A truly luxurious bake that feeds a crowd, this pudding-y cake resembles tres leches except the milk soak is infused with floral, earthy saffron. The sponge cake is light and airy enough that it can drink up the sweet and creamy milk mixture without a long soak time. While just an hour of soaking will do the trick, the dessert tastes best cool, so aim for 4 hours in the fridge. Serve with a generous dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of pistachios for crunch and color. —Zaynab Issa
For an iftar-worthy spread, pair this recipe with Afghan Pasta, Kalimati, and Mango-Lime Spritzer. Read more about how Zaynab hosts iftar.
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What you’ll need
Stand Mixer
$330 $250 At Amazon
Metal Baking Pan
$26 At Amazon
Small Saucepan
$155 At Amazon
Silicone Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Scale
$26 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
12 servings
Ingredients
Cake
4
2
¾
3
1¼
1½
¾
Saffron milk
3
1
¼
1
1
Whipped cream and assembly
2
3
¼
¼
Preparation
Cake
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Lightly grease a 13x9" baking dish with unsalted butter and dust with all-purpose flour, tapping out excess.
Step 2
Heat ¾ cup whole milk and 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Step 3
Beat 3 large eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium and gradually add 1¼ cups (250 g) sugar; mix until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is pale, glossy, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from stand mixer and sift in 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp. baking powder, and ¾ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold until flour is mostly incorporated. Add milk mixture and stir gently until just incorporated (don’t overmix). Scrape batter into prepared baking dish and smooth top if needed.
Step 4
Bake cake until top is golden brown and springs back when gently pressed, 25–30 minutes. Let cool in pan 15 minutes.
Saffron milk
Step 5
While the cake is cooling, heat 3 cups whole milk, 1 tsp. saffron threads, and ¼ tsp. kosher salt in a medium saucepan over medium until steaming and creamy yellow in color. Remove from heat and stir in one 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk and one 12-oz. can evaporated milk until smooth and combined. Set aside 1½ cups saffron milk for serving; chill until ready to use.
Step 6
Using a toothpick, poke holes in cake at 1" intervals. Pour remaining saffron milk evenly over cake. Chill cake, uncovered, at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours (4 hours is ideal).
Whipped Cream and Assembly
Step 7
Meanwhile, beat 2 cups chilled heavy cream, 3 Tbsp. sugar, and ¼ tsp. kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Step 8
Cut cake into 12 pieces and serve topped with 2 Tbsp. reserved saffron milk and a generous dollop of whipped cream. Scatter ¼ cup finely chopped raw pistachios over, dividing evenly.
Leave a Review
Reviews (18)
Back to Topthis was a very good recipe!! it completely satisfied the craving and the cake recipe was perfect and easy to follow. my only tweaks would be on the milk mixture one whole can of condensed milk is wayyy too much and would make the cake too sweet, i only added about a half and that was tethering on the edge of being too sweet, but this is a very easy fix. also i did not add a whole teaspoon of saffron, only about a 1/4 or a 1/2 and that gave the perfect amount of flavor, adding a whole teaspoon would’ve made it a bit bitter tasting in my opinion. but i loved this recipe overall and will be making it again! the tip of only adding half the milk mixture was soo nice as well!
sakina
1/28/2024
@emeraldfoodie it says to add the milk mixture in step 3.
Anonymous
12/25/2022
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It wasn’t terrible. Using saffron in a dessert recipe was fun and I love that flavor. It’s like a sweet floral flavor, almost like using tea leaves. I think the issue was the sweetened condensed milk. This cake was so SWEET. So sweet. Too sweet. Next time I would use half the amount of sweetened condensed milk and maybe add some almond milk instead? It’s a fun and easy recipe, and not bad but just way too sweet for me.
Natasha
Orlando, FL
11/24/2022
How well does this cake keep? That is if I make it on Wednesday can I serve it Friday? Or will the cake be mush by then?
Anonymous
Rochester, NY
5/11/2022
What do you do with the milk and butter mixture in Step 2? It does not get mentioned in the recipe after Step 2. Confusing!!
Emerald Foodie
Seattle, WA
4/19/2022
Great recipe, agreed that it is like the Tres Leches cake that I make as well, will make again. A side note if you are a gardener is you can plant saffron crocus bulbs and harvest your own saffron. I love mine.
Colleen
4/14/2022
I love it that's a lot like my 3 Leches cake I've baked for years but now I'll only make it like this. I'm sure my guests will be curious to find out for the exotic flavor from the saffron. Great cake!
Carlos Prugue
Rehoboth Beach, DE
4/14/2022