Condensed Milk Pound Cake

What is your favorite everyday cake? Mine is a pound cake or a butter cake. It brings me joy enjoying a slice of pound cake with a cup of a hot tea or hot coffee. And I think learning to bake a perfect pound cake should be the goal of every baker, home bakers included.

I have shared many butter cake and pound cake recipes, from an old-fashioned butter cake and it’s pandan variety, a matcha pound cake, a sake pound cake, and a cream cheese pound cake. Today I am going to share my recipe to bake a lovely condensed milk pound cake.

Ingredients for condensed milk pound cake

Let’s start with the ingredients. This recipe needs cake flour, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and eggs.

Homemade cake flour

You can make cake flour using a combination of all-purpose flour and cornstarch.

1 cup cake flour = (1 cup - 2 tablespoon) all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoon cornstarch
or
120 gram cake flour = 105 gram all-purpose flour + 15 gram cornstarch

Sweetened condensed milk

When shopping for sweetened condensed milk, be sure that you are indeed buying sweetened condensed milk and not sweetened creamer. I once almost bought the wrong one since these two very similar products are sitting side-by-side in a grocery store.

My favorite brands for sweetened condensed milk are Eagle Brand and Nestle.

Preparing the batter and baking the pound cake

First, preheat the oven to 175 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) and grease and flour an 8.5"x4.5" loaf pan.

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar with medium speed until white and fluffy. Add in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, beat until well mixed. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well mixed. Sift in the flour mixture and beat with the lowest speed (or use a spatula) just until you no longer see flour streaks.

Pour the batter into prepared pan, bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pan and cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut into slices and serve.

Serving and storing the pound cake

You can serve the pound cake warm or at room temperature. I usually either serve the cake plain or with some lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh fruits like berries or peaches.

All pound cake matures and develops better flavor if you let them rest. Patience is a virtue well rewarded when it comes to pound cake. Rest the cake for 1-2 days, and enjoy on the second or third day for the best flavor.

You can store any leftover pound cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature and up to 1 week in the fridge. For longer storage, wrap the cake in several layers of saran plastic and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen pound cake on your kitchen counter without unwrapping for the best result.

FAQs

Q: Can I use a 9"x5" loaf pan?
A: Yes. Please use the same temperature and start checking about 5 minutes earlier. The only difference is your cake will be shorter if you use this slightly larger loaf pan.

Q: Can I use a glass pan?
A: I have baked this cake in a Pyrex glass loaf pan. You will need the same baking temperature, but your baking time might take about 5 minutes longer to reach the same doneness.

Q: Can I use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour?
A: You can also use all-purpose flour to bake this cake, but the cake will be slightly denser compared to using cake flour.