Magic Lemon Custard Cake

I’ve been hearing about these magic cakes. One batter, three layers. Magic. It’s a rainy evening and there’s nothing good to watch on TV. I have nothing better to do, so why not give it whirl? So if I do this correctly, the top layer should be cake; the middle layer a custard; and the bottom layer a stiffer custard layer, more like flan.  Wish me luck.

The one thing I will note is the batter itself will be more like a crepe batter, so don’t be alarmed if you were expecting the batter to have a normal cake batter consistency.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs, room temperature (separate whites from yolks)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
• zest from one lemon
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• powdered sugar for dusting the cake

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or line with parchment paper an 8 X 8 baking pan.
2. Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs and add the egg whites to a mixer and mix until egg whites are stiff. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside.
3. Next beat the egg yolks with the sugar until creamy.
4. Add butter and vanilla extract to egg yolk mixture. Continue beating for another minute.
5. Add flour and mix well.
6. Add lemon juice and lemon zest.
7. Slowly add the milk and beat until all ingredients are combined.
8. Using a spatula, add the egg whites to your batter a third at a time. Mix in manually with the spatula. Do not over mix. You should still see bits of egg whites floating in the batter.
9. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 70 minutes or until cake top is golden and firm. You may want to start checking at the 40 minute mark, as all ovens vary.
10. Let cake completely cool before garnishing with powdered sugar. I put mine in the refrigerator to cool.

Hmmm.  I was a little worried as I could only see two layers from the outer sides of the cake. But once I cut it open and took out a piece, I could see the three layers. Awesome. It’s MAGIC!