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.
Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 14 oz. can of condensed milk
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 4 tbs. unsalted butter - melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup blueberries.
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- About a tsp. of lemon zest
- Cinnamon sugar - for sprinkling
- Powdered sugar - for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat Oven 350 degrees F.
- Combine the condensed milk, melted butter, lemon zest and vanilla in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the eggs and mix.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder and add to the condensed milk mixture and mix with a hand beater.
- Dust the blueberries with the cinnamon sugar and then fold into the batter.
- Prepare a baking pan with either parchment or rub with butter.
- Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick test comes out clean.
- Let cool and gently loosen the sides of the cake. Remove from the pan and dust with powdered sugar.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
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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!
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Claudia Lamascolo says
Looks delicious I love this cake with some espresso so good!
Terry says
What size pan should this be baked in?
Perhaps you could add that information to the recipe itself to ensure a great end result for all.
Thanks, from Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦
Living the Gourmet says
Hi Terry, Thank you for stopping by! I used a 9 inch cake dish. Happy baking and enjoy the cake!
Rachel says
OOh I am a huge fan of condensed milk, especially over fruit as a dessert, but have never thought to use it to cook with and yet this cake sounds delightful x
Gloria says
My husband loves anything with sweet condensed milk. I know this will be a hit. The perfect cake for holiday brunches.
Kelly says
I've not had something like this in years. It looks soo good and makes me feel pretty nostalgic.
Sarah Stockley says
It certainly looks like a very tasty cake. I can't wait to give this recipe a try. My children and I are big cake fans.
Beth says
Oh, wow! This looks amazing. I love how moist and tender it is. I can't wait to make this.
Elaine says
You say "cake", I say "yeah", you say "cake with condensed milk", I say "bring it on!" Love anything condensed milk, and especially when it is part of a cake!
Samantha Donnelly says
I love condensed milk and use it in a few recipes, but have never tried it in a cake before. I do love blueberries as well.
Melissa Dixon says
This sounds and looks so good. I need to make this soon. I bet my entire family would love it.
Carleen says
Wow does this sound tasty! I'm going to put it on my list of things to make!
Tracy says
This is such a delicious sounding cake for our frozen blueberries. Pinning for later, we cannot wait to make it!
Veronika says
I made this cake yesterday and it's already all gone! It was so easy to make and so delicious 😉
Kathryn says
This cake is unbelievably moist, flavorful, and so tender!! Such a perfect dessert for any occasion all year round!
Claudia Krusch says
OMG! It looks amazing! I know my family will love it! I can't wait to make it!
May says
This cake looks very nice, do you think it would work if I used an egg replacer for the eggs?
Living the Gourmet says
Dear May, I cannot say with certainty that an egg replacer would work as I have not tried it however if you do, please let me know how it turns out. Happy Baking!
Yeah Lifestyle says
Looks like a delicious and moist cake! I do make desserts with condensed milk but never used it in a cake before so will give this a try
Kira says
So many delicious recipes I have come across this week and this one looks insane / will definitely have to recreate it over the weekend!
Khushboo says
This cake looks really so delicious. You share some amazing recipes will like to try this one too.
Marysa says
I love sweetened condensed milk. This sounds delicious! I've never had a cake like this.
Lauren Michael Harris says
This cake is simply delicious! it paired perfectly with a hot cup of coffee after dinner. We will definitely make this one again!
Maggie says
It was such a hit at my house! It was gone within a day. We had it for dessert then we all ate a slice at breakfast. Can't wait to make it again!
Ann says
This cake was delicious! Any recipe I find with sweetened condensed milk is a must make! Thanks for the share!
Amy says
I love a sweet treat with my morning coffee and this cake was not only easy to make but delish too! I loved the fresh blueberries in it.
Amanda says
Such a wonderful cake! It's super simple to prepare, and I love that it works well for any occasion.
DAVID J MYERS says
Hi Catherine,
Catching up on my reading after our 10 day Thanksgiving road trip to visit family. Love this sweetened condensed milk cake...with blueberries too! My problem is going to be that when confronted with this treat, I will lose control...and perhaps over indulge. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Joslyn says
Trying to redeem myself after more than my share of baking fails. I swear it’s the oven. Must be time for a new one I keep telling the hubs. So this is the recipe I choose since I had an open can of SCM I had used for my coffee when I ran out of sugar and a bag of frozen cherries that dear old hubby bought instead of the mixed berries I asked for. No biggie! I kept the cinnamon because I saw a recipe for cherry topped cinnamon rolls and thought why not?! This was so easy to put together I didn’t have time to mess it up with my overthinking and complicating the recipe (my true issue). I can’t wait to see how my family reacts to this cause I can’t wait to try it! Thank you so much!
Gail says
Thanks for this recipe, the cake came out the way I was hoping it would, minus blueberries, which I didn't want. Didn't expect the spongey texture but what a nice surprise, love the sponge! Wanted a simple sweet cake to go with morning tea/coffee and now I have just that!