Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Magic 3 layer 1 batter cake

3 delectable layers from 1 simple batter - it's a kind of magic...
Source: Old Time Cooking Recipes

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 4 eggs, separated, at room temperature (280 cal)
- 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- 3/4 cup / 150 g sugar (580 cal)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (20 cal)
- 1 stick / 125 g butter, melted (900 cal)
- 1 cup / 115 g white cake flour (420 cal)
- 2 cups / 500 ml milk, lukewarm (320 cal)
Total: 2520 cal, 12 servings, 210 cal/serving

Directions:
1. Whisk egg whites. When the peaks start forming add the vinegar, to stabilize the whites, and continue whisking until stiff.
2. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar, water and vanilla until light. Add melted butter and continue beating for another minute. Then sift in the flour and mix.
3. Add the milk (it has to be lukewarm, otherwise the butter will harden) and beat until well incorporated.
4. Add about 1/4 of the egg white mixture and whisk to lighten the batter. Then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites using a spatula.
5. Grease and dust with flour a 8x8 inch square pan or a 9 inch round pan. Do not use spring form because batter is too liquid and the pan could leak.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake in preheated 325F oven for about 60-80 minutes or until the top is golden.
7. Cool in the pan for at least 3 hours. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Afterthoughts:
- Yummmm - what more can I say! My favorite layer is custard :-)
- In my case the top was refusing to brown evenly and then eventually it cracked a bit, but it still tasted amazing!
- You can also make this into cupcakes. If using standard sized muffin tins, this makes 12 cupcakes. Line the tins and fill to the rim and bake for 30-35 minutes. The same magical taste only in individual servings :-)

26 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Can't wait to try. Love the idea of the custard layer. ~Ann

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  2. I love everything about this recipe, especially the custard layer!

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  3. This looks fantastic! I have pinned and shared and now all that's left is to make!

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  4. I definitely want to try this cake. It looks and sounds creamy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

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  5. I've been playing around with this magic cake idea, too. Interesting stuff, isn't it?

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  6. I've been seeing all these magic bars and magic cakes all over the blogasphere. No wonder people are going crazy for them. This looks divine.

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  7. That is a very interesting recipe. Custard, yes, I am in.
    Happy Easter!

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  8. Mine came out perfect, except how do you get it out of the pan?

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  9. Oh yum -- I really want a slice right now! Thank you for being a part of the YBR this month:)

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  10. Hi there, today I'm collecting cake recipes. Please drop me a line on ca4ole@gmail.com if you are ok with me linking to your post in my blog (Carole's Chatter). Cheers

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  11. What's cake flour ? Is it plain or self raising flour?

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  12. Hi Janet,
    Both the cake flour (self rising) and all purpose flour would work. This recipe is pretty robust, fortunately :-)

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  13. I love the taste, but my top layer becomes only a thin brown layer, not a cake looking kind...what do you think I'm doing wrong?


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  14. Hi Mariam,
    Sorry to hear that you did not get all 3 layers (even though my favorite is the middle one, the more custard - the merrier :-) ).
    I think maybe the egg whites where not stiff enough, or maybe they were mixed into the cake too much. Here is the link to the most "original" video recipe. It's in Spanish, but it's still useful to watch to know what the consistency of ingredients should be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRdEOUgYx3c
    Hope this helps :-) and thanks for stopping by to leave the comment.

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  15. Hi! I tried making this last week, but instead of getting 3 layers I got only one (the bottom one)… what did I do wrong? I’m thinking that maybe it was too much time in the oven?? It was in the oven for an hour at 325ยบ. I have another one in the oven right now, and I lowered the temperature a bit so I’m hoping this will turn out alright. - See more at: http://www.kitchennostalgia.com/desserts/cakes/magic-cake.html/comment-page-2#comment-5087

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  16. Hi Nicole,
    I think that over-mixing the egg whites with the rest of the batter can result in 1 layer. If you watch the video, she mixes the egg whites very gently by hand.
    Regarding the temperature, I would actually try higher temperature, especially in the beginning, to help the cake rise and the whites to separate and float on top. Maybe you could try 350 for the first 15 minutes, say, and then 325.

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  17. I have this Magic Cake on my bucket list and hope to make it soon. It would be perfect for the holidays where no fuss is sometimes a requirement to get through.

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  18. This looks WONDERFUL. Thanks for sharing. My niece loves everything lemon. Do you have any suggestions for turning this recipe into a lemon cake - or better yet, lemon pudding on the bottom.

    Johnnie from Chattanooga

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  19. I brought this to a potluck topped with fresh strawberries- delicious!

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  20. Line your lightly greased pan with parchment paper then lightly grease the parchment paper with spectrum spray coconut oil. then pour in the batter, that way after baking you can just lift out the parchment paper to remove the cake after completely cooled.

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  21. Also,I too baked at 325 for 60 minutes & although delicious i only got the dense bottom layer & the top cake layer. I have found that was too long in my oven so keep an eye on it around 40 to 50 minutes & remove once the top is lightly browned.

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  22. I followed the recipe exactly. My batter was still a bit lumoy, as I didn't want to over fold the whipped whites. But I got a delicious too lauer, a yummy custard...and No fudgy bottom :(

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