debutante = sweetened condensed milk + butter + pink ::::
Just as a young Southern woman has her debut at her Debutante Ball, so does this food blog with the sweetness of Debutante Cake. This recipe for Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake first caught my eye on the wonderful food blog Technicolor Kitchen, by Patricia Scarpin. Patricia’s wonderland of sweets will have you wanting to become her very best friend just to sample her craft. Or inspire you to go out at 10 o’clock on a weeknight just to buy some strawberries to roast.
I’ve tweaked this recipe in pan size and color, to create smaller more dainty-style cakes, as would befit any self-respecting Southern Belle. And so, the name had to be changed to represent that change. I used four mini Bundt cake pans (4 1/2 inches in diameter) and a small loaf pan (2 1/2 x 5 inches or 7 x 13 centimeters). The Bundts came out beautifully: delicately pink in color with a rich, custardy sweetness. One could also imagine that the curviness of the cake mold is like that of a debutante dress, but perhaps more cute. The small loaf pan cake, well, that was for “testing” purposes. In my stomach.
- 1 can (395 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 4 large eggs
- scant 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- 3-4 tablespoons (50 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 4-5 drops of red food coloring
- powdered sugar, for dusting
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Generously butter a nine-inch ring cake pan. (I used 4 mini Bundt pans and a small loaf pan, as described above.)
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Pour the batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for 20 minutes. If using a nine-inch cake pan, check doneness at 20 minutes and anticipate another 5-10 minutes of baking time at least. The cake(s) should be risen and a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. Important: do not overbake as the cake will become dry! It will also be more brown in coloring and the delicate pink color will not be as obvious or appreciated if overbaked.
- Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before unmolding. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Cake are pretty sliced in half to share. Serves 10-12 polite people or 4 very hungry impolite people.
