Sweetened Condensed Milk Funfetti Cake

Teddy Graham Cake

Certainly, if there were an Official List of Things That Are Grand and Mighty, the following would be on it: Funfetti Cake Mix, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Chocolate Fudge Frosting, and Teddy Grahams

So you can imagine how wealthy in sweet riches I felt when I found myself in possession of all of these things, at once, in my kitchen, at the ready. 

Knowing that I needed to make the most of this precious bounty, I thought long and hard before settling on the ideal concoction: a Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake. 

I quickly found a recipe on this forum which detailed how to trick-out a cake mix with sweetened condensed milk for a decadent treat, and was delighted to see that I had all of the ingredients on hand. 

Now, the recipe I started with was somewhat like Houdini Bars--a cake mix crust, but with a sweetened condensed milk and chocolate gooey topping.

But what the heck, I thought, and decided to pour in the sweetened condensed milk right along with the cake mix and see how it baked up. 

Teddy Graham Cake

And you know what? It worked! The resulting cake was very dense, more like a bar cookie texture; the taste was heavenly sweet, with that lightly caramelly-milk tasting flavor that the sweetened condensed milk so deliciously imparts. So rich. You really shouldn't eat a lot of this. Just kidding. Eat more.

Teddy Graham Cake
Teddy Graham Cake

And in a case of pure gilding the lily, I added an extremely thick layer of fudge frosting on top of it all, and since they were on hand, gently placed Teddy Grahams on top. Now, it wasn't my intention, but with those Teddy Grahams gently resting on top of the cake, waiting for their final resting place in the greedy mouth of various sugar fiends, something was pointed out to me by the creators of The Sporkful. These teddies resembled the rows of soldiers so dramatically captured in Gone With the Wind!

So I started to think of it as a Teddy Graham Graveyard. So, that's my secondary title for this cake: Teddy Graham Graveyard Cake.

Teddy Graham Cake

Sweetened Condensed Milk Funfetti Cake, or Teddy Graham Graveyard Cake

Printable recipe here!

About 1 hour - 24 servings

For the cake

  • 1 box cake mix (I used Funfetti)
  • 2 large eggs 
  • 1/3 cup oil 
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk 
  • 1/2 stick butter, melted 

Frosting

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

Teddy Grahams, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.

Teddy Graham Cake

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, eggs, oil, sweetened condensed milk and melted butter in a large bowl with mixer until blended. Pour into the prepared pan. 

Teddy Graham Cake

Bake 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned. 

While the cake cools, prepare the frosting. To make the frosting, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. In a separate bowl, sift together 3 cups of the confectioners' sugar with the cocoa.

Add the sugar and cocoa mixture to the butter mixture in 2 to 3 additions, beating on low speed to incorporate. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.

Add the salt, vanilla, and cream; increase speed to medium, and beat until the mixture is very fluffy a spreadable consistency. If the frosting is too soft, add a little more sugar; if it's too thick, add additional cream in small increments, mixing after each addition, until it has reached your desired consistency.

Teddy Graham Cake

Frost the cake all over, right in the pan. It's gonna be a lot of frosting. Sprinkle with nonpareils or sprinkles of your choice, and don't forget the Teddy Grahams.

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Sweet, Allergy-Free Funfetti Cupcakes

Photo: Elizabeth GordonIf you follow my site, you probably know a few things about me, including: I love butter, sugar, cream, flour, unicorns, and rainbows. And if there is a cake that can put all of these things together (OK, maybe not the unicorns), it is Funfetti. This cake might just be my muse, inspiring pancakes, sandwich cookies, cakelets in the toaster oven, and more.

But as it turns out, my muse-cake has also provided some inspiration for someone unexpected: Elizabeth Gordon, owner of Betsy & Claude Baking Co., a baker specializing in allergy-free treats. As she said of CakeSpy on her site in an entry that made me blush,

Mostly... I read her posts and chuckle because they are so funny and witty, drool over whatever she’s put up on Serious Eats that week and then go about my day.  It never occurred to me that one of her wheaty, eggy and dairy-ful ideas would become one of my greatest gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-free inspirations.  And then, over Memorial Day weekend, my kids wanted to bake, and I just didn’t feel like making something from scratch, so I let them make a Funfetti cake from a box (we were in someone else’s kitchen). 

Well, looks like this desire led to some delicious creativity, because Elizabeth dreamed up a downright delicious-looking allergy-free variation on the world's most festive cake; even though it is devoid of butter, eggs, and wheat, I'd totally hit this cake. And by that, I mean eat it.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Elizabeth Gordon's website!