 minute baking time is rather short.  (Not counting getting the eggs to room temperature, of course!).  It would really be good unfrosted with fruit on the side for a tasty end to a brunch or lunch.

The Cake Slice Baker group chose a bunch of different recipes to end this year of baking, so be sure and check them out (links below the recipe).  Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2023 cake recipe book we'll be using.

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Hot Milk Sponge Cake

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Spongy vanilla cake with outstanding chocolate frosting.

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Ingredients

• 2 C plus 1 tablespoon (230g) cake flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 ½ C (300g) granulated sugar, divided
• ¾ C (175ml) milk
• 2 tablespoon canola (or vegetable oil)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Fruit, lemon curd, or frosting as desired

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° (175C). Line the bottoms of two 9" cake pans with parchment paper and grease/spray. Don't spray the sides.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then sift back into the bowl.
3. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs and egg yolks on high speed. After they're combined well and just starting to foam (about 1 minute), turn the speed to medium-low and slowly add ¾ C (150g) of the sugar. Turn the speed to high and let it whip for about 5 minutes.
4. While the eggs are whipping, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk, oil, and remaining ¾ C (150g) of sugar to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
5. Once the eggs are light in color and thick, they should be able to form a ribbon of batter that sits on top of the egg foam for a few seconds when you lift the whisk out of the foam.
6. Turn the mixer speed to low and add the milk mixture to it, slowly drizzling the milk mixture down the inside sides of the bowl.
7. Add the flour mixture, about ⅓ C at a time, scraping down the sides as needed.
8. Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans, running a spatula gently through the batter to pop any large air bubbles. Tap pans gently on the counter a couple of times, also.
9. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes, turning the pans about halfway through baking. A tester should come out clean, and the tops will barely brown.
10. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen the sides. Let cool completely, then turn out onto serving plates. Frost if desired, or serve with fruit or lemon curd.

Notes

The tops of the cooled cakes will be sticky.

Have two cake plates available if you're not frosting them. They'll be served as two one-layer cakes if not frosted.

Mine were done right at 15 minutes - they don't take long to bake.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 156Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 105mgSodium: 197mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 

This is our last cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes, which has been a wonderfully delicious book to bake through. Stay tuned as we will be announcing the next cake-centric book we will be baking through in 2023 soon!

Traditionally our last bake for the year is free choice, and our choices for December 2022 were ~

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs

Chocolate Hazelnut Torte

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Yellow Cake

• A Day in the Life on the Farm

Angel Food Cake

• Karen's Kitchen Stories

• A Little Bit of All Right

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake