Saffron Milk Cake

Who’s up for another indulgent Eid dessert? Meeeee. Today, it is a saffron milk cake.  A light and airy, saffron-infused sponge cake, topped with vanilla cream, crushed nuts, and rose petals, and sitting in a small pool of saffron milk. This dessert just spells out EID if you ask me. 

**This Ramadan, I’m raising money for LIA Relief Trust to help provide children an Eid to remember. A donation as small as £1 can help gift one child in need a special Eid present. Here is the link to donate: Click here. ** 

You’ll start by making a light sponge cake which is infused with saffron to give it a slight yellow tinge. Folding in whipped egg whites helps the sponge cake to be nice and airy. 

This will be followed by a drench in a warm saffron tres leches – three milks – concoction, topped with a thick layer of sweet vanilla cream, and left to rest in the fridge for at least an hour so it can soak up all the delicious sweet milk. 

Serve it with a little drizzle of saffron milk around it (completely optional but a nice touch) and garnish with crushed nuts and rose petals. Now that’s a show stopping dessert and is perfect as a solo dessert. 

Having made this, my only suggestion would be to line the dish you are using with parchment paper so that you can easily take the cooked cake out and slice up. It is a nightmare otherwise – trust me, I’m down two butchered saffron milk cakes! 

SAFFRON MILK CAKE

For a 9×15 pan

INGREDIENTS
125g flour 
1.5 tsp baking powder
5 eggs, separated into whites and yolks
30g caster sugar
125ml milk 
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1tsp vanilla 
¼ tsp salt 
50g caster sugar 
½ tsp lemon juice or cream of tartar 
1 tsp saffron, crushed 

Tres Leches: 
160ml whole milk 
150ml condensed milk
160ml evaporated milk 
1 tsp saffron, crushed

Vanilla cream: 
250ml double cream
15g caster sugar 
1 tsp vanilla essence 

Garnishes: 
Crushed nuts
Rose Petals

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (fan assisted). Whisk flour with baking powder in a bowl. 
2. In 125ml of warm (not hot) milk, add 1 tsp of crushed saffron. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 30g of caster sugar until liquid. Add in the vanilla, saffron infused milk, and cardamom powder, and mix well. 
4. Sift in the flour mixture and add in the salt. Mix lightly with a spoon until it is just combined. 
5. In a separate bowl, add the egg whites and lemon juice/cream of tartar. Beat this with an electric whisk until it starts to foam and slowly pour in the 50g of caster sugar while whisking. Keep whisking until stiff peaks form. You can check if you have the right consistency by turning the bowl upside down, the egg whites should remain where they are and not move. 
6. Spoon the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and fold in lightly, making sure not to deflate the egg whites. 
7. Pour mixture into a greased pan and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
8. In a measuring jar, add in the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk. Warm this up in the microwave until it is very warm, but not boiling, and add in the remaining 1tsp of crushed saffron. Mix well. 
9. Remove the cake from the oven – you can check it is done by poking a toothpick in the middle, it should come out clean. Let it cool slightly. 
10. You can either keep the cake in the same pan or move it to a serving dish with deep sides. Poke holes in the cake using a fork or toothpick and pour in ½ of the warm saffron mixture. 
11. In a bowl, whisk the double cream with sugar and vanilla until the cream forms stiff peaks. Spread the cream over the cake, cover with cling film, and place this in the fridge for an hour. 
12. Remove the dish from the fridge and take off the cling film. Cut the cake into slices and slowly, using a knife and spatula, remove a slice from the pan. 
13. Place the slice in a bowl, garnish with crushed pistachios/almonds/rose petals/saffron and pour in a little bit of the saffron milk. 

**This Ramadan, I’m raising money for LIA Relief Trust to help provide children an Eid to remember. A donation as small as £1 can help gift one child in need a special Eid present. Here is the link to donate: Click here. **