Another Cake Story: Magic Cake aka Chiffon Egg Custard Cake

I love the idea of magic, not the pulling a rabbit out of hat kind of magic, but magic and if only it truly exists. Perhaps it does but probably not to the degree we imagine it to be or as shown on the television and movies. Oh but one can at least fantasize can’t we??

Well at least I do, I have a particular soft spot for that type of genre whether I get to read them in books or watching them on TV. I’m not crazy gothic or anything like that but I’m just intrigued, witches, vampires, wizards, werewolves, and mythical creatures/beings and the whole idea of magic surrounding that. All the different stories and concept, it’s never ending and that’s what so great about it. Each person can take it whichever way they like: different stories, powers, beings, etc. It’s a nice escape from reality. This is also the reason why I like science fiction so much too. Why not let our imagination run wild?! Of course, like with everything else, in moderation.

So this really have nothing to do with what I made other than the word magic. Yup it’s called Magic Cake. It’s not really magic, more like food chemistry OR shall I say “it’s the magic of science!” I like that last statement, the magic of science. Science is a lot like magic and maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to sci-fi and magic, it’s the fantasy version of real life. So Magic Cake it shall be.

How the food chemistry works I’d have to go and research that myself but I suspect since the egg whites were added in last that even though it may have appeared to be mixed with the rest of the batter, the more dense custard-like (part with the sugar and yolks) still separated during the baking process and being more dense ended up on the bottom while the cake layer that’s left on top is from the part of batter that was mainly egg whites. If that didn’t make any sense pretend you just took a egg custard recipe and a chiffon cake recipe and mashed it together, chiffon egg custard cake. Hmm I like the sounds of that, Chiffon Egg Custard Cake. Okay from now on, that’s what it’s going to be also known as because Magic Cake is also pretty awesome sounding.

What does it taste like? If you’ve ever had a Chinese egg tart, this is like a cake version of it. I swear the custard part tastes like the filling in the egg tarts. Awesome! It may appear I’ve blindly sort of figured out how to make the egg tart filling. I’m guessing it’s either with less egg whites or no egg whites at all, experiment for another time. If you have no clue what I’m saying, just ignore that previous sentence. The custard has a mild sweet egg-y flavor while the cake part is very light, much like chiffon cake.  

 Adapted from Jo Cooks: Magic Cake 

(printable recipe here)

Makes approx 9-12 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs at room temp, separated
• 1 tbsp water
• ½ cup and 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted (approx 45 seconds in the microwave)
• ¾ cup flour (I used cake flour)
• 2 cup milk
• Powder sugar for dusting

Procedures:

1. Whip the egg white until stiff peaks form, set aside
2. Beat egg yolks and sugar together until it reaches a light yellow color, add in melted butter and water, beat until well incorporated. Add in flour and mix well.
3. Add in milk slowly about 1 cup at a time each time mixing well before adding the next portion. Once milk is all added, beat until everything is well mixed.
4. Fold or stir in egg whites
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until it is golden brown