Hot Milk Cake

  I like to think of myself as being pretty knowledgeable about cakes. I can tell you why a 1-2-3-4 Cake is so named. I know that German Chocolate Cake is not from Germany at all. I can tell you the difference between a Swiss Meringue Buttercream and an Italian Meringue Buttercream. I know that all Jelly Rolls are Roulades, but not all Roulades are Jelly Rolls. I've heard of mayonnaise cake, tomato soup cake, potato cake, even sausage cake. (yes, that's really a thing.) I've baked King Cakes, Cheesecakes, Carrot Cakes, Red Velvet Cakes, Hummingbird Cakes, Tres Leches Cakes, even Wedding Cakes!  So I seriously can't even express how excited I get when I discover a new kind of cake! Well, actually, this is not new at all. New TO ME,  of course, but this cake goes back over 100 years! Nothing like standing the test of time, huh?
 I first read about it in an article about Depression Era foods, which talked about recipes that used simple ingredients that were stretched as far as a dollar could stretch. I love the idea of going back to basics and making foods that our grandparents and great grandparents made. Hmm... maybe I'll have to look into that a bit more and see what other delicious ideas I can discover.... but I digress...
 Lets talk about this cake! The flavor is a light vanilla, not unlike a pound cake, but the texture is much lighter and fluffier, and the crumb is much more delicate. You can enjoy it just as it is, maybe with a little powdered sugar over the top, you can bake it in layers or even in a bundt pan, or you can do a 9x13 pan and top it with berries and whipped cream frosting like I did. It's perfect for any holiday or special occasion because it feeds a crowd, and it's DELICIOUS!!! I think that pretty much covers all bases, right?
 So there you have it. As much as I love coming up with new recipes, I love going back to revisit some of the old and tried and true. Just like the song says, Everything Old Is New Again! You probably already have all the ingredients on hand anyway, so why not give it a try?
 It's definitely a keeper!


4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk
10 tbs butter


In a large bowl, beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to batter; beat at low speed until smooth. In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter just until butter is melted. Gradually add to batter; beat just until combined. Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.


 Tips:
Originally, I was gonna top the cake with cream cheese frosting, but decided that would be a bit too heavy. So I decided to do a whipped cream cheese frosting instead. Just mix a bar of cream cheese with a cup of sugar VERY well until it's smooth, then fold in whipped heavy cream and a tsp of vanilla extract. Easy!
Oh, one other thing.. I almost forgot to mention that this recipe is from Taste of Home. I found several recipes, and they were all quite similar, but this one seemed to be pretty easy and straight forward, so I went with it!