Rasmalai Milk Cake

Rasmalai Milk Cake - Of all the milk cake recipes out there, the Ras Malai version has to be the most delicious. This is a recipe for the BEST Ras Malai Tres Leches Cake/Milk Cake infused with a three milk cardamom and saffron syrup. The cake itself is light and it just melts in the mouth!

Why not try the chocolate milk cake or the popular Turkish variation Trilece.

Rasmalai Milk Cake

Making Milk Cake with Ras Malai flavours feels like a bit of a no brainer because essentially Ras Malai is cheese dumplings floating in and infused in a cardamom and saffron syrup.

So Ras Malai Milk Cake is a giant version of that expect you get a really soft cake soaked in a three milk ras malai syrup!

What is Ras Malai?

Ras malai, rasamalai, or roshmalai is a dessert originating from the Indian subcontinent.

Rasmalai is a popular Indian dessert made up of soft cottage cheese/paneer balls soaked in a thick sweetened milk flavoured with cardamom, saffron usually garnished with nuts.

What is Milk Cake/Tres Leches Cake?

Milk Cake/Tres leches/pastel de tres leches, torta de tres leches or biscuits de tres leches is a light and airy sponge cake made with whipped egg whites.

Once the cake has cooled holes are poked all over it with a fork and a three milk syrup is poured into it. This consists of Evaporated Milk, Whole Milk or Cream and Condensed Milk.

In this version the syrup is flavoured with the flavours of Ras Malai.

What does Tres Leches mean?

 Tres Leches translates to three milks in Spanish.

The cake is soaked in a sweet milk syrup made of 3 different milks - Evaporated Milk, Condensed Milk, Whole Milk or Double Cream.

What does Tres Leches cake taste like?

Tresc Leches Cake is as much about texture as it is about flavour. It simply melts into the mouth and tastes sweet and lightly aromatic with cardamom and saffron.

Ras Malai Milk Cake Ingredients

This recipe uses simple ingredients, some of which you will likely have in the house already. In this recipe I steer clear of substitutions.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Cake Ingredients

Plain Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Eggs, Vanilla, Milk, Sugar, Ground Cardamom.

Syrup Ingredients

Evaporated Milk, Condensed Milk, Double Cream, Ground Cardamom  and Saffron.

Whipped Cream Topping ingredients

Double Cream, Sugar, Pistachios.

How to make it

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180 C.

Butter a casserole dish or deep oven tin (9 x 13 inches).

Soak Saffron strands in warm milk and set aside.

Combine the Plain Flour, Baking Powder, Cardamom and Salt in a large bowl.

Separate eggs and place egg whites and yolks in separate bowls.

In a second bowl, beat the egg whites for 1 minute before adding part of the sugar and beating for another minute.

Continue to beat for 1 – 2 minutes until soft peaks are formed.

In a third bowl, beat egg yolks with remaining sugar for 2 minutes.

Add the milk to the egg yolk mixture and whisk to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture slowly.

Add yolk mixture on top of whites. Fold in gently.

Pour into greased tin/dish and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.

Make the Milk Syrup by combining the 3 milks in a large bowl or jug. Add cardamom and saffron and mix to combine.

Whisk Cream with sugar until slightly thickened.

Once Cake has cooled, pierce all over with a fork and drizzle in the milk.

Leave for 30 minutes.

Beat the cream with sugar and either pipe or spread over the top.

Top with Pistachios.

How long does Rasmalai Tres Leches cake last? 

Tres leches cake can be made 4 days ahead. The cake should be covered and stored in the fridge.

You can add the cream on the day you make the cake or on the day of serving.

Can Rasmalai Milk Cake be frozen?

Ras Malai Milk Cake can be made ahead of time and frozen as long as you make it without the syrup and decoration. 

To do this - 

Let the cake to cool to room temperature.

Cover the baking tin in 2 layers of cling film and freeze for up to 2 months.

When you are ready to serve it, thaw in the fridge over night. 

Poke holes all over the cake and add the syrup and deco as normal the following day. 

You will not be able to freeze the cake once the syrup has been poured into the cake!

Expert Tips

Be gentle

Mix batter with a gentle hand as the cake is meant to be light and airy. Overmixing will make it tough. Do not overmix the batter once you add the dry ingredients. That will result in a

Let the Cake rest

The cake tastes best after resting for 4 - 5 hours as it will have time to absorb all the milk syrup. 

Store Brought Cake Mixes

Store brought cake mixes won’t work here as they tend not to absorb the milk syrup without becoming soggy.

Madeira Cake

To make a super quick version, make the recipe with store brought Madeira Cake instead of baking the cake yourself. 

Saffron

Break the saffron between your fingers and either warm lightly first or warm one of the milks up first before adding it to the syrup.

Pour the syrup into a flat surface

Flip the cake upside down before pouring the milk syrup into the cake. This means you have a flat surface to begin with. 

Full Fat everything

Use full fat Milk and Evaporated Milk in the milk syrup for best flavour. Also don’t be tempted to use a lighter condensed milk.

More Dessert Recipes:

Biscoff Cake with Cream Cheese frosting

San Sebastian Cheesecake with Condensed Milk

No bake Milk Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo Crust 

Apple Streusel Cake

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