Bird's Milk Cake

Effort: Medium/Hard

1 hr (Prep), 20 mins (Bake)

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 3 eggs
  • 200 mL (0.85 cup) white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons cow's milk
  • 2 ⅓ cups pastry flour

Cream

  • 200 mL (0.85 cup) white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons pastry flour
  • 400 mL (1 ¾ cups) cow's milk
  • 1 ½ (12 tablespoons/¾ cups) sticks butter

Chocolate glaze

  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 100 mL (~0.4 cup) white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cow's milk
  • 2-3 tablespoons of butter

Preparation

Pastry layers

  1. Heat small amount of water in a pot for a hot water bath.
  2. In a glass bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer. Add sugar, milk and honey to the eggs, and mix well (with the mixer).
  3. In a small cup combine vinegar and baking soda so it fully reacts (bubbles) before folding them into the main mixture in the bowl.
  4. Put the glass bowl on the pot with the simmering water (the hot water bath) and keep mixing its content until it is warm.
  5. Take the bowl off the pot and add the flour to it while it’s warm. Mix the dough well, cover with a lid and set aside for an hour.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut four foil sheets (or use pre-cut ones) to fit baking sheet.
  7. Divide the dough into four parts and spread a quarter evenly on one of the foil sheets with a spatula. This needs to be done carefully because the layer is thin, and you should be careful not to tear the foil.
  8. Place the foil sheet with the dough on the baking sheet and put it in the oven. The first layer will be ready in approximately 10 minutes (depends on the oven). Keep checking not to burn it: it has to be golden-brown, not pale.
  9. Repeat the procedures with the remaining three layers. Note that these layers will bake slightly faster because you’ll be putting foil on a hot baking sheet (that just came out of the oven).
  10. Once a layer is ready, put it on a flat surface to cool down. Leave for at least an hour (or more) before peeling the foil off. Do it slowly not to break the layer, peel small pieces of foil and make sure there is no foil left, especially at the edges.

  11. Proceed to making cream while layers cool.

Cream

  1. Take the butter out of the fridge for a few hours. It has to be soft (room temperature).
  2. In a glass bowl, mix sugar and flour with a spoon so there are no clumps. Add milk and put in microwave oven.* Heat the mixture in increments of 3 or 2 minutes, mixing with a spoon in between. Add vanilla once it is hot, but has not boiled yet. Get it to boil but not spill (it rises quickly, so watch if you have light and the microwave door is transparent).
    3. *You can use cooktop instead of the microwave. Just keep mixing everything in a pot over low heat until it boils.
  3. The hot milk mixture has to cool down to room temperature, same as butter.
  4. Beat butter with an electric mixer, but do not over-beat it. Then add the milk mixture little by little and keep beating with the mixer. The cream is done once the milk mixture and the butter are fully mixed and uniform.
  5. Divide cream into three parts and spread between the four laters. There should not be cream on top of the last layer (it will be glazed with chocolate).
  6. Use cutting board covered with parchment paper for ‘assembling’ the layered cake. It will be easy to cut it when you’re ready to serve.

Chocolate glaze

  1. In a small pot, mix cocoa powder and sugar so there are no clumps. Add milk and bring to boil over low heat, constantly mixing. Add butter and mix until it melts.
  2. Once the glaze cools a little, spread it over the top cake layer with a spatula.
  3. The cake should be in a fridge for a few hours (preferably overnight) before serving.
  4. Cut the edges off and make pieces either rectangular or diamond-shaped. If the knife gets covered with cream and glaze, clean or wash it before proceeding to cut the cake further. This way, the edges will be even and neat.
  5. Serve on a tray or a flat dish. Enjoy!