A reacurring theme of late winter is milk. This is likely due to the sheep in the fields being almost full term, ready to birth their babies come March and April. Without birth there is no milk and spring is a time of rebirth and new life. With this in mind I find myself musing over baking with milk. What kind of cake can I make to celebrate this time of year and its connection with this particular ingredient? I found my answer in this months cake-an Imbolc Milk cake similar to the Mexican Tres Leche cake- a mega milky celebration of vanilla undertones and white chocolate flavours.
Here’s how to make it:
Heat your oven to 180C and line a 20cm cake tin. Put 4 egg whites into a bowl and add a pinch of fine salt. Beat well until the whites are foamy then add 150g of caster sugar, one tbsp at a time until it is all incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix the 4 egg yolks with 50g caster sugar and a tsp of vanilla extract until light and slightly bubbly. Then add 200g plain flour, 1tsp baking powder and 100ml milk to the egg yolks and gently fold together.
Now add one dollap of the stiff egg whites into this mix and beat well. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites, trying to keep the mixture light and airated.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 35-40minutes or until cooked through. A skewer should come out clean. Let the cake cool a little in the tin before turning it out onto a plate. Using a skwer make small holes all over the cake.
Now in a clean bowl mix together one tin of condensed milk, one tin of evaporated milk and 3 tbsp of double cream. Then gradually pour this sweet milky liquid over your cake and let it steep in preferably for a full day. You can decorate your cake once its fully cooled with whipped cream and some dried rosepetals.