Magic Cake

You have probably seen Magic Cake on pinterest.  The magic?  A three layer cake that forms in the baking process!  Soft cake, creamy custard and another layer of cake, all from one batter.  Had to try it!  So I found a recipe here and got out all the ingredients, and about 90 minutes later, I had a three layer dessert that was really good!  Truth be told, the bottom layer wasn't really cake like.  It was more like the bottom of a cream puff, but the custard and top cake layer were nicely formed.  The cake didn't have a crumb texture.  More like a very soft angel food cake.  Real spongy.  It wasn't real sweet, which was kind of nice.  I ate my first piece warm which was delicious.....like warm pudding!  It was pretty impressive looking too, especially since the powdered sugar covered up any crust issues (it torn a bit when I cut it).   

Ingredients

• 4 eggs (separate yolks from whites) at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter, melted
•  ¾ cup of all purpose flour
• 2 cups lukewarm milk
• powdered sugar for dusting cake (I use the non-melting sugar available from King Arthur's)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease a 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish.
2. Separate 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. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light. Add butter and vanilla extract and continue beating for another minute or two after which you can add the flour and mix it in until fully incorporated.
4. Slowly start adding the milk and beat until everything is well mixed together. (I think it looks pretty gross at this point but don't give up just yet) Add the egg whites, a third at a time and gently fold them in using a spatula, repeat until all egg whites are folded in. Another variation to folding in the egg whites would be to add a third of the egg whites and gently whisk them in to the cake batter, then reverse the process and add a bit of the cake mixture to the egg whites and gently whisk in, repeat until all cake batter has been whisked in. (I used the first method and ended up with tons of egg white clumps....might try second method next time)
5. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 to 70  minutes (the cake should look "set" and not jiggle too much) or until the top is lightly golden (? mine was pretty brown.....) The baking time could vary greatly depending on the oven, so take a peek at around 40 minutes and see how it looks.
6. Sprinkle some powdered sugar after cake has cooled (or eat it warm like I did)

Jo Cooks has a chocolate and butterscotch version that look pretty darn good too!