There is a category of foods that you know is bad for your health but you can’t deny yourself the pleasure of eating and enjoying them. And condensed milk is among those ingredients. Be honest, haven’t you ever had a spoon of condensed milk straight from the can? I know I have. And on numerous occasions because condensed milk is one of my many guilty pleasures.

It’s overloaded with sugar, sweet, sticky and syrupy, in short it’s everything you should stay away from in theory but it’s impossible to do for someone like me. And it brings back so many childhood memories. I remember pouring a tablespoon of condensed milk on top of a slice of baguette bread and have it for breakfast before going to school. It’s one of those comforting foods that you can’t get enough of. Whether it is used on its own, in a coffee, or spread on a slice of bread, much like cheese with savory dishes, I will say that condensed milk makes everything better and addictive.

Hence the reason why I came up with the idea of making a sweetened condensed milk rum cake this week. This cake is particular because the only sweetened ingredient is condensed milk. The freshness of the raspberries brings balance to this sweet cake.

Prep: 30-40 min                 Cook: 50-55 min                 8-10 Servings

INGREDIENTS

2 cans (300 ml for each can) of Condensed milk

2 cups of Flour

125 g of unsalted butter, softened

4 Eggs

3 tablespoons of Rum

2 ¼ teaspoons of Baking powder

½ teaspoon of Baking soda

¼ teaspoon of Salt

Frosting

1 Can of Condensed milk (300ml)

250 g of Cream cheese, softened

¼ cup of unsalted butter, softened

⅛ cup of heavy cream

300 g of fresh Raspberries (you can use more)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven at 350° F.

In a bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda) together and set aside.

In a stand mixer, at medium speed, beat the eggs for 1-2 minutes before adding condensed milk. Mix until the mixture turns pale. Add softened butter and continue to whisk.

Add the dry ingredients and gently fold with a spatula. Blend until obtaining a smooth and homogeneous cake batter. Then add rum. And mix.

Pour the batter in a greased pan (I used a casserole dish because I wanted to keep it rustic by not unmolding the cake). Let it bake for 50-55 minutes or until a tooth pick or a knife comes out clean after being inserted in the cake.

Since I didn’t unmold the cake, I let it cool in the dish. However if you choose to unmold the cake, let the cake rest on a cooling rack.

While the cake is cooling down, it’s time to make the frosting.

In a stand mixer, at medium speed, whip butter and condensed milk, then add cream cheese and heavy cream (You can add a splash of rum if you want). Whip until obtaining a mixture of a creamy and thick consistency. However make sure to not over whip it.  Let the frosting chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

With a sharp knife, cut the bump to even the surface of the cake. Pour the frosting on top of the cake (totally cooled). With a cake spatula, spread the frosting in order to cover the entire surface of the cake. Evenly distribute fresh raspberries on top of the cake for garnishing.

Et voilà! It’s time to serve.

Tips:

You can replace rum with vanilla, lemon zest or any other aroma of your liking. It’s totally up to you.

I realized that baking cakes in casserole dishes brings a rustic aspect that I love and it’s also easy to store in the fridge.

I will recommend to let the cake chill in the fridge another hour before serving but it’s completely optional.