I was bumming around at home after school yesterday. I had this bad urge to bake but nothing came to mind. So i spent about 10 minutes flipping through my baking books. I picked out one of my book which i haven’t really studied yet, The Cake Book by Trish Boyle. I wanted something simple and quick. Then i saw ‘Hot Milk Sponge Cake.’ Mmmm. Doesn’t that title just make you salivate? 
Hot Milk Sponge Cake
Adapted from The Cake Book by Trish Boyle1 1/3 cups cake flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup whole milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt twice. Then set aside.
Combine butter and milk in a saucepan, heat on medium heat just until the butter melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
Using the whisk attachment, beat your eggs on high until blended, about one minute.
I used vanilla beans instead, as usual
Add your vanilla extract/beans and sugar gradually and beat until pale and tripled in volume. About 6 minutes according to the book.
Sift one third of your flour mixture into your egg mixture. And yes, sifting here is quite important! I realised its quite easy to get lumps here. Fold it in with a rubber spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture in 2 more additions.
Reheat the milk mixture until just under a boil. Then add the hot milk mixture into the batter and fold it in.
Scrape the batter into a prepared pan. The book suggested a 9 inch cake pan. I used an 8 inch greased springform pan btw! Don’t you think it looks really spongey already? When i looked at the batter, it looks like it’ll spring up if you poke your finger in!
I was really excited at this point. Pop it in the oven @ 175C, for 20 to 25 mins. When done, put a toothpick in and it should come out clean. Or lightly touch the surface of the cake, it’ll really bounce back! Cool the cake.
I love the golden colour of the cake!
Mmmmmm. Coffee anyone?
Really light and airy.
No fuss with seperating egg yolks and whites!
Feedback from my stepmom was that it was a little “eggy,” as in the smell after eating it. May remove an egg yolk or something the next time i bake this, maybe that’ll help. But this recipe is definitely a keeper. I love simple and awesome recipes 
Very excited to bake another cake from my much abandoned book.
Off to the gym!
Your cake looks light and delicious! Don’t you love using vanilla beans? They make the flavor just that much better.
yeah it is crazily light!
mmhmm you can say that again.
i hardly use extract now!
Would you believe that this has been on my to-do list for the longest time? You just gave it a push to the top. I adore such cakes! I love hot golden it turned out. And I doubt I will have problems with the eggy smell since I am egg-crazy! Thanks, doll!
ah really? heehee. its too simple you just have to make it!
i know right. so quick and easy yet tastes and looks so amazing.
you’re most welcome pretty mum!
Omg talk about coincidences; I was just asking another foodblogger what sponge cake recipe she used for her friend’s birthday cake, and she pointed me to this recipe! I don’t have the book and have yet to look for it online, then I saw this
November’s filled with four family birthdays, and I badly needed this. You’re a life-saver! *holds your hands and skips around*
hahaha! you’re so cute you know.
ah yes i’m starting to love this book
this is awesome cos your knife literally sinks into the cake!
light and yummy. heehee.
glad to be of help!
I got a recipe for a similar sponge but it didn’t turn out anywhere near as nicely as this. In fact it had huge crater in the centre!
hmmm really? was it a hot milk one as well?
wonder what caused that!
what a unique name for a special cake! i love the vanilla bean in this, the color of the finished cake, and the ease of preparation. winning recipe!
ive heard it before, but have never seen one! heh.
yes i love how vanilla beans look in all bakes!
heehee. yes, thank you
Have you forgotten about me
haha of course not
doing really well with your blog i see.
havent seen you around in school!
catch up soon
Looks lovely and fluffy! Perfect with an afternoon tea
hi betty! heehee indeed it is!
really impressed with this recipe.
Gorgeous cake. Love cake! Love this cake. And you know, you have a real nice mixer too!
heh. thanks julia!
you should try this recipe out!
haha yeah it was my dream mixer.
got it last year for my 18th birthday
I really like your quirky style! Brava!!
haha! yeah. i can have that sudden urge to bake!
thank you ellie
hi felicia,
pardon this beginner baker..
when you said 1 1/3 cup, how much does it really weight in gram?
thank you in advance
hi alison! according to the book..
1 1/3cup of flour is 133g!
you’re most welcome
ah yes Ive heard of this recipe and have always wantd to try bu tI did nt have a recipe…..well now I have..very asian cake I believe…tq one more to bookmark
)
mm. yeah its worth making
have fun!
Hi Felicia,
Happened to know your blog thru Ju. Oh my i wish i had so much energy as you! You can really bake and bake… for me, i only lament i hadn’t bake for a long time but just couldn’t get my lazy butt up to bake…
hi aimei, nice of you to drop by
haha can’t help it, love baking too too much!
i only wish i had more time. haha!
First time visitor to your site! I love your recipes
Where do you purchase vanilla beans??? I’ve been searching for the longest time!!
Hello! Haha glad you like em! I usually get mine from phoon huat
Feel free to ask if you’ve any questions!
looks yummy! do u have the recipe converted into grams & ml? thanks much =)
thanks serene!
this website should be able to help you.
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cooking-conversions/gram-conversions.aspx
have fun!
interesting
thanks dear!
Hi..do u use metric cup or US cups for ur measurement? because i usually measure in grams
thx
Hi dear. It doesn’t really matter what cups. Because in the end, the proportions are the same. Cheers
Hi Felicia
I came across your recipe thru’ little teochew’s blog. I just tried it out this morning. It was quite easy althou I didn’t manage to achieve a smooth surface for the cake, there were little bubbles which made it look abit ugly. I thought it tasted like “ji dan gao”. I am gonna post the picture later in my blog
Thanks for the recipe
Miss B
glad it worked well for you, miss b.
thanks for dropping by to let me know!
just saw your photos.
dont think its ugly really!
hmmm. sounds like yours turned out a little eggy.
cos mine didnt taste like “ji dan gao!”
but still looks fantastic.
you’re most welcome dear
This looks amazing!
It’s going onto my To Bake List
Thanks! Have fun
I just made this sponge cake today and it was pretty good! Although the texture was not as fluffy as I liked, I really liked the taste. The texture was probably my fault, it was my first time folding in ingredients, so I most likely over did it. Thank you for this recipe though! And your cake is really pretty!
personal preference i guess, cos i loved the texture!
haha practice makes perfect
at least im sure you had fun baking it!
most welcome esther, and thank you very much!
Hi again! I just made the cake again and it turned out how it should be. The texture looks like the texture of your cake in the picture. This time, I made sure the eggs were room temperature and it helped. Btw, “personal preference” is a really good drama. haha I don’t know if you watch them though. I just finished watching that one today.
thats great
i really like this recipe!
hmmm. have never watched it!
should check it out someday. thanks for sharing
I made the cake last evening. And i must say its the best sponge cake recipe I’ved comed across. Definitely a keeper and thanks so much.
Wondered if you substituted with choc or pandan, the texture will be the same?
glad you like it.
i havent experimented with it really.
but if you ever do, let me know! i’d love to see how it turns out.
i did the pandan version this weekend, substituting vanilla essesnce with pandan paste and milk with half coconut milk half water. I must say the original still taste better.
my pandan version tatsed a cross between kaya and ji dan gao and a tad too sweet. Nevertheless, my son and his little friends enjoyed it. I think i will stick to the original.
So much for my experiment
I tried to bake this recipe of urs yesterday. My son likes it, though I suspected my cake did not rise well.
I knew it won’t rise well as I did my third shift of flour folding, the remaining flour deflat my batter almost immediately, it turned into a gooey batter instead of fluffy batter. I went ahead with the cooking, my finish batter looks like a liquid pancake batter.
Is it my folding technique, or maybe because I used full cream milk instead? I lessen the sugar amount and add 1tbsp honey into the milk-butter coz I want to get rid the eggy smell..or lessen sugar/add honey caused my cake not to rise when baked? *sigh* so confused… I wish my cake turned out as good as ur picture
hi diana. i’m glad your son likes it.
it’s most probable that you over mixed your batter. maybe you could try to fold in your flour in 2 parts instead. stop folding immediately once you get a consistent mix. i doubt it’s the honey, though it may have made the batter a little heavy. i’m sure your next attempt will be better!