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Nana's White "Hot Milk" Cake

The famous hot milk cake recipe of Virginia Colbert, better known as "Nana's White Cake.'
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
CourseDessert
CuisineAmerican
KeywordBirthday Cake, Favorite Vanilla Cake
Servings12 people
AuthorVirginia Colbert

Equipment

  • Funnel pan (or 2 x 9-inch round pans, or cupcake molds, or whatever cake pan(s) you like!)
  • Parchment or waxed paper to line funnel or round pans; cup cake liners if not using silicone moulds.
  • Electric mixer makes easy work of this.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 6 tbsp margarine, chunked (plus a tad more for greasing the pan) butter works, too
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 rounded tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • food coloring optional

Frosting

  • 1 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 tbsp whole milk
  • 1/4 tsp vanila
  • 1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
  • food coloring optional
  • 1/4 tsp almond or orange extract optional

Instructions

Make the Cake

  • Prepare the mold: If using a funnel pan or round pan(s), cut the parchment or waxed paper to fit the bottom, then grease the sides of the pan and corners next to paper. Or put papers into muffin tins. Or just arrange silicone mini muffin molds on a cookie sheet.
  • Heat the milk: In a small pot, over medium low heat, melt the butter into the milk, stirring often and careful not to scorch the milk! Turn off the heat as soon as it melts, and keep it aside.
  • Meanwhile, make the batter: Beat eggs on high until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and combine. Slowly add sugar, continuing to beat until smooth. Slowly add 2 cups of flour and the baking powder, beating until smooth. If using food coloring, add it now, recognizing that the milk/butter will lighten and yellow your color a bit.
    With mixer below medium, give milk/butter mixture a stir then slowly add it into the rest of the batter.
    The original recipe would have us cooking it right away but we often put it in the fridge at this point. It also freezes perfectly, just thaw it in the fridge for a few hours and you are ready to bake it.
  • Bake it!: Preheat oven to 320. Bake in center of oven until top is just barely golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Use times below as a guideline, but check often as ovens and altitudes vary!
    * Funnel pan: ~45 minutes (the traditional way)
    * 9-inch round pan: ~30 minutes
    * Quarter sheet pan: ~25 minutes
    * Mini-cupcakes: ~12 minutes
    * Twinkie pan: ~16 minutes

Frosting

  • The ingredient list above makes enough frosting for the funnel cake, but we often make 2 or 3 times the recipe. Here are some guidelines.
    * Mostly just the top of the funnel pan (traditionally): 1x
    * 9-inch round pan: 1.5x
    * 2x9-inch round pans with frosting in the middle: 3x
    * Quarter sheet pan: 1.5x
    Leave the butter out to soften while you make the cake. If it is not very soft, carefully soften in the microwave, careful NOT to melt it!
    When you know how much frosting you need, do your math for the ingredients, and leave your butter to soften on the counter!
    When your cake is cooled and you are ready to frost it, then it is time to make the frosting. Simply mix all of the ingredients all by-hand, or in a mixer. Once mixed, add milk or sugar to get desired consistency.
    If you are doing multiple colors, make the frosting white, then divide and add food coloring per your need.

Notes

  • Bonus! batter can be frozen and thawed out to cook another time. Then you can make mini cupcakes on demand.
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