Hot milk cake is a

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during ...

from

American cuisine American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, Indigenous Americans, Africans, Latin Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other ...

. It can be made as a

sheet cake Sheet or Sheets may refer to: * Bed sheet A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, b ...

or a

layer cake A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by a filling such as frosting, jam, or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butte ...

, or baked in a tube pan. The hot milk and butter give the cake a distinctive fine-grained texture, similar to

pound cake Pound cake is a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Pound cakes are generally baked in either a loaf pan or a Bundt mold. They are sometimes served either dusted with powd ...

. Hot milk cake gets its distinctive flavor from the

scalded milk Scalded milk is dairy milk that has been heated to . At this temperature, bacteria are killed, enzymes in the milk are destroyed, and many of the proteins are denatured. Since most milk sold today is pasteurized, which accomplishes the first two ...

that is the liquid component of the batter. It differs from traditional sponge cakes, such as

angel food cake Angel food cake, or angel cake, is a type of sponge cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar. A whipping agent, such as cream of tartar, is commonly added. It differs from other cakes because it uses no butter. Its aerated texture comes from ...

genoise A génoise (, , ; usually spelled genoise in English), also known as Genoese cake or Genovese cake, is a French sponge cake named after the city of Genoa and associated with French cuisine. Instead of using chemical leavening, air is suspend ...

, in that it contains baking powder as leavening instead of just egg whites, so it can be made with butter like a

Victoria sponge Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during t ...

. The eggs are beaten together whole instead of whipped as yolks and whites separately.

Preparation

Eggs are creamed with sugar, then flour is added. The milk is heated with butter until the butter has melted. This hot milk–butter mixture is poured into the batter all at once, and the batter is mixed until it cools. The heat begins cooking the eggs while the cake it being mixed.

Baking powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increas ...

is added at the last stage before the cake is baked. This method gives the cake a fine-grained texture that is more similar to

than traditional egg-leavened

sponge cakes Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during t ...

. The milk in the cake can be reconstituted from

powdered milk Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...

. Making it requires less effort and skill than a

chiffon cake A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings. Chiffon cakes (as well as angel food or Michelle cake, sponge, and other foam cakes) achieve a fluffy texture by having egg white ...

History

A simple recipe from 1911 is made with sugar, eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and hot milk, with optional ingredients of chocolate, nuts or coconut. Compared to a typical

butter cake A butter cake is a cake in which one of the main ingredients is butter. Butter cake is baked with basic ingredients: butter, sugar, Egg (food), eggs, flour, and leavening agents such as baking powder or baking soda. It is considered one of the q ...

, a hot milk cake uses fewer expensive ingredients, so it became popular during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and among people coping with the restrictions of rationing during World War II. A recipe from Ruth Ellen Church, a former food editor for the ''Chicago Tribune'' (who sometimes wrote under the pen name Mary Meade) was published in 1955. It has

mocha Mocha may refer to: Places * Mokha, a city in Yemen * Mocha Island, an island in Biobío Region, Chile * Mocha, Chile, a town in Chile * Mocha, Ecuador, a city in Ecuador * Mocha Canton, a government subdivision in Ecuador * Mocha, a segmen ...

-flavored icing, and is moist and delicate. Hot milk cake has been served every year since 1991 at the

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

Historical Society's annual Strawberry Festival at Thurgood Marshall International Airport.

References

{{Cakes American cakes Sponge cakes

Preparation

History

See also

References