Milo Cake
A malted chocolate sponge made with Milo drink powder and iced with a thick Milo buttercream.
Don't Make These Mistakes
Whisk the powder with the flour first.
Do not expect a dark chocolate colour.
If your oven runs hot, check at 28 minutes.
Ice the cake once cold.
How to Make Milo Cake
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Heat the oven to 170°C / 340°F and line a 23 cm round tin. Whisk the flour with 80 g of the drink powder.
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Beat the 175 g butter and caster sugar for 4 minutes until pale. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
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Fold in the flour mixture and the 120 ml milk. Spoon into the tin.
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Bake for 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely.
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Beat the 60 g butter with the icing sugar, 3 tbsp drink powder and 1 tbsp milk until thick. Spread over the cake.
Why the Method Works
A Milo cake suits the afternoon, a school party or a birthday for twelve, and the tin is usually empty by the evening. It is a plain butter cake with malted chocolate drink powder in place of some of the flour.
Milo is sweet and malty and finely ground, so it blends into the batter without lumps. Whisk it with the flour before adding the wet mixture. The cake will be paler than a cocoa cake. That is correct, as the colour comes from malt, not from dark chocolate.
Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time and fold in the flour mixture and the milk. The batter should drop easily from a spoon.
Bake in a lined 23 cm tin at 170°C for 35 minutes. If your oven runs hot, check at 28 minutes. Cool completely and ice with the buttercream. Sprinkle a little extra drink powder over the icing for a malty finish.
Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping
Keeps in an airtight tin for 3 days.
If You're Missing Something
- No self-raising flour to hand? Use the same weight of plain flour plus 2 teaspoons of baking powder per 150 g.
What to Serve Alongside
- Cold milk
- Hot Milo
- Vanilla ice cream
- Hot tea
Common Questions About Milo Cake
How long does Milo Cake take to make?
About 50 minutes in total — 15 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking. The recipe serves 12.
What are the key tips for making Milo Cake?
Whisk the powder with the flour first. Do not expect a dark chocolate colour. If your oven runs hot, check at 28 minutes. Ice the cake once cold.
What should I serve with Milo Cake?
Cold milk; Hot Milo; Vanilla ice cream; Hot tea.
How should Milo Cake be stored?
Keeps in an airtight tin for 3 days.
Is Milo Cake suitable for a special diet?
This recipe is vegetarian. Those labels are checked against the ingredient list, so a dish is only marked when nothing in it contradicts the claim.
How many calories are in Milo Cake?
About 366 kcal per serving, with 5 g protein, 46 g carbohydrate and 18 g fat. The figures are calculated from the ingredient list and are an estimate.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.
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Written and tested by Turab
One person, one kitchen — no test kitchen, no team. How every recipe on this site is checked before it goes up.
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