Magic cake

This is a really cool cake. You make just one batter pour it into a baking dish and you end up with a 3 layered cake! I had never heard of this before, but apparently its been around for a while on different baking and cooking blogs. I got this recipe from JoCooks (https://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/magic-cake/). I actually made all 3 versions of the cake that she has on her site (original, Nutella and lemon). Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the Nutella cake, but next time I make it I definitely will because it was really delicious! This recipe is for her original cake. I made a few small tweaks to the recipe based on making this cake a few times and realizing some things that make the process easier and create those 3 layers.

The original cake is very light and airy. It has 3 layers: a fudge-like dense layer, a custard middle layer and a top airy layer.

So here is the recipe with the changes I made:

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs at room temperature (separated into egg yolks and egg whites)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 8 tbsp butter unsalted and melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk lukewarm (heat in microwave for 1 minute to get it to the right temperature)
• powdered sugar for dusting cake

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease a 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish
2. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a standing mixer if you have one, until stiff peaks form. (I usually just let the mixer do the work here and at the same time hand mix the other ingredients in a different bowl)

3. *I suggest doing this part by hand (using a whisk or fork), I think it came out better when I did it this way.* Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add melter 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 (about 1/2 cup at a time) and beat until everything is well mixed together. (if you’re using a mixer here, this ill get super messy and splatter)
5. Now add the egg whites to the bowl. Fold them in gently and mix by hand. You want to leave some little globs floating around, so don’t mix it completely. It should look like the picture below, on the right

6. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top is lightly golden. My oven took 45 minutes pretty consistently *According to JoCooks: The baking time can vary greatly for this cake. I’ve baked this cake in 3 different ovens and I’ve always needed different times which were from 40 to 70 minutes. Test it after 40 minutes to see what it looks like. The cake is done when it only jiggles slightly but feels firm to touch.*
7. Sprinkle some powdered sugar after cake has cooled.
8. Enjoy!

It doesn’t look super impressive when it comes out. Kind of just looks like a poundcake, but the magic happens when you slice into it and see 3 layers!

Below is a photo of the full cake, a slice of the lemon magic cake I made and a slice of the original cake. Though these pictures are not amazing, you can see the layers. So give it a try, I promise its easy!