{"id":25624,"date":"2021-05-17T11:30:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T15:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/?p=25624"},"modified":"2025-08-20T15:06:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T19:06:27","slug":"hot-milk-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/hot-milk-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot Milk Cake (Easy Sponge Cake Recipe)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is an easy recipe for a hot milk cake<\/strong>, a sponge cake that makes an excellent base for layer cakes and trifle<\/em>. This is an easy sponge cake recipe, the perfect base for many of summer desserts, like Victoria sponge cake, fraisier and framboisier cakes, and berry trifles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sponge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The hot milk cake is my favourite for summer layer cakes and desserts because it is moist, sweet, light, and fluffy! This sponge cake was a recipe from my mom's recipe box. She made it every summer for her berry trifles, combining it with layers of lightly sweetened whipped cream<\/a> and pastry cream<\/a> in a big trifle dish. You can see how this sponge cake soaks up syrup and alcohol in trifles, like in this Christmas trifle<\/a>. I also use it to make this gorgeous framboisier cake<\/a> (or the classic strawberry version, the fraisier cake) and these raspberry lamingtons<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my family, we don't call this a hot milk sponge cake: it's called a \"Zilla's cake\" on my grandmother's recipe card. We don't know who Zilla is, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n[feast_advanced_jump_to]\n\n\n

Hot Milk Cake Explained<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hot milk cake is a wonderfully light and fluffy sponge cake: when you press on it lightly with your finger, you can hear the sound of the air releasing from inside the tiny bubbles of the cake, like pressing a sponge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets its name from the ingredients used to make this particular type of sponge cake: it's made with milk that was warmed hot enough to melt the butter. It's also made from whipped eggs, giving it a light, fluffy texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could compare this sponge cake to a genoise, but this is much, much easier to throw together: you don't need to carefully fold the flour into airy, whipped eggs and sugar. Yet this cake is more airy and tender than a classic g\u00e9noise because of the milk in the cake batter and also the leavening agent<\/a> used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients To Make The Easiest Sponge Cake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This cake is a classic British recipe made from simple ingredients that most bakers and households have on hand at all times. This recipe calls for a chemical leavener<\/a>, baking powder<\/a>, which gives this sponge cake a more open crumb and a light texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Ingredients<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As suggested by its name, this cake is made with hot milk (or warm milk) and also melted butter, two ingredients that aren't usually included in most sponge cake recipes. The milk and butter create a tender cake that is even lighter than classic sponge cakes. Some recipes also include oil, which will give a more moist texture and mouthfeel than butter does. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Steps To Make Hot Milk Cake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think this is the easiest sponge cake you can make. Like most sponge cakes, the mixing method<\/a> involves whipping the eggs with the sugar for several minutes to incorporate air and create volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The baking powder helps create more volume as the cake bakes, which means you don't have to be so worried about folding in the dry ingredients into the whipped eggs to maintain that air and volume: the baking powder will compensate for any loss of air during the mixing so you always get a light cake, even if you under-whipped the eggs or mix the batter a little too roughly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Heating<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 1<\/strong>\u2014Start by combining the butter and milk in a microwave-safe bowl or a large measuring cup (image 1<\/strong>) and heat the mixture until the butter melts and the milk is hot (image 2<\/strong>). Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients. I like to sift them to remove any lumps (image 3<\/strong>) and to lighten the mixture.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Whipping<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 2<\/strong>\u2014You can either use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or an electric hand mixer to combine the eggs and sugar (image 4<\/strong>), whipping them together until pale, fluffy and thick (image 5<\/strong>). At this stage, my mom who makes this cake with an electric hand mixer<\/a> likes to add the dry ingredients and milk alternately, using the hand mixer to mix them in (image 6<\/strong>). I sometimes fold these ingredients in using a spatula<\/a> (image 7<\/strong>). The cake batter should still be very fluffy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip<\/strong>: The mixture will be pretty thick, and when you lift the whisk, the batter falls off like a ribbon and is relatively stable.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Hot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 3<\/strong>\u2014Transfer the cake batter to a greased and floured cake pan (either 8-inch<\/a> or 9-inch<\/a> springform pans or tall 8-inch<\/a> or 9-inch<\/a> cake pans). I like to line the bottom to ensure the cake doesn't stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note<\/strong>: My mom baked this cake in a tube pan. Sometimes she would butter and dust the pan with granulated sugar instead of flour.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Freshly<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My hot milk cakes generally bake into flat layers, so they don't require levelling, making them ideal for layering without extra work!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Baking Tips For Hot Milk Cakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hot milk cake is a sponge cake, so there are a few important steps to take to ensure you will be successful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n