Milk Cake Indian Sweet
On July 26, 2013 by Meghalee Das
Milk Cake is one of my favorite Indian sweets. There are so many different types of mithai and sweets made from milk in our country, following certain differences in the procedure. These differences in terms of time of cooking, amount of milk, absence or presence of whey and so on creates a difference in texture and taste. Most sweets only use the milk solids, after vinegar or lemon juice is used to curdle the milk and strain the whey. For example, rasgullas, pedas etc. But milk cake also uses some whey water which gives it a very unique taste.
You may notice that in some milk cake, one half of the sweet is darker in color and tastes richer. If you like the dark brown, stickier side more, you can keep cooking the final mixture a little longer on higher heat. But I like the light brown, creamy texture, so I remove it from heat as soon as it reaches the right consistency. You can also combine them both and leave it to set together to get both colors and taste. This recipe makes 12 pieces. Besides the cooking time of 40 min, you will also have to keep in mind that it takes at least 2 hours to set well before you can cut it. Milk cake is great for festive occasions like Diwali or any puja and requires very few ingredients too.
Ingredients:
Milk: 6 cups
Vinegar: 6 tsp
Bay leaf: 1
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Butter or clarified butter: 3 tbsp
Milk powder: 4 tbsp
Method:
1. Heat milk in a heavy saucepan and once it comes to a boil, add vinegar or lemon juice. Gently stir the milk so that the whey separates. It should take only a few minutes.
2. Take out 3 1/2 cups of whey water from the pan and keep aside. You can use this water to knead roti or paratha dough.
Please note that we do not drain all the whey water like in other sweets. For milk cake, we need to retain most of the whey and cook the milk solids in it. Only 3 1/2 cups are removed to reduce sourness and quicken the thickening process.
3. Keep stirring remaining the milk solids and whey for 15-20 minutes in the same saucepan till the mixture starts to thicken. Add bay leaves and sugar. Continue to stir till the sugar mixes properly.
4. Now add the butter, milk powder and cardamom powder. Once the mixture is thick enough and starts looking a little brown, pour it on a flat plate. Shape it into 3/4th inch-high square and let it cool and set for at least 2 hours.
5. Once the mixture solidifies, cut it into rectangles. Serve the milk cake pieces at room temperature.
- Milk: 6 cups
- Vinegar: 6 tsp
- Bay leaf: 1
- Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
- Sugar: ½ cup
- Butter or clarified butter: 3 tbsp
- Milk powder: 4 tbsp
- Heat milk in a heavy saucepan and once it comes to a boil, add vinegar or lemon juice. Gently stir the milk so that the whey separates.
- Take out 3½ cups of whey water from the pan and keep aside. You can use this water to knead roti or paratha dough.
- Keep stirring the remaining milk solids and whey for 15-20 minutes in the same saucepan till the mixture starts to thicken. Add bay leaves and sugar. Continue to stir till the sugar mixes properly.
- Now add the butter, milk powder and cardamom powder. Once the mixture is thick enough and starts looking a little brown, pour it on a flat plate. Shape it into ¾th inch-high square and let it cool and set for at least 2 hours
- Once the mixture solidifies, cut it into rectangles. Serve the milk cake pieces at room temperature.
