Description
A light and flavorful Thai tea cake with an airy ermine frosting. It makes for the perfect addition to any get-together.
Ingredients
Scale
For the cake:
- 1C whole milk
- 4T Thai tea mix (I use this one)
- 5 egg whites
- 1t vanilla extract
- 2 1/2C cake flour
- 1 1/2C granulated sugar
- 1T baking powder
- 3/4t kosher salt
- 3/4C unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
For the condensed milk soak:
- 1/4C sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4t vanilla extract
- pinch of cardamom
- 1T whole milk
For the ermine frosting:
- 3/4C whole milk
- 1/4C condensed milk
- 1/4C flour
- pinch of salt
- 1C unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1C granulated sugar
- 1t vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Add the milk and tea to a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low until you achieve a very gentle simmer. Take off the heat and let steep for about 10 minutes. Use a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the tea. You will need 3/4C of milk for the recipe. If after heating you are a little short, top off your measuring cup with extra milk to get you there.
- Prep your 6″ cake pans by lining with parchment paper and spraying nonstick spray around the sides. Preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl, combine the egg whites, vanilla, and 1/4C of the milk. Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix on low to combine. Add the butter and with the mixer on low, stream in the remaining 1/2C of milk. Turn the mixer to medium for just long enough to moisten all your dry ingredients.
- Scrape down the bowl. Turn the mixer onto medium and stream in the egg/milk mixture, continuing to scrape down the bowl periodically to ensure a homogenous mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between your three cake pans. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (My oven is pretty old, so it takes me a little closer to 30 minutes.)
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then place on wire racks to cool further. Once you are able to handle them, lop off the tops to make an even surface.
Make the soak:
- Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cardamom, and milk in a small bowl. When your cakes are cool and you are ready to assemble, use a brush to slather on a nice layer of soak to each cake.
Make the frosting:
- In a saucepan, whisk together the milk, condensed milk, flour, and salt. Cook over medium, stirring often, until a thick paste forms. Remove the pan from the heat, throw the paste in a bowl and refrigerate until cool. It takes about a half hour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This takes about 3-5 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture and vanilla. Beat on medium-high until the frosting is light and fluffy. It will take on a very pale, nearly white color.
- Assemble! Stack soaked cake and frosting and cover the entire thing in another hefty frosting coat.
I made this for my birthday and it was so freaking good!!! It had the texture and airiness of a sponge cake, but still had such a rich flavor! Very creative recipe and not too hard to make either! Mine definitely didn’t turn out as pretty as the pictures though lol!
Happy Belated Birthday! I’m so happy you were able to use this recipe to celebrate such a special occasion! 🙂
Hello, could I make this cake with a tea tea drink? How would I? Thanks.
Hi there! Sorry for the late reply! Are you looking to use a different type of tea like Earl Grey or Chai? I haven’t tried it myself, but you can absolutely steep any type of tea in milk (step 1 in the instructions) and have the flavor come through in the cake. My only caveat would be that Thai tea mix tends to have added sweeteners in it, so your final cake won’t be quite as sweet as the original recipe. I’d also omit the cardamom from the soak just in case the flavor doesn’t meld with your tea of choice. If this isn’t what you meant, feel free to let me know and I’ll try and help 🙂
would this be possible to convert into cupcakes? if so, do you know how long the baking time would be?
Love this question! They would definitely work as cupcakes 🙂 I would say start checking on them at 15 minutes, but it could take a full 20. Use a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center—if it comes out clean, you are good! My only word of warning is that this is a super delicate/light cake, so using heavy cupcake liners might rip the cake when folks go to eat them. (Won’t make them any less delicious though.)
Where condensed milk is called for, is that sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle Brand?)
Correct! I’ll update the recipe now to clarify 🙂 Thank you!
I am SO excited to try this cake. If I wanted to try this for an 8 inch cake, what would the measurements look like?
You can keep the same measurements as listed for an 8″ layer cake. However, the layers won’t be quite as high, which will make the baking time shorter. I’d recommend checking your cakes for doneness beginning around 20minutes. I’ve never tried making this as a single-layer 8″ cake…although now the wheels are turning! If I do try to make a single sheet cake or single-layer 8″ cake, I’ll definitely update the recipe 🙂