Condensed Milk Cake — Quick, tender and easy cake that will impress at the dinner table or a party without you slaving away in the kitchen.
Do you have a can of condensed milk in the pantry? Then turn it into something delectable like this cake here.
Condensed milk cake is definitely one of those desserts that requires minimal ingredients and preparation.
I don’t know about you but I look forward to sweets at the end of a meal. They have a magical way of balancing out the taste buds so we can reach ultimate satisfaction.
This condensed milk cake is similar to pound cake but has a lot more to offer. It is light and moist making every bite better than the last with a fabulous taste.
Although sweetened with only a can of condensed milk, you will be pleasantly surprised by the level of sweetness. The cake isn’t overly sweet making it even easier to indulge in 2 or 3 slices – paired with strawberries and whipped cream — it’s heavenly.
Every bite has great texture and your taste buds are soon hit with this rich, milky flavor and then you are ready to experience the deliciousness all over again. Guess what? You can have it for breakfast too! Or serve with some tea.
Unfortunately, many think using condensed milk in desserts will overwhelm it. Au contraire condensed milk enhances.
Try this cake for yourself. It will not disappoint.
Enjoy!
Watch How to Make It
Condensed Milk Cake-Quick, Tender and easy Cake that will impress at the dinner table or a party without you slaving in the kitchen.
- 10 ounce 284grams unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup 150grams granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 cups 250grams all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder.
- 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk or 396 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg optional
- 2-3 tablespoons lime zest
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Grease a 10 inch or Bundt pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixture until it’s fluffy and starting to look white, about 3 minutes. Then add the condensed milk and mix for another minute.
- Stir in the eggs, a little at a time, beating the mixture well between each addition. Sift in the flour and baking powder into the batter, and then add the grated lime zest& juice, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.
- Stir well until everything is fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Pour batter into a greased cake pan. Tap pan on work surface to eliminate any air
- Bake at 325 degrees F until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45–50minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.
- Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream and strawberries.
Hi from India!
I am a big fan of condensed milk☺
. So will try out this receipe. I have a question. Won’t adding sugar AND condensed milk make it terribly sweet? I like my cakes to be mildly sweet( so that I can gorge!) . Do you suggest I reduce the sugar ? Pls advice
Hello Anita,
I would suggest you cut the sugar in half. The sugar here is not too overwhelming.
I only have salted butter in my kitchen right now …can I substitute with that? If I do, do I need to tweak the recipe in some way?
Use the exact measurement . It will be just fine.
It is in the oven now. I am excited, the recipe looks fantastic! I plan on serving it with a with a mascarpone/whip cream and fresh berry syrup.
Oh my! Everything sounds Delicious Lynette. Enjoy
Hi i would like to try out this cake as we love consense milk but was wondering if i could use caster sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Hi Vicky! Yes, you can substitute the granulated sugar with caster sugar. Do let me know how it works out for you.
Hi i want to try the recipe but i don’t have a cake pan, what can i use
Hi Refilwe! Check out this link https://www.bakingkneads.com/easy-ways-to-make-a-cake-without-a-cake-pan/ for lots of cool DIY cake pan ideas :).
super tasty and juicy.
Try adding Orange zest to it as well 😉
Thanks for the feedback.
I had guest over and I wanted to try this recipe I found. Let me tell you I was so pleased. Instead of using a 10×3 cake pan I used two 9×2, also I use lemon instead of lime and the cake came out moist and had great flavor. Everyone was impressed and ended up finishing the the cake. I will definitely use this recipe again.
Oh, I love it when the guests eat everything at the table. It shows your hard work was not in vain :). I am so glad they loved this cake, Nimla. Thank you for the feedback!
Hi From India!
Tried this cake today and have to say it came out FABULOUS! Thanks so much for such a simple recipe!
Aditi
Awesome!! I am so glad you loved it, Aditi! 🙂
This cake was soooooo good! I baked it for about 55-60mins. and only used 1 1/2 tablespoons of the lime zest. Came out PERFECT!
Awesome!!! I am so glad it turned out great for you, Ahlan. Thanks for letting me know :).
hi,
nice recipe…is it possible to add some nuts and dried fruits in this cake batter…if so how much can be added?
Hi Sunitha! I have never tried adding dried fruits to this cake. You can add about half a cup so it does not change the consistency and texture too much. Do let me know how it works out for you!
I love the look of this recipe and want to try it out soon. Do you think it would work if I skip the lime and add grated carrot and a little crushed pineapple to the mix?
Yes it would work. Be sure to squeeze out the juice out the carrot, so the cake is not so mushy. Do let us know how it works out.
I made this and it was delicious! The only thing was my cake was a bit soft in the middle. Where did I go wrong? Love your recipes!
Hello Rachel. I think the cake needed a little more time in the oven. Thanks for stopping by!
Hello Imma.
Thanks for this recipe. I made it last night, it is wonderful. Sooooo soft and tasty.
I used orange juice and zest. I couldn’t find lime or lemon because of the lock-down.
I was worried about the dark sides and bottom though. But when I remembered that yours was dark, I felt alright.
Thanks again.
Hello Chioma,
Yes it comes out somewhat dark. I really don’t sweat it. So happy it worked out well for you.
Please can you help me convert the 284grams of butter into tablespoon measurement thanks. Wants to bake this cake but the measurements I can use it’s spoon but the sugar too.
If I did my math correctly it should be 2 1/2 sticks or 20 tablespoons.
Hi I don’t have limes, but I have lemons. Would this work as well?
Yes it would do just fine.
Hi I’m going to try your recipe but I have one concern,the lime zest what is the amount because I’m confused I don’t know if is 2/3 tablespoon or 2-3 tablespoons of lime zest.Thank you in advance
Sorry about the confusion . It’s 2-3 Tablespoons of Lime zest. Enjoy!
I made this cake but I used 75grams sugar instead of 150, and the sweetness was just amazing! Thank you so much
so happy to hear it worked out well for you. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi again 🙂
I wanted to note that I’ve got addicted to this cake. I’m baking it every week!
Hahaha. I can totally relate. Now I want to go bake it too . Glad you love it, Nil.
Can I use margarine instead of butter
Greetings from Costa Rica, my dough is in the oven…it smells delicious. Hopefully, the ending product is not too shabby
Thanks for giving it a try. You are going to love it.
Hi
Can I skip the 150g of sugar as you mention it’s only sweetened with the condensed ilk? Thank you
Hi, Jayne. I haven’t tried skipping the sugar as you need to cream it along with butter for the base. But one of our readers here have tried using half the amount of sugar and still came out perfectly.Hope this helps.
Thank you for your answer. I had the same question.
Loved the cake, however my cake stayed yellow on the top even after 50 minutes. Was wondering what why that happened.
Sorry to hear how that. So usual for this cake . Was it completely cooked through? .
Yes it was.
Yes it was.
I was initially disappointed but by the next day it was exactly what I imagined it would be. I like a dense cake and this is moist and dense (similar to a pound cake) with a beautiful aftertaste from the lime and condensed milk. This cake is one of my new favourites. I have a new oven and had to bake the cake about 15mins longer than stated. I think a Bundt pan may have been the better option for me. I also like the idea of the lemon ginger glaze suggested by one of your readers.
Awesome ! Thanks for taking time out to share your thoughts with us.
I followed the recipe to the T and it was fantastic… .the cake was moist and had great texture…..I topped it with some lemon , ginger glaze … It was absolutely delicious and can’t even begin explaining how gorgeous the cake looked….didn’t have strawberries so decorated with some edible flowers……
lemon ginger glaze sounds awesome
hi, what size is the cake pan. 10 x 3 ?
Hello,
10 x 3 works just fine .
Hi Imma!
Thanks for the recipe. I have just tried it and it’s my next crowd pleaser! I halved the sugar and it turns out perfect for me. This is the second recipe from your blog that I will always have in hand (the first one is your african chapatti! Love love love!). I made half in a cake pan and the other half in a cupcake tin. Both are perfect
Now the next thing that makes me anxious is the calory intake *bye diet :'(
I make this cake and it came out very nice, but I also want to turn it to a chocolate cake, but I don’t know how to go about it. Please some suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Hello Thessy. I am working on a Chocolate version. Stay tuned… 🙂
Hallo,
for a chocolate version simply add three big spoons of cocoa powder to the dough.
Thanks Sandy. Can’t wait to try it out .
Lovely cake I baked mine in a bundt tin and we really enjoyed it.
My family doesn’t really like sugar at all so next time I will not add any sugar.
Thats my personal preference but others thought it was perfect as is.
I received many compliment for the cake. It taste amazing and very moist. I didn’t have time to make changes.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback.
I made this earlier. I love it! I think the nutmeg and the citrus flavours gave it a nice refreshing uplift, and the texture and pleasant flavour tasted fantastic. I did use orange zest as a substitute as I had no limes in my fridge, and some lemon juice for juice, as I already had a small bottle of that open but it all tasted so great and felt amazing. Really glad I had a food blended though. So needed to get that butter whipped. It felt like it was turning back to cream! And then to stir in the ingredients at each time!
I will so look forward to sharing this to others too, so they can appreciate it also!
Can I use oil substitute of butter ……its work or not….?
I would suggest that you go for butter as it also helps cut the sweetness and for that nice buttery flavor, too.
Can it be in a 13 by 9 cake pan and if so would baking time be less.
Yes it can . Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 – 35 minutes.
This cake has put me in trouble. I made it for children’s day in my church and everyone loved it since then I have made it twice for two different people I know more people will still request for it. It was really really delicious. Thanks so much.
I make this cake about once a month per my family’s request. I take left overs to work and everyone who tries it, loves it! People even ask me to bake cakes for them. I bake mine in a bundt pan and I use oranges from my tree instead of lime. This cake is perfection! I have even made a glaze with fresh orange juice and powdered sugar.
Just made this for my son’s birthday and he loved it. He is allergic to eggs so I substituted aquafaba (canned bean juice). I didn’t have limes so I used lemon juice and lemon zest instead. It was a hit.
Glad it turned out well for you, Naima. And thank you for sharing those tips. Happy birthday to your son!
Can’t wait to try this cake for my brother’s birthday.
Hi i tried this cake and it is delicious everyone loved it, i tried it simple as your the first time then the second time I made little holes in it and with a syringe I put condensed milk so when you cut it it is not that dry nor that wet, it gives a good balance.
Nice cake! I’ve noticed in the video you used only 2 eggs whereas the recipe says 5 eggs so how many should we use??
It’s 5 eggs.
This was delicious thank you so much ❤️
So lovely I am going to make it for my lovely daughter eshal khan
Which country in Africa is this cake from?
It’s not an African Cake .
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It’s quite interesting.
I hope I nail it.
The Cake Looks Delicious I’m Going 2 Make It For Sunday Dinner Will Let U No How It Turn Out. Thanks For The Recipe.
Awesome! Can’t wait to hear the verdict.
Hi! Should I use regular condensed milk or sweetened condensed milk? Some recipes call for sweetened. Can’t wait to make this! Thanks! I really enjoy your blog.
Hi Lisa, I used sweetened condensed milk.So happy to hear the recipes are working well for you.
I can see that you used sweetened condensed milk, and not condensed milk. There is a difference! You should make that correction on the list of ingredients.
Yes I did. Recipe updated . Thanks
Made this, and it was such a lovely, sweet (but not too sweet), buttery cake! You can taste the condensed milk, which I love. I will make it again but with lemon.
Is it possible to make a vegan version of this cake? I am pretty certain I can substitute the dairy milk for condensed coconut milk. I would like to know what alternative I can substitute the large quantity of eggs for without compromising quality and taste.
Hi. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried alternating this recipe, so I don’t have a definite answer for that.
Yes, I substituted aquafaba for eggs and it came out amazing. Aquafaba is the liquid in canned beans. 3 tbsp=1 egg. There is absolutely no bean flavor once you mix it with the sugar. You can use the juice from any kind of canned beans–garbanzo, cannellini, navy, black, or pinto. Good luck!
I am planning to make this cake for a Global Insights meeting about Africa and this came up as an African dessert. My question is how many eggs do you actually use? The recipe says 5, but the video only shows 2 being incorporated. Which is it?
It’s. 5 eggs.
Thanks lots Imma for the delicious condensed milk cake recipe I just did the cake taste wise it was superb but mine turned out alittle dry though guess I missed out on something …..Thanks lots
Thanks lots Imma for the delicious condensed milk cake recipe I just did the cake taste wise it was superb but turned out alittle dry though …..Thanks
Ok I know this seems simple question but again video shows regular cake pan but recipe calls for Bundt cake pan. So which is best? Looks amazing can’t wait to try it. Thanks for recipe
Hi Judy, I do prefer regular cake pan because it cooks faster- both do the job.
Hi Imma
I made the cake and it was amazing. But my cake did not come down level. The middle was sunken
So sorry to hear about your cake not cooking properly in the middle. Next time try reducing the oven temperature. You might want to cover the cake top with a foil paper, about 30 minutes or more into the cooking, to prevent it from browning too fast . The goal is to let the cake cook in the middle without the exterior browning too fast .Also refrain from opening the oven, too many times when baking . Only start checking towards the end.
Can fresh fruit be added to this recipe?
Hi. Yes, you may, but keep the amount controlled. Please do let me know how it turns out for you.