Ever since working at Milkbar, I feel like my love and appreciation for cereal milk(cornflake-steeped milk) has been at an all-time high. That being said, I always find myself with leftover soggy cornflake mush whenever I make it. At Milkbar lab, I was always trying to find ways to use it up. But the issue was that there was a lot of math involved. I had to measure out how much milk to cornflake I was using to make the cereal milk, then I had to measure the cornflake mush afterwards, just so I knew how much liquid was still soaked up/absorbed into the soggy cornflakes. Fun fact – cornflakes on average can soak up to 5 times their weight in milk. So ratios like that came into play when using the cereal mush, and it became a really math-intensive process to keep track of. I will be honest, I did use cereal mush in my cake for this recipe. And it requires a scale to use this recipe because of that. So if you want to make this recipe without a scale, please don’t. I literally had to measure out how much liquid I wringed out of the soggy cornflakes, just so that my cake batter was not too wet/dry. But the end result was great – the cake itself was pleasantly moist and cereal-flavored, and pairing that with a cereal milk ermine-cream cheese frosting and a yuzu-berry jam made for a very pleasant combination! Cereal milk at its core is a loosely corn-flavored product, and corn with red berries makes a ton of sense, being mild, nutty, and sweet against tart. Overall, this cake is my homage to cereal milk and berries and cream, but in one cohesive cake!

For this recipe, you have to make cereal milk. It does take a bit of time, between toasting the cornflakes to give them a more pronounced flavor, then steeping them in milk, and finally straining them out of the flavored milk. In most cases with cereal milk-based recipes, the milk is used, but those strained cornflakes are composted, but in this case, we are using the strained cornflakes to make a chiffon cake-like sponge that features whipped egg whites and added egg yolks, but with brown butter to play off of the diluted corn flavor in the cake batter itself! The berry compote is the filling I would recommend making first, since it will need time to cool down – if you try adding warm compote to the buttercream, you will end up with greasy berry-cereal milk soup layers between your cake. So in other words, it will be very unappetizing. The frosting is an ermine frosting, which is made by thickening milk(cereal milk in this case) with flour into a roux-like mixture, then whipping that with butter to form a buttercream. I am also cutting that with cream cheese, just to add more body, to lighten it more, and to balance out the sweetness more. it also makes the entire dessert taste like a berry and corn cheesecake, which I feel almost nobody would be mad about – if they are, I don’t want to be friends with them anyways. The top of the cake is finished with fresh berries tossed with sugar and yuzu juice, just to give a nod back to the fruit used in the compote layers. All in all, this is a really fun cake to make, since it takes full advantage of cereal milk as a flavor profile, while using what would otherwise be discarded as the basis for the sponge itself!

Makes 1 6-inch cake or 8 servings:
For the cereal milk:
30g cornflakes
480g whole milk

Toast the cornflakes in a sheet tray at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Then in a pot, steep the cornflakes in the milk for another 10 minutes. Strain out the solids, making sure you have about 350g of strained cereal milk and 160g of the soggy cereal mush.

For the cereal cake:
160g cereal mush
10g canola oil
40g egg yolk
55g brown butter
60g egg whtie
100g granulated sugar
5g vanilla extract
200g all-purpose flour
1g salt
4g baking powder

In a bowl, start by mixing the cereal mush, canola oil, egg yolk, and brown butter together. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. In a third bowl, sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Alternate between folding in the whipped egg whites and flour to the cereal mush to form your batter. Pour the batter into a lined quarter sheet tray and spread into an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Allow the cake to cool before cutting out 2 6-inch rounds and forming a third from the scraps.

For the berry compote:
70g fresh raspberries
90g fresh strawberries, leaves removed and diced
20g granulated sugar
5g yuzu juice
1g salt

In a pot, stir everything on medium heat until the berries are completely softened and any excess liquid has evaporated. Allow the compote to fully cool before attempting to use.

For the cereal milk ermine-cream cheese frosting:
120g cereal milk
50g all-purpose flour
100g granulated sugar
1g salt
113g unsalted butter
113g cream cheese
10g vanilla extract

In a pot, whisk the cereal milk, flour, sugar, and salt until there are no more lumps. Transfer the pot to the stove and whisk on low heat until a thickened opaque paste forms. Allow the paste to cool down before whisking into it softened butter, cream cheese, and vanilla to form your frosting.

For initial assembly:
90g cereal milk

Line a 6-inch cake ring with an acetate collar and place onto a lined sheet tray. Place down first one of your cake rounds, then drizzle over that 30g of the cereal milk. Then spread over that 1/3 of your ermine frosting, then 1/3 of your jam. Then place down your scrap layer, and repeat those steps. Then repeat those steps again with your last layer. Freeze the cake solid, at least 4 hours, before attempting to unmold the cake to finish garnishing.

For garnish:
10g fresh raspberries
20g fresh strawberries, cut into slices
5g yuzu juice
10g granulated sugar
5g vanilla extract
1g salt

In a bowl, toss everything together. Garnish the tops of your cakes with the berries to finish.