A fudgey base. Soft custard center. Topped with fluffy sponge. Made with one simple batter. Magic Three Layer Custard Cake: It’s like, well ….MAGIC!
If you love vanilla sponge cakes and custard, you are going to be as obsessed with this cake as I am. It looks like it’s been carefully layered with three different components. But it’s not! You just pour one simple batter into a cake tin, pop in the oven, and this is how it comes out!!
There is no special ingredient nor any tricky technique. The batter is made pretty much like a traditional vanilla sponge cake, it is just much thinner. It’s the consistency of crepe batter. Almost like a thick pouring cream.
The magic happens in the oven. It is baked at a lower temperature than usual – 325F/160C. And when it comes out, the top layer is a sponge, the middle is custard and the bottom is almost like a fudge.
I was dubious the first time I made it, and even when I turned the cake out because you can’t see the layers on the edges. But then when I cut into it, I gasped with astonishment! I mean, look at how perfect the layers are!!
This recipe is the Magic Cake from Jo Cooks. I’ve been reading Jo Cooks for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that I got to know Jo herself. Though actually, her real name is Ioana – a Romanian name, a beautiful one at that, and one of the first things I nagged her about was why she doesn’t go by her real name!
Jo and I have very similar tastes. We both love food that is absolutely scrumptious, we never compromise on flavour to follow trends or hacks (or diet versions!), we aren’t into the “cool food” scene and there are less salads on our blogs than there probably should be (though she has a lot more than me!!).
What I didn’t realise is that she is probably the reason the world discovered “Magic Cake“. She was very quick to make the point that it was not an original recipe. Perhaps she wasn’t the pioneer of it, but a search on Pinterest clearly shows that she is the reason that the world discovered it.
So I’m adding myself to the long line of people who have tried and been astonished by the miracle of this cake. 🙂
One simple batter.
A three layered custard cake.
It really is….like magic! 🙂
– Nagi
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Magic Three Layer Custard Cake (From One Batter)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs , yolks and whites separated (at room temperature)
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar (ordinary or caster sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 stick (4oz / 125g / 1/2 cup) unsalted butter , melted
- 3/4 cup (4oz / 115g) plain all purpose flour
- 2 cups (500 ml / 1 pint) milk (lukewarm) (full fat or low fat but not zero fat)
To Serve (optional)
- Icing sugar (powdered sugar), for dusting
- Fresh strawberries
- Whipped cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F/160C (standard oven / fan forced or convection)
- Butter a 8" x 8" / 20cm x 20cm square cake tin (Note 4).
- Beat egg whites with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat until it turns pale yellow - about 1 minute.
- Add the vanilla extract and butter and beat until well incorporated - about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add the flour and beat until just combined.
- Pour the milk in slowly while beating, and beat until well combined (or if using a hand held mixer, add 1/4 milk at a time, beating in between).
- Use a spatula to fold in the egg whites in the batter, one third at a time, until just incorporated. You don't want to knock the air out of the egg whites. Don't worry if there are a few egg white lumps in the batter. The batter should be very thin, almost like a thick pouring cream.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
Baking Directions
- Bake until the top is golden brown and the cake does not "jiggle" when you gently shake the tin - around 40 to 50 minutes. Check the cake at 30 minutes - if the top is already golden brown but the cake is not yet set (i.e. it jiggles), cover loosely with foil and return to the oven, 10 minutes at a time, until set.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.(Note 3) Cool completely before serving.
To Serve
- Cut into squares - I cut it into 12 in the photo, but 9 is more realistic serving size portions.
- Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
- Serve with a side of whipped cream and strawberries, if using.
Recipe Notes:
a) The cake is ready when the top is golden brown and the cake doesn't "jiggle" when you gently shake the pan. If it jiggles, there is still raw batter inside.
b) I found that 4 of the 5 times I made it, the top became golden brown before the cake was set.
c) So to get the bake time right, check it first at 30 minutes. If the top is golden brown, cover loosely with foil and return to the oven until the cake is set. Check every 10 minutes - any longer, and you'll risk the cake overcooking. 3. Tor get the cake out of the tin, just turn it out like a normal cake. The custard is set, it is not like super soft jelly. What I do is place a cutting board on top of the tin, flip it upside down (it slips right out) then place a cooling rack on top then flip it again (so you end up with the right side up on the cooling rack). 4. I myself have not tried this in a glass pan but readers have - if you scroll through the comments, you will find feedback from a reader on 3 February 2017 confirming this! 5. Nutrition assuming 1 cake is cut into 9 pieces. Note that I cut the cake into 16 pieces for the photo but that is far too small!
SaveSaveNutrition Information:
Today ,i tried this cake..it came out very well..my husband and my son loved it..yummy magic cake..
thank you..
SO glad you loved it Aparna! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know!
Hi Nagi,
thanks for this wonderful recipe. just tried this afternoon, taste delicious but i think it came out not like it supposed to.
baked 160 for 30 mins (because the top turned out brown after 20mins, covered with foil, 10mins after jiggle is gone so i thought it’s done)
cooled completely, and cut them, there’s only 2 layers, missing middle creamy part, and the top layers doesn’t rise like yours. whipped my white eggs til stiff peaks, first i used spatula to fold but its hard to incorporate, decided to stir slowly with whisker.
what went wrong? :s
Kathya
Hi Kathya! Only 30 minutes? It sounds like you undercooked the cake. But I’m confused about the layers! You say you didn’t have the custard part in the middle but the top didn’t rise. So what did you actually have?? Could you describe it to me? It will help me understand what went wrong.
Mostly the bottom part 🙁 the jelly fudgy kinda texture part. The top layer, well, doesnt rise as thick as your cake in the photo. But taste so good and i would love to make it again, but right way this time. Is it possible my oven is too hot? Yeah 30mins part made me wondering too.
Hmm, that’s really odd! 30 minutes is definitely under and when it’s under, I would not expect the fudge part in the middle. That’s really odd. Did you use ordinary flour and not bread flour or pasta flour?
Nagi,
This looks delicious. How far in advance canw e make this cake? Planing to take it to a potluck party.
Hi Kavita! I really recommend making it as close as possible – fresh is best! Day before is perfectly fine 🙂
Hi Nagi,
Gosh – I hope you don’t think I’m stalking you! Just wanted to come back and rate this recipe (I always appreciate comments from people who have actually cooked the recipes rather than just “rate” it without really trying it first).
Made it twice in the past and both times turned out great with all the yummy three layers! Would make it again… and again… and again… I love that it’s not super sweet.
Thanks for sharing all the delicious recipes.
Cheers,
Mai
I really appreciate comments from people who have made the recipe too, so thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts! I’m SO GLAD you enjoyed this Mai! Thank you thank you!! N x
Hey,
I live in india and am finding it hard to find all purpose flour, we have something called maida which is apparently similar to cake flour, would it be okay to use cake flour for this recipe?
Hi niyati
I am also from India. How did the cake turn out to be using maida?
Gosh Niyatee, I don’t know I’m sorry. I just read up on Maida and it is slightly different to plain flour. Baking is quite scentific – especially this recipe – so I’d hate to say it will work without knowing for sure!
Hey thank you :). I tried with maida and the custard and fudge layer came but did not get the cake layer at all. I baked for about 45 min at 160 degrees centigrade. My oven is not a convection oven and just has a heating pipe-shaped element on the top and bottom. Also the cake got stuck a bit to the cake dish (aluminium) , even though I buttered it. I used a square tin with 17 cm x 17 cm x 5.5 cm (L x B x H). I found a place which sells All purpose flour and am planning to try it again this weekend!
Sorry for all the details but i was hoping that you may have any suggestions about what I can do differently and if the tin size is okay.
I love this cake, but I’m still trying to get it right.
The last two times I’ve made it, it’s risen well, but the cake layer on the top has cracked pretty badly. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong?
Hi Camille! Do you have a convectional or fan forced oven? Is it strong? A cracked surface usually indicates that the oven is stronger than usual. 🙂
Owh… at last l found it. I really love this cake. This is a traditional cake actually since l was 7 years old about almost 40 years ago. I dont know how my mom do it. It is so fluffy, soft, light and delicious. Unfortunately l never have the same taste like before, its only like a plain cake with sugar. I knew this is not easy to do plus l dont in cooking line hehe.
Anyway thanks Nagi for your recipe.
All the best.
That’s so cool, thinking about how you had this as a child! 🙂 Don’t you love how food can conjure up all sorts of childhood memories?
Wow Nagi this cake is amazing! I made it today and it’s absolutely delicious! I was just wondering if you used plain flour or self-raising flour? I used plain but it came out a little bit flatter than expected but still had all the layers. Thank you!
Hi Gill! The recipe requires al purpose flour which is plain flour 🙂 Thank you for the question, I will clarify that. When you say it came out flatter than expected, do you mean the sponge layer did not rise? N x
Yes that’s right, the sponge didn’t rise as much as yours in the picture but it’s still there. Thank you for your reply! 🙂
Hmm! And you were careful not to knock out the air from the bubbles when you folded the flour in?
Maybe that was it – I probably beated the flour in too much. I was careful to keep the air in the eggs when I folded them in but probably knocked the air out at the last minute when I smoothed the top over with a spatula. Thanks 🙂
Thank you so much for the recipe!! The cake is very hood, however Ionly have 2 layers and didnt manage to get the creamy layer. What do you think is the reason? Thank you
Hi Sarah! how long did you have it in the oven for? And was it the custard layer you didn’t get? If so, it sounds like it was in the oven too long 🙁 Glad it was still tasty though!!
I have just taken the cake of the oven. Now,it’s cooling and I’ve scrapped some from around the tin to taste. It is heavenly! But, it has not risen as well as yours. I was very careful not to knock out the air when adding stiff egg white. Any idea why it did not rise? I’m hoping to see some layering when I cut it even though quite flat.
Gosh, that’s odd, if you whipped the eggs to stiff peaks and folded gently, I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t rise? It wasn’t in the oven for far longer than the prescribed time?
I’ve come across situations where old eggs wold not whip into stiff egg whites, but I’ve never been in a situation where I DID have stiff whites and it didn’t rise!!
Thank you for sharing a recipe.
I just made it, it’s absolutely definitely delicious. My husband and I like it so much and I think I will make it again and again. ( I baked it for about 50 minutes.
Thank you again ?
This looks amazing. I’m about to make this and was wondering if this recipe works for cupcakes
Hi Jordon! Unfortunately not 🙁 The baking time is too fast for cupcakes. Though you have inspired me to try to come up with a magic cupcake!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!
I am so excited to make this. I want to make it gluten free. Has anyone tried it using a gluten free flour to replace the all purpose flour?
Hey Dalya I just made this GF version, although i didnt add xantham gum (didn’t have it) or cornstarch (my GF flour mix has starches in it already). It doesn’t look quite like the above, but has 2 layers and tastes just like vanilla custard!
http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gluten-free-custard-cake/&ved=0ahUKEwi6v6ma26zJAhXG26YKHThcDTUQFggaMAA&usg=AFQjCNH_yxAYqSWSfb0Pv4-_kfSaMbCRcQ&sig2=u_9mUuLcxURi42uJGcEFlA
Gosh Dalya! I never thought about trying to make this gluten free. I’m sorry but I could not even hazard a guess as to whether it would work on not! N x
What did I do wrong?! My butter/milk mix curdled!
Ok, I remade and heated my milk a bit more and it seemed to have worked! Hurray!
Oh YAY!! I’m so glad! Hope you loved it! <3
Nagi, this cake tastes absolutely divine! However, it didn’t look very nice – it was “pimply” at the top! How do I mix in the egg white and yet not compromise on the “airiness” of the beaten egg whites? It had some bubbles at the top when I put it into the oven.
Hi Chris! I know what you mean 🙂 I have a morbid fear of overmixing so what I do is pour the batter in then use a spatula to “smooth” the top which works quite well. Then I dust with icing sugar (confectionary sugar) which hides it! But the other option is to bite the bullet and mix a little more until smooth. It works, I promise it does, you won’t be bursting all those bubbles! 🙂
This cake is fantastic! I didn’t read through all the comments before I started making this recipe myself. I was worried because I used a 9×13 glass dish. I checked the cake at 30 minutes and covered it with foil. It took a little over an additional 30 minutes to set, but it still turned out great. How did you prepare the pan in order to turn it out to cool? When I tried, the cake would not come out. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Jasmine! I’m so glad it worked out 🙂 I buttered the metal pan and it came out fine. I am wondering whether the glass is the reason it didn’t come out as easily. Did you butter it?
Glad you enjoyed it!! OH and glass takes longer to heat up than metal which is why it took longer to set 🙂
I only have a 9×13 cake pan, could I double this and use it?
Hi Malynda! Yep, you sure can! It took me about 10 minutes longer to bake but check it at 40 / 50 minutes and use the “jiggle” test to figure out when it is ready (i.e. when it doesn’t jiggle, it is ready!)
Yay! I’ve been checking back for a reply and was just getting my ingredients together to start. Thank you!
This looks awesome and I’m excited to try it! I don’t have a metal baking pan, could I use a Pyrex glass dish instead? Or a large ramekin? Also, have you ever tried or heard of making a lemon version? Thanks!!
Hi Marnae! Another reader tried it in a Pyrex glass pan and unfortunately it didn’t work. Takes longer to heat up, not the best for cakes. Do you have a 9 inch round cake tin? That will work because the surface area is the same 🙂 I haven’t tried a lemon version yet but my friend Jo has one – http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/lemon-magic-cake/ Hope that helps! N x
I did it in a square Pyrex pan just now and it worked like a charm! Three perfect layers in 55 minutes.
I’m so glad! That’s actually really useful to know 🙂 So square Pyrex glass works great – brilliant! I’ll file that little tip away.
My goodness, the cake looks beautiful! Hard to believe that to make such a beautiful cake, only one type of batter was used. Sadly I don’t have a 8×8 square cake pan. Can I use other round cake pans? Any suggestions on the size? Thanks! 😀
Hi Carmen! This is a miracle cake, that’s for sure! A 8 x 8 cake pan has the same surface area as a 9 inch diameter round cake pan. If you use one as close as possible to this size then it will work fine! 🙂
So excited to make this cake, but was a total failure. Was in oven just over an hour and the top was solid, but was mush inside and solid on the bottom. Had a feeling was not going to turn out right as he batter was almost like soup. Double checked ingredients and had everything weighed to recipe. Will
try again soon.
made the cake, followed all instructions…. Have new stove, kitchen Aid beat the egg whites stiff. Poured it into greased 8×8 metal pan, 50 minutes later it started to poof up on one corner so I took it out, tried to flip it out to cool on my rack. It was a disaster… Tastes good. Very good, but looks awful?! I am so disappointed. Followed recipe to a T….
Hi Jenny! I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. If one corner started to poof up it sounds like the heating in your oven is not distributed evenly? Do you have a fan forced oven? Glad it tasted yum though!
Hi Nancy! I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you. The batter IS supposed to be watery, but like a crepe batter, not like a watery soup. Also, did you use a metal tin, not a glass one? And the right size? That also makes a difference. Wish I could be in your kitchen to help troubleshoot! N x 🙂
Thanks Nagi. I used a metal square 8inch tin. I also used “butter” butter, maybe I should have used canola spread instead. Anyway will have another try soon and will let you know the result.
Hi,thank you for sharing your experience, your cake looks perfect! 🙂
actually I tried the recipe today and the result wasn’t quite the same 🙁 I don’t know what went wrong, after 50 minutes in the oven, my cake was still very light in color and I had to bake it for about 30! more minutes, though even then it didn’t look as brown as yours. any way the real problem was that when I tried to get it out of the pan, the bottom layer stuck to the pan :(( and the whole thing fell apart, everything tasted quite delicious, separately though 😛 and the middle layer wasn’t firm as it looks like in your photos…so what do you think the problem might be? should I’ve baked it even longer ?
(I baked it on the middle rack of the oven, and in a Pyrex dish that was only buttered )
Sorry for blabbering so much, it’s just I wanna make it right the other time ! 🙂
Oh dear! It sounds like something went terribly wrong. 🙁 I suspect the Pyrex dish affected it because they take longer to heat up than metal pans which is what I used. And the bottom layer sticking would occur because it was in the oven for so much longer than it needed to be.
Don’t apologise about blabbering! 🙂 Do you have a metal cake pan? Pyrex glass dishes aren’t typically used for baking cakes because it affects the baking time. 🙂
Thank you so much for being so kind and responsive, I don’t have a metal square pan,but I’m gonna get one and give this another try… thanks again 🙂 🙂
Yum! Can you freeze it?
Hi Bec! Sorry, I haven’t tried! I am not convinced it would work though because of the custard 🙂