From Batter to Birthday: Artur Turns 7

This time, I decided to wait until all the kids were fast asleep before making the cake. With the house finally quiet, I chose a new recipe for the batter, and it turned out so fluffy and perfect! Taking my time, I mixed everything slowly, and without any little hands around to “help,” the result was just right.

Being married to a Brazilian, we absolutely love leite condensado (sweetened condensed milk). Since we couldn’t find any at the store, I made some from scratch, don’t worry, I’ll share the recipe below!

Ingredients for the Batter:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar (180g)
• 120ml of hot water
• 60ml of oil
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder (I used 50% cocoa) (45g)
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (180g)
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder (10g)

Baking Pan Size Used: 20x8 cm (though you can use a 20x10 cm pan)
Measuring Cup Size: 240ml

Instructions for the Batter:

Beat the Eggs and Sugar: Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together for about 7 minutes, until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.

Prepare the Chocolate Mixture: In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder and oil with the hot water. Stir until everything is well combined.

Combine Mixtures: Gradually add the chocolate mixture to the egg and sugar mixture while continuing to beat.

Fold in the Flour: Turn off the mixer and gently fold in the flour by hand using a whisk. This slow folding keeps the air bubbles intact and ensures a fluffy cake.

Bake: Pour the batter into a greased 20x8 cm baking pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The cake baked beautifully in the 20x8 cm pan, just as I’d hoped.

Once the cake was cooling, I got to work making leite condensado. Here’s how I did it:

Homemade Condensed Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of milk

Instructions:

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and milk.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to ensure the sugar dissolves and the milk doesn’t burn.

Continue stirring for about 20–25 minutes until the mixture thickens and reduces, leaving you with about 400ml of sweetened condensed milk. It should have a creamy consistency. Let it cool before using.

Since I had some red fruits in the fridge, I mada a delicious cream recipe using leite condensado and red fruits. Here you go:

Ingredients for the Red Berry Cream:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 400g of heavy cream
• 200g of white chocolate
• 2 tablespoons of red berry paste

Instructions:

Make the Cream: Place the sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, heavy cream, and white chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.

Add the Berry Paste: Remove from heat and stir in the red berry paste.

When the cake had cooled, I sliced it into two layers. I spread the rich, red berry cream inside, then covered the whole thing with chocolate ganache, I love melting Milk chocolate Dr Oetker. And to finish, I added colorful sprinkles, which my kids absolutely adore.

The next day, the cake was a massive hit, it disappeared faster than you can say “birthday wishes”! The kids giggled and told me that next time, I need to make it bigger because a cake that small doesn’t stand a chance in our family. Looks like I’ll be upgrading to a jumbo-sized version soon!