Coconut Hot Milk Cake

For literally years, I have been on a quest for the perfect coconut cake! You see, back in my younger days, I would spend a lot of time at my grandmother’s house. A backyard path lined with maples, a weeping willow and a lot of sassafras, stretched between our two homes. I would attempt my best bob white call to get an answer from deep inside the woods as a trekked, either by foot or bike, to pick raspberries or lick Land O’Lakes butter wrappers used in baking one of her cakes. Her porch contained a huge chest freezer filled with the summer’s vegetable crops to last throughout the winter. However, what I remember most as a small child was looking up at a luscious coconut cake she made for someone in the community to pick up to enjoy. It was a heavenly moment, including a bright light radiating from it and an angelic chord being heard!

Anyway, when recently posting on Facebook my Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting, someone mentioned a hot milk cake (or hot milk sponge)  that their grandmother used to make their version coconut cake. To be honest, I had never heard of one. There were multiple recipes on Pinterest for it and all were very similar in their ingredients. According to its history, this cake became popular in the 1930’s even though it dates back two decades prior. During the depression and World Wars, supplies were sparse. Much like the mayonnaise cake, hard times created some inventive solutions to dessert. This Hot Milk Cake being one of them.

Not a coconut fan?

No worries! You can bake this cake in a bundt or sheet cake pan. Dust cake with powdered sugar and serve as is or with fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream. Better yet, this hot milk cake can be frosted with a frosting of your choice. Why not chocolate?

The Eggs and Sugar:

To start, place the 4 room temperature eggs in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on HIGH speed for about 5 minutes. Mixture should appear a bright yellow. Add the sugar and continue beating on HIGH for another 5 minutes. At this point, the mixture should appear to be a paler yellow and a little more stiff in consistency.

Hot Milk Mixture Part 1:

While mixture above is being beaten, place milk and cubed butter in a small saucepan over LOW heat. Watch carefuly! Once butter has melted and small bubbles appear around the inside edges of pan REMOVE it from heat . DO NOT BOIL!

Dry Ingredients:

Sift together the dry ingredients. On LOW speed, add  them in two parts. Mix until just incorporated, scraping bowl halfway, including the bottom of the bowl.  DO NOT OVERMIX!

Hot Milk Mixture Part 2:

On LOW speed, slowly add hot milk/butter mixture along with vanilla( or coconut) extract. Blend until incorporated evenly; the batter will appear thin.

Baking:

Baking pans should be coated with baking spray and lined on the bottom with parchment paper. Place the same amount in each pan to ensure they bake evenly; weigh, if possible. ( I used 2-8″ aluminum baking pans.)

These were baked around 30-35 minutes. Toothpick inserted in center should come out clean. Oven times may vary.  (We recently purchased a new one so we are in the getting-to-know-you dating phase.)  Notice how sides of the cake have released from the pan. Allow them to sit on racks for about 5-10 minutes. Before inverting to remove, run an offset spatula around the sides to loosen further. Peel off the parchment paper from the bottom and return back to rack to finish cooling off before frosting.

Frosting:

For the frosting, I used the King Arthur Baking site recipe for Seven Minute Frosting. This frosting also dates back to the early 1900’s like the hot milk cake! Perfect vintage recipes! https://kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/seven-minute-frosting-recipe

Below, you will see the frosting process.

Storing, Slicing and Eating:

It is known that Seven Minute Frosting has a brief life span, so to speak. The texture tends to become a bit gritty or crystalized, in taste. It’s also sensative to room temperature. Here are some pointers I read along the way:

• Be sure that you keep your cake/cupcakes covered under a cake dome to keep it fresh.
• Make sure egg whites are heated to 160-165 degrees if you’re going to leave it out overnight.
• The function of the corn syrup is to keep the icing from getting grainy and the cream of tartar stabilizes the egg whites.
• It sets quickly so have cake ready to frost on the side once it’s done.
• Cake should be covered and  refrigerated, especially if kitchen temperature is above 70 degrees.
• Grainy texture indicates sugar didn’t dissolve completely; make sure you heat  mixture enough and use a bowl that conducts heat well.
• The bowl should be grease-free and there should be no egg yolk present in egg whites.

What did I do? I had it sit out a bit so I could admire my accomplishment.  Over night, I placed it in a cake container in the fridge overnight, or until someone desired a piece. The frosting actually kept longer than I anticipated and was able to share and eat it for a few days. This marshmallowy frosting is the best for this coconut cake!