Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (2024)

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (1)
Bird’s Milk Cake is a combination of soft chocolate sponge cake layers and a deliciously luscious CustardButtercream. This cake has a very subtle sweetness, so if super sweet cakes are not your thing, you’re going to love this one!

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (2)

My aunt Irina shared this Birds Milk Cake recipe with me and the first time I made it, it was an epic fail. The chocolate layers collapsed horribly as soon as they were out of the oven and I was pretty disappointed. This not being my first cake, I couldn’t imagine what I did wrong as I did follow the recipe pretty precisely. After a call to my aunt to ask about what I could have done wrong, I found out that when it said 6 tablespoons of flour in the recipe, it did not mean leveled measuring tablespoons, but a normal heaping soup spoon. This of course was how the recipes were written back in the day, and I didn’t clarify before starting to make the cake, hence the epic fail.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (3)

After multiple attempts I decided to not just measure, but weigh my ingredients, because a couple grams this or that way made a huge difference. I wouldn’t recommend making this cake if you’re novice baker as it takes a little bit of a ‘know how’ in several steps of the process to get the result we are aiming for.

But, if you do decide to make this cake, you MUST use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. This is not an option in this cake, unless you have made it a 100 times and now know by eye what the batter is supposed to look like. Since the kitchen scale is fairly inexpensive, I say invest in this little piece of equipment in your kitchen and start having consistent results, and not just with this recipe.

Anyways, I am super excited to be posting this recipe because it took me such a long time to get it right and now that I have the exact weighed measurements, this cake comes out perfect every single time! I know it might sound like a weird thing to get excited about, but I guess I’m a little off, haha, but I’m ok with that! Enjoy guys!

Oh and do let me know what you think of this cake once you make it! I love hearing from you guys, kind of makes it worthwhile to experiment and post this kind of stuff.
Lots of love,
– Marina

Yield:One 8 inch round cake (8-12 Servings)

Chocolate Angel Food Cake Ingredients:

  • egg whites
  • granulated sugar
  • all-purpose flour
  • cocoa powder

Equipment to use (affiliate links):

How to make the Bird’s Milk Cake (Ptichye Moloko Cake) :

Measure out all ingredients with a kitchen scale. Line two8 inch round baking pans with foil or parchment paper. Put the wet baking strips, if you have them, around the baking pans. Heat oven to 350F with the baking rack in the middle.
Add egg whites to an absolutely grease free, thoroughly cleaned large bowl and start whipping on high until foamy, about 30 seconds.
While continuing to whip gradually add the sugarthen continue to whip for 7 minutes-10 minutes.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (4)

Set a fine sieve over the bowl with whipped egg whites, add 120 grams of all-purpose flour and 40 grams of cocoa powder and sift. Now carefully fold the sifted mixture and meringue together until almost no streaks of dry mixture appear. You do not want to overfold, so that the cake does not come out dense.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (5)

Divide the batter between two baking pans and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not open the oven sooner than 17-18 minutes into the baking, or it will deflate. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a thin knife, then very carefully invert onto a cooling rack and remove the parchment or foil off the cake. Allow to completely cool.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (6)

Ingredients for the Custard Buttercream:

  • egg yolks
  • sugar
  • whole milk
  • unsalted butter, room temperature
  • vanilla extract

How to make the Custard Buttercream:

In a saucepan combine 3/4 cups sugar and 10 egg yolks and whisk together.
Now add 3/4 cups milk and whisk until combined.
Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, just until thickened. You should be able to dip a spoon into the custard, then swipe your finger through the custard and the line should not flood back with the custard. Do not boil/overcook or the custard will curdle and egg yolks will separate, rendering it useless. If this happens, you will have to start over.
Allow the custard to cool to room temperature. You can set the pan into a sink with cold water to speed up this process.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (7)

Whip the butter in a bowl of a mixer for about 5-7 minutes, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl several times throughout. You know the butter is whipped to the proper consistency when it looks very fluffy and very pale in color.
Add the cooled to room temperature Egg Yolk Custard and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in two additions, whipping after each.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (8)

Assemble the Bird’s Milk Cake (Ptichye Moloko Cake):

Reserve about 1.5 cups of frosting for frosting the outside of the cake, set aside.
Put a dab of frosting onto a serving platter (don’t mind the one I am using on pictures, I transferred it to a serving carton later).
Cut each cake layer horizontally into two equal layers with a long serrated knife.
Place the bottom of the first layer onto the platter and press to adhere. Layer with 1/3 of the Custard Buttercream, evening it out with an offset spatula. Repeat with the remaining layers and buttercream, finishing with the bottom side of the second cake layer up.
Use the reserved frosting to cover the cake in a thin layer of buttercream, still leaving some (about 3/4 cup) for decorating.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (9)

Make Chocolate Ganache:

Combine1/4 cup hot cream with 1/4 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and leave for 1-2 minutes. Stir until smooth.
Pour on top of the cake and with the spatula spread it around until it drizzles down the sides of the cake.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (10)

Fit a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with a snipped end with a star piping tip.
Fill the bag with the reserved 3/4 cup buttercream.
Pipe 5 large stars in on the side of the cake like shown on the picture, then in between the large ones pipe about 12 smaller stars, followed by 8 even smaller stars. Now dust some cocoa powder on top of the piped stars. If you have a couple chocolate covered coffee beans, put a couple of them inside the largest piped stars.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (11)

This particular cake does not need any time to allow for the mending of flavors, but it is good to leave it for about 1-2 hours in the fridge for all the layers to stick together and make it easier to cut.

According to your preference, you will either want to leave it out to come to room temperature before serving or serve it cold from the fridge. I like it better cold.

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (12)

Give these other Cakes a try:

  • Honeycomb Cherry Cake Recipe – Cherries wrapped in puff pastry, smothered in a sour cream frosting.
  • Hazelnut Meringue Nutella Cake – Layered of chocolate poppyseed cake, hazelnut meringue, and a Nutella custard buttercream.
  • Flourless Black Forest Chocolate Cake – Flourless chocolate cake topped with cherries and whipped cream.

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Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko)

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (13)

4.78 from 18 votes

This Bird’s Milk Cake is a combination of soft chocolate
sponge cake layers and a deliciously luscious Custard Buttercream.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Ukrainian

Keyword: milk cake recipe

Calories: 447 kcal

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

Egg White Only Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

Ingredients for the Egg Yolk Custard Buttercream:

Chocolate Ganache

  • 1/4cuphot cream
  • 1/4cupsemi-sweet chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

Equipment to use (affiliate links)

  • Electric mixer
  • Two 9 inch round baking pans
  • 9inchround pre-cut parchment circlesor you can cut out the circles out yourself out of parchment paper
  • Baking Cake Strips
  • Pastry Bags
  • Any kind of Closed Star Tip
  • Any kind of cake board or serving plate

Instructions

How to make the Bird's Milk Cake (Ptichye Moloko Cake)

  1. Measure out all ingredients with a kitchen scale. Line two 8 inch round baking pans with foil or parchment paper. Put the wet baking strips, if you have them, around the baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F with the baking rack in the middle.

  2. Add egg whites to an absolutely grease free, thoroughly cleaned large bowl and start whipping on high until foamy, about 30 seconds.

  3. While continuing to whip gradually add the sugar then continue to whip for 7 minutes-10 minutes.

  4. Set a fine sieve over the bowl with whipped egg whites, add 120 grams of all-purpose flour and 40 grams of cocoa powder and sift. Now carefully fold the sifted mixture and meringue together until almost no streaks of dry mixture appear. You do not want to overfold so that the cake does not come out dense.

  5. Divide the batter between two baking pans and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not open the oven sooner than 17-18 minutes into the baking, or it will deflate.

  6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a thin knife, then very carefully invert onto a cooling rack and remove the parchment or foil off the cake. Allow to completely cool.

How to make the Egg Yolk Custard Buttercream

  1. In a saucepan combine 3/4 cups sugar and 10 egg yolks and whisk together.

  2. Now add 3/4 cups milk and whisk until combined.

  3. Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, just until thickened. You should be able to dip a spoon into the custard, then swipe your finger through the custard and the line should not flood back with the custard. Do not boil/overcook or the custard will curdle and egg yolks will separate, rendering it useless. If this happens, you will have to start over.

  4. Allow the custard to cool to room temperature. You can set the pan into a sink with cold water to speed up this process.

  5. Whip the butter in a bowl of a mixer for about 5-7 minutes, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl several times throughout. You know the butter is whipped to the proper consistency when it looks very fluffy and very pale in color.

  6. Add the cooled to room temperature Egg Yolk Custard and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in two additions, whipping after each.

Assemble the Bird's Milk Cake (Ptichye Moloko Cake)

  1. Reserve about 1.5 cups of frosting for frosting the outside of the cake, set aside.

  2. Put a dab of frosting onto a serving platter (don't mind the one I am using on pictures, I transferred it to a serving carton later).

  3. Cut each cake layer horizontally into two equal layers with a long serrated knife.

  4. Place the bottom of the first layer onto the platter and press to adhere. Layer with 1/3 of the Egg Yolk Custard Buttercream, evening it out with an offset spatula. Repeat with the remaining layers and buttercream, finishing with the bottom side of the second cake layer up.

  5. Use the reserved frosting to cover the cake in a thin layer of buttercream, still leaving some (about 3/4 cup) for decorating.

Make Chocolate Ganache:

  1. Combine 1/4 cup hot cream with 1/4 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips and leave for 1-2 minutes. Stir until smooth.

  2. Pour on top of the cake and with the spatula spread it around until it drizzles down the sides of the cake.

Decorate:

  1. Fit a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with a snipped end with a star piping tip. Fill the bag with the reserved 3/4 cup buttercream. Pipe 5 large stars in on the side of the cake like shown on the picture, then in between the large ones pipe about 12 smaller stars, followed by 8 even smaller stars.

  2. Now dust some cocoa powder on top of the piped stars.

  3. If you have a couple chocolate covered coffee beans, put a couple of them inside the largest piped stars.

  4. This particular cake does not need any time to allow for mending of flavors, but it is good to leave it for about 1-2 hours in the fridge for all the layers to stick together and make it easier to cut.

Serving Suggestion:

  1. According to your preference you will either want to leave it out to come to room temperature before serving, or serve it cold from the fridge. I like it better cold.

Nutrition Facts

Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 447Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Fat 12g18%

Saturated Fat 6g38%

Cholesterol 258mg86%

Sodium 82mg4%

Potassium 201mg6%

Carbohydrates 77g26%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 61g68%

Protein 11g22%

Vitamin A 493IU10%

Calcium 77mg8%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (14)

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Bird's Milk Cake Recipe (Ptichye Moloko) (2024)

FAQs

Why is it called bird's milk cake? ›

According to the company's official history, Wedel's inspiration for the name of the confectionery came from his voyages to France, when he asked himself: "What could bring greater happiness to a man who already has everything?" Then he thought: "Maybe only bird milk."

What is bird milk made of? ›

The milk is produced by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop, a thin-walled, sac-like food-storage chamber that projects outward from the bottom of the esophagus.

What does evaporated milk do in cakes? ›

Bakers often use it as a substitute for cream to help reduce fat content. To substitute for a cup of regular milk, add in one part evaporated milk and one part water. For a more fresh-milk taste, add half the called for milk with evaporated milk, and the rest with water.

What does three milk cake taste like? ›

What does tres leches cake taste like? It's sweet, but not too sweet, vanilla in flavor, and scrumptiously moist. The milk mixture adds wonderful richness but the cake is surprisingly spongey and light, and the whipped cream on top only adds to its airiness. Why is my tres leches cake dry?

Why is it called Elvis Presley cake? ›

Before it's served, you'll add a layer of cream cheese frosting and sprinkle candied pecans on top for some crunch. Internet lore would have you believe this pineapple-topped concoction was Elvis Presley's favorite cake, that he even asked his grandmother to make it for him as a kid.

Why is it called a dump cake? ›

A dump cake is an American dessert similar to a cobbler but with a cake-like topping. It is so named because it is prepared by "dumping" ingredients (typically canned fruit or pie filling, followed by a boxed cake mix) into a cake pan without mixing.

Why can't birds have dairy? ›

Birds lack the enzyme lactase, so they're lactose intolerant like some humans are. While there are some birds that like to have milk or cheese or yogurt in their diet, many of those things do have lactose in them.

What is the only bird to produce milk? ›

The pigeon is one of only three bird species (the others being flamingos and male emperor penguins) known to produce 'milk' to feed their young. In pigeons the milk starts to be produced in the crop of the parent birds two days before eggs hatch.

What is penguin milk? ›

Penguin “Milk”

Penguins, being birds, don't have “milk” like mammals do. Instead, they produce this secretion which is sometimes called crop milk. This is a fatty, high protein food that is developed in their crop (a pouch in their throat) and given to chicks during key developmental stages.

When should you not use evaporated milk? ›

The benefit of evaporated milk is shelf-life: canned milk can remain stable for up to two years for peak flavor, and maybe longer. If you open a can of evaporated milk and it is dark yellow or brown, don't use it. Same goes for milk that smells bad or is curdled.

Can I use evaporated milk instead of milk in cake mix? ›

The bottom line: Evaporated milk is a poor substitute for regular milk. The reason? It contains about 6.6 percent fat and 10 percent caramelized lactose (milk sugar), versus the 3.3 percent fat and 4.5 percent lactose in regular milk—differences significant enough to interfere with proper structure in baked goods.

What happens if you add sweetened condensed milk to a cake mix? ›

Condensed milk is just the right ingredient to add moisture and a hint of developed sweetness to your next boxed cake. This non-refrigerated dairy product is made from concentrated milk that has been sweetened.

What is the best milk for baking cakes? ›

The more fat you have in milk, the more the texture of the bake will change. You want bakes to be moist, so this means you should choose milk with a higher fat content to achieve this. Therefore the best milk to use during baking is in most cases whole milk.

Why is tres leches cake soggy? ›

How do I prevent my tres leches from getting soggy? It's best to let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes before pouring the milks on top. This allows the structure of the cake to cool (so you don't destroy the delicate structure while it's still warm, turning it to mush).

What is the only bird that gives milk? ›

Emperor penguins, flamingos and members of the scientific family Columbidae (pigeons and doves) produce milk. Only the male emperor penguin, which incubates a single egg that the female lays, can produce milk.

Why is it called Doctor Bird Cake? ›

Jamaica explains both the tropical ingredients and the name. In the Caribbean, it's also known as “Doctor Bird” cake, a nickname for the red-billed streamertail, an indigenous member of the hummingbird family and the island's national bird.

Why is the wacky cake called that? ›

Wacky cake is considered wacky not only because the recipe lacks any dairy or eggs but also because all the ingredients for this cake are mixed directly in the pan it is baked in. This recipe goes against the most popular methods for mixing cake batters, especially since there is no bowl or whisk necessary.

Why is it called pigeon milk? ›

pigeons. … parents feed their young “pigeon's milk,” the sloughed-off lining of the crop, the production of which is stimulated by the hormone prolactin. The nestling obtains this “milk” by poking its bill down the parent's throat.

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