Margot Henderson once described herself as a “wet” over a “dry” food person, and the world, seen in those terms, suddenly made more sense to me. I’m also a “wet” food person (I need a sauce with every meal), and I’d wager that the same goes for most Indians, especially with savoury food, but also with sweet. Rasmalai, gulab jamun and jalebi are all Indian desserts for which batters or doughs are cooked and then soaked in syrup or milk. I wanted to make a “wet” cake in that same tradition – a classic sponge soaked in spiced, sweet saffron and cardamom milk – and in doing so have taken a little inspiration from Mexico’s tres leches cake.

Saffron milk cake

You’ll need electric beaters and a 23cm x 33cm baking tin.

Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Soak 2 hr+
Serves 12

For the cake
175g caster sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g plain flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine sea salt
75g unsalted butter, melted

For the soaking milk
300ml whole milk
30 saffron strands
1½ tsp ground cardamom
Just under ¼ tsp fine sea salt
300ml double cream
200ml condensed milk

For the topping
300ml cold double cream
2 tbsp condensed milk
50g shelled pistachios, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a 23cm x 33cm cake tin with baking paper.

First, make the batter. Put the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl, and put the flour, baking powder and a quarter-teaspoon of salt in a second bowl. Whisk the sugar and egg mix for about five minutes, until it’s custard-thick, then sift in the flour mix in three roughly even stages and fold it into the sugar and eggs, taking care not to knock out the air. Spoon in the melted butter, again in three stages and taking care not to knock out much air.

Pour the batter into the lined tin, then bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove and leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the soaking milk. Gently heat the whole milk in a saucepan on a medium to low heat, add the saffron, cardamom and just shy of a quarter-teaspoon of salt, then leave to simmer and infuse for five minutes, stirring all the while. Take off the heat, then stir in the double cream and condensed milk until well combined.

Use a fork to poke little holes all over the top of the cooled cake, then pour half the milk mix evenly over it. Leave this to soak in for a few minutes, then pour over the rest of the milk. Put the cake in the fridge and leave the milk to soak in for at least two hours, or overnight.

Once the cake has is cold and just before serving, make the topping. Whip the cold double cream and condensed milk until stiff. Spread this over the cooled cake, sprinkle the finely chopped pistachios on top and serve straight from the tin.