One of the last things on my “Cape Town to do list” is to buy a few peppermint crisp bars to bring back to the desert. The intention is to make some sort of dessert but that seldom materialise as I eat the chocolates long before using them in a recipe. But the last trip’s stash has been pretty successful, I’ve managed to create two new recipes, this fabulous Peppermint Crisp Milk Cake and the Peppermint Crisp Biscuit Cake I posted a few days ago.

The Peppermint Crisp Milk Cake is based on a Tres Leches Cake, a delicious South American cake soaked in 3 milks and I used a recipe by Edd Kimber from his book One Tin Bakes as inspiration. My version is perhaps a bit extravagant with the addition of Amarula liqueur, a caramel cream topping and toasted milk powder in the cake batter but it is delicious and I promise its not a mission to make.

I’ve been wanting to bake with toasted milk powder for a while after reading how it adds toasted flavours of caramel and brown butter when using it in cakes, biscuits and frostings. So instead of using 3 milks for the “milk soak”, usually full cream milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk, I omitted the condensed milk (there is more than enough sugar in the recipe without it) and added toasted milk powder to the batter. The trick with the milk powder is to toast it over a medium heat while stirring. As soon as it takes on some colour remove from the heat, it will keep toasting in the warm pan. You want a golden brown colour, not a dark brown that could taste burnt. (If you don’t want to use the toasted milk powder, just replace the 50g in the recipe with cake flour.)

But it is a Peppermint Crisp Milk Cake after all and it needs some caramel and peppermint crisp and to make that happen I whipped cream, whisked some caramel treat until smooth and whipped the two together for a decadent topping. Then sprinkled liberally with the all important crushed peppermint crisp.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Peppermint Crisp Milk Cake. Remember to share your pics with me on Instagram when you’ve made it.

Peppermint Crisp Milk Cake

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Ingredients

Sponge Cake :
50 g milk powder
30 g butter plus extra for greasing
30 ml milk
5 large eggs
185 g caster sugar
135 g cake flour
10 g baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Milk Soak :
540 ml evaporated milk (2 tins)
250 ml full cream milk
100 ml amarula cream liqueur
Topping :
250 ml whipping cream
1 tin 360g caramel treat
1 tsp sea salt flakes
2 x 49g peppermint crisp bars crushed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
Grease a 23cm x 33cm baking tin
Toast the milk powder over a low heat for around 3 - 7 minutes in a dry pan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it takes on some colour. Remove from the heat immediately as it will continue to darken and set aside to cool. (You are looking for warm, golden brown tones, not dark brown)
Heat the butter and milk until the butter has melted and set aside
Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for about 8 minutes until tripled in volume. ( When the whisk is lifted from the bowl the batter should leave a ribbon on the surface)
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the toasted milk powder
In three additions, add this over the egg mixture, folding together gently until the flour is incorporated, keeping the mixture as light as possible.
Mix a large spoonful into the melted butter mixture, then add to the remaining batter, gently folding together.
Pour the cake batter into the baking tin and level the top
Bake for 25–30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and springs back to a gentle touch.
Set aside to cool in the tin for 30 minutes
Mix the evaporated milk, full cream milk and amarula together in a large jug
Use a skewer to poke holes all over the top of the cake and then slowly pour over the milk mixture and let the cake sit until the milk has been absorbed. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours
For the topping, whip the cream until soft peaks. Remove the caramel treat from the tin and whisk until smooth, then add to the cream and give it another whisk until combined
Spread over the cake, then sprinkle with peppermint crisp
Slice and serve