Magic Custard Cake

Magic Custard Cake

     This cake forms its own 3 layers upon baking!!   To me this is the look of a custard "cake' and the taste is a cross between a clafoutis and a crepe with very sweet, tasty "layers."   There are SO many new flavor profiles for this cake now - I can't wait to try more of them - like Carrot Cake and Red Velvet Cake!  We actually also prefer eating this warm or at room temperature on the day it is made - that's  your call, try it and see which you like better warm or cold...
~Enjoy! Diane 

Magic Custard Cake

Ingredients
4 eggs, room temperature, separate yolks from whites 
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 Tbs lemon juice or water 
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup of all purpose flour
2 cups milk, warmed
powdered sugar,  for dusting cake

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Separate the egg yolks and whites - you'll be using both. Set aside.
3. In your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks with the sugar, butter and vanilla until well mixed and light. Add the flour in a little at a time until mixture is smooth. Slowly add in the milk (it has to be lukewarm, otherwise the butter will harden) and mix until well incorporated. this will be a very thin, liquid-type batter (make certain you do not have any lumps in your batter - otherwise, you will need to strain mixture through cheesecloth)  Move batter to a large bowl and set aside. 
4. In your mixer, whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice or water until stiff peaks form (the lemon juice will help stabilize the meringue/foam)  
5. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the batter using a whisk or spatula. 
6. Pour batter into an 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper and bake 60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and doesn't jiggle when tapped on.
7. Cool in the pan for at least 3 hours. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar. Store any leftovers of this cake in the refrigerator  

Recipe Notes: 
Room temperature egg whites will whip up into stiff peaks much quicker then cold eggs. 
Have your Flour batter ready to go so that the meringue you made doesn't have time to sit and deflate/degrade before folding it into the final batter. The cake may deflate a bit once out of the oven. 

The Layers: 
1) Since the egg yolks are beat with the flour, it helps to create the dense crust at the bottom of the cake. 2) The milk is less dense than the yolks and flour that are already blended together, so it stops in the middle to create the custard. 3) Egg whites are light and airy after being beaten into a meringue, so they float to the top to create the light, fluffy cake layer. 

Recipe adapted from three sources: Kitchen Nostalgia, Jo Cooks and All Things Food - Cooking with Mary & Friends.