Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake

Dense, sweet, and unabashedly decadent, today's Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake is simple to prepare and easy to love.

This recipe keeps well, and would be simply delicious topped with something like a homemade vanilla bean ice cream, or drizzled with a luscious rum sauce.  For a simpler, but equally delicious pairing, consider a specialty coffee.

Below, I'll be providing you with a checklist for everything you'll need to prepare for today's recipe, as well as some key substitutions.

What You'll Need - A Checklist

• Eggs.  Four eggs, yolks and whites, to bind the cake, while adding fat and moisture.
• Butter.  Moisture, fat, and 'buttery flavor.'  Substitutes below.
• Condensed Milk.  Thick, rich, and creamy, with a delicious 'sweet milk' flavor.  This is the star ingredient in today's recipe.  However, I will be providing you a few substitutes below.
• Flour.  I'm using all-purpose flour as a matter of preference, to achieve a slightly denser and heavier cake.  You 'can' use baking flour, though it will result in a slightly lighter cake than is intended by this recipe.  Again, purely preference.
• Vanilla. Vanilla extract or whole beans both work fine.  Vanilla extract and whole beans exchange at a one-to-one ratio in terms of volume.
• Lemon Zest. Completely optional.  I'm using this to give the cake a 'hint' of lemon flavor, just be sure to rinse the lemon before zesting.
• Cinnamon Sugar.  Basically, this is just cinnamon mixed with sugar at a 1-to-8 ratio (cinnamon to sugar).  More on this little gem of a mix below.
• Baking Powder. This is a two-phase leavening agent, and the recipe simply doesn't work without it.
• Blueberries.  The fruit for today's cake, but they are totally optional.  Suggested substitutes below.

Cinnamon Sugar - A Primer

• What is this?  Ground cinnamon and plain granulated sugar.  Come autumn, you are very likely to see this available commercially pretty much anywhere you find pumpkin spice.
• How to Make Cinnamon Sugar.  Take four ounces of plain white sugar, and mix with one tablespoon of cinnamon.  That's literally it.  There is 'no' reason to buy this stuff prepackaged.  Make your own.
• Uses for Cinnamon Sugar.  Personally, I like to stir this into oatmeal during the winter months.  It's also a great topping on French toast, or as a mix-in for whipped cream.  Sprinkle it over yogurt, or over sliced fruit.  Bread pudding, custard, and even in coffee, are all great options.  Seriously, it's just cinnamon and sugar, the possibilities are endless.

Substitutions

• For the Condensed Milk.  There are a couple of substitutes for this ingredient - but none are truly perfect.
• Homemade Condensed Milk.  To start - I do 'not' recommend making your own.  It's just not worth the effort.  However, since it 'is' doable here's how.  Start off with a saucepan, and whisk together two cups of milk and one cup of regular white sugar.  Over medium heat, allow the sugar to dissolve, and then reduce the heat to low just 'before' the milk has begun to boil.  You want to allow the milk to reduce over low heat for about thirty to forty minutes.  After that's done, place the reduction in the fridge to cool for a couple of hours or overnight.  The mixture will thicken considerably, giving you sweetened condensed milk.
• Sweetened Cream of Coconut.  Probably the closest substitute to sweetened condensed milk is sweetened cream of coconut.  These two items substitute at a one-to-one ratio.  However, using cream of coconut will (obviously) give the cake a very strong 'coconut' flavor.
• Evaporated Milk.  Evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk are very similar, with the big difference being the sweetness, which can be mitigated by simply stirring in sugar to taste.  Condensed milk is also thicker.
• Butter Substitutes.  For baking cakes, there are two butter substitutes that I can suggest.  First up is ghee, which substitutes for butter at a one-to-one ratio, and will 'not' change the flavor of the cake.  Second is coconut oil, which also substitutes at a one-to one ratio, but will give the cake a decided 'coconut' flavor, especially if using unrefined coconut oil.
• For the Blueberries.  Really, this is purely a matter of taste.  Chopped cherries would be delicious, as would raspberries or blackberries.  Experiment, and find your preference.

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And that's our recipe for Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake. If you enjoyed today's recipe, or have any questions or suggestions, be sure to let us know in the comments below. We always love hearing from you. Happy Baking!