Hot Milk Cakes with Strawberries and Cream

82 CommentsThursday • March 12, 2009 • by Ari

After battling the flu for the past two weeks I’m finally back in blogging form and boy does it feel good! You know you have a serious blogging habit when all you can think about amidst high fevers and chills is how much you NEED to post something – anything – right now because you’re falling behind your posting schedule. Alas, I wasn’t able to make it happen.

I discovered something about myself during my downtime: I’m a big baby when it comes to being truly, actually sick. I was longing for those childhood days when my mom would bring me cups of hot tea and pop a movie into the VCR, which we’d watch together on the couch while I snuggled under a blanket and fought my way to recovery. This time my husband took wonderful care of me, but it wasn’t the same and I was feeling mighty homesick on top of having the flu. I dealt with this by spending a fair amount of time (ok, hours) on YouTube searching for things like the opening for JEM, She-Ra, Inspector Gadget and my all-time-favorite The Last Unicorn. All my old stand-bys from the 80′s, now at my fingertips twenty years later. Does this clip bring back memories for anyone else? What shows and movies did you watch as a child?

Those were the days huh? And the irony is that our kids probably won’t appreciate their childhood any more than we did, no matter how much we tell them to soak it up and enjoy how good they have it! During my quest for bits of 80′s childhood I also found all of The Neverending Story online. I loved that movie. Still do.

To celebrate the return of my good health, this afternoon I decided to make hot milk cakes with strawberries and cream. This luscious dessert also has ties to my mom, who would buy shortcakes at the market, then cover them with mashed berries from her garden before topping each cake with a dollop of whipped cream. It was an absolute delight and when I think about how much pleasure these strawberry cakes brought us for so little effort on my mom’s part, I can understand why she loved making them.

The nutmeg-scented hot milk cakes featured here are my grown-up version of this childhood comfort food. They have a light, fluffy interior with a thin, sugary crust and are very easy to make. They get their name from the fact that milk and butter are brought to a gentle boil before being added to the eggs, sugar, vanilla and flour. You can make the strawberry filling and vanilla whipped cream while the cakes are cooling. Simply mix sliced strawberries with sugar and set the bowl aside so the fruit juices can gather (that’s it!). Then beat cold whipping cream with confectioners sugar and vanilla just before serving, which takes about 4 minutes. Assembly takes only a minute, but you’ll want to take your time eating this dessert, soaking up every bite in an effort to make the experience last longer.

Hot Milk Cakes with Strawberries and Cream
Slightly adapted from this Epicurious.com recipe

Ingredients: Makes 6 cakes

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided use
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound large strawberries, hulled, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray six jumbo muffin molds or six 3/4-cup custard cups with nonstick spray.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat bring milk and butter just to boil in small saucepan, stirring until butter melts. If the mixture comes to a boil before you’re ready to add it to the batter reduce the heat to low and keep warm.

While the milk is heating, using an electric mixer, beat eggs in a medium bowl at high speed until thick, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in 2/3 cup sugar; beat until thick and pale yellow, about 1 minute longer. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat 30 seconds. Add hot milk mixture to batter; beat until blended and smooth, about 30 seconds. Divide batter among prepared cups. Place cups on rimmed baking sheet.

Bake cakes until tops rise (tall rounded peak will form in center of each), turn pale golden, and are firm to touch, about 16 minutes. Cool in cups at least 20 minutes.

Toss strawberries and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl to coat; let stand 20 minutes for juices to form.

Using electric mixer, beat cream, powdered sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in another medium bowl until peaks form.

Remove warm or room-temperature cakes from molds and transfer to bowls or plates. Cut off rounded top of each cake. Spoon some of berries and juices over. Spoon whipped cream on the berries, cover with tops of cakes, then garnish with remaining berries and juices. Dust with confectioners sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.