Chocolate Magic Custard Cake will blow your mind with its look and taste. One cake batter results in 3-layered cake. Don’t worry about the runny batter, it will bake up perfectly!
This recipe is on the top among all our cake recipes for a reason. Easy to make and wonderfully chocolat-y! You can go with lemon magic cake if you are a fan of lemon flavored desserts. Following a gluten-free diet? Go check out our gluten free magic cake!
Is there anything more delicious than a chocolate custard cake? Not only is it a favourite among the kids but anyone who loves something sweet and chocolaty will instantly fall in love with this custard cake. Don’t worry if you or your guests go for seconds or thirds, because this recipe will be the talk of the town.
This is a bad-ass chocolate cake! Once you have the first slice, you must know that you are ready for the second or even third! Are you obsessed with chocolate but don’t want one of those dense desserts since you don’t want to gain the pounds you’ve just got rid of? This fool-proof chocolate magic cake is what you need!
What Is Magic Cake?
We wish we could say that a magic cake is just one of Houdini’s amazing culinary tricks, but in reality it is a scrumptious three layered baked custard cake: Fudgy layer at the bottom, chocolate custard in the middle and a sper airy cake layer on the top.
The magic happens when all three layers bake in the same dish without having to layer it yourself. You can make it in different flavors.
It is pretty simple as it contains the basic ingredients for any cake: eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, milk, butter, flour and cocoa powder.
It may not seem like rocket science but baking is a science, and this custard cake will blow your mind with the result you end up with.
What is the magic?
Like we said above, baking is a science; the reason why you get all three layers of the baked custard cake in one pan is the batter is more “liquidy” than most cakes and we bake it at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. This way the custard cake has more time to settle into a custard and sponge layer.
The top layer of the magic custard cake is usually white eggs that are added last to the batter for a fluffy sponge.
Ingredients
If you want to make a custard cake – to be specific, a chocolate custard cake you will need to keep one important thing in mind: the temperature of your ingredients. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature, especially the eggs. You don’t want the eggs to be too cold or too hot. The bake time for your cake will also differ if your ingredients are not at room temperature when you start making the batter.
Moreover, whether you use confectioner’s sugar or regular sugar, make sure you measure the amount accordingly and add that to the batter. You’ll find that adding milk makes the batter quite thin and liquidy. This is what you should be aiming for, but remember to gently whisk the batter instead of using a stand mixer.
If you think your batter is too lumpy, don’t be discouraged. Usually, if you’ve added all the right amount of ingredients and followed the recipe closely, a little continued mixing can easily bring out that signature liquidy texture that custard cakes are famous for.
Now onto the custard cake recipe.
How To Make
As mentioned earlier, start out by making sure your ingredients are at room temperature. Follow the usual routine of preheating your oven before you go ahead and start making the batter. Be sure to heat up your oven to 320F (160C).
Now that your oven is ready, you can proceed with the batter. Start out by separating the egg whites into a bowl. Ideally, the four eggs you use should be at room temperature. Once separated, go ahead and whisk the egg whites. Generally, a good rule of thumb is to keep whisking the egg whites until you start seeing white peeks forming.
Bring out the bowl with the egg yolks that you previously separated. Add the vanilla extract and sugar into the bowl. Begin mixing these three ingredients gently until you see a creamy texture start to form. Next, add melted butter and keep mixing. Once the butter is mixed, add flour and unsweetened cocoa powder into the mixture. Gradually begin adding milk to this while simultaneously whisking the batter.
Now, fold in the egg whites (one third at a time) and continue mixing gently. Be careful with it though, you don’t want to mix the batter too much. Just stir it enough so that all the ingredients are combined and the mixture is runny in texture. Transfer this runny batter into your baking pan and bake for 60 minutes in the oven.
Don’t be alarmed if the centre of the cake is jiggly. In fact, a jiggly centre is precisely what you should be aiming for. This jiggly centre is pretty common for custard desserts so give yourself a pat on the back for coming this far. After the cake is baked, let it rest for about half an hour. Let the cake cool down and reach room temperature. Only then transfer it to your fridge to chill. Now you can slice it up and enjoy it.
A magic cake recipe can go wrong if you don’t let it cool to room temperature, and then let it chill for at least an hour. Otherwise, it will be so runny that you won't be able to slice it.
More Chocolate Cakes
As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!
Sign up for the FREE GiveRecipe Newsletter to get the new recipes into your inbox! And stay in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Chocolate Magic Custard Cake
One cake batter turns into a 3-layered cake. It will be your ultimate chocolate cake for special occasions.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and ¼ cup sugar
- 110g butter (½ cup), melted and cooled
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups milk, lukewarm
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 320F (160C).
- Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- Separate egg whites and yolks.
- Beat egg whites in a bowl until stiff and put aside.
- Whisk egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar until creamy.
- Add melted butter and mix for half a minute.
- Add the flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. Mix with a whisk until incorporated well.
- Pour the milk gradually and continue whisking.
- Add in the egg whites, one third at a time and gently stir with a whisk. Don't overmix, just stir until combined.
- Pour this runny batter into the baking pan and bake for 60 minutes.
- The centre of the cake will still be jiggly when removed from oven.
- Let it cool for about half an hour and then remove from the pan. When it reaches room temperature, chill it at least for an hour.
- Slice it in the size you like and dust with powdered sugar right before serving. You can garnish it with fresh fruit too.
- Keep it in refrigerator until you finish it all.
Notes
I used a 24x17x6cm rectangular pan for this cake. You can see it in the video. If you have a similar pan, use it. This cake doesn't rise, so keeping this in mind, you can choose another type of pan. A square pan works fine too.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 318
- Sugar: 35.5 g
- Sodium: 64 mg
- Fat: 14.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 43.5 g
- Protein: 6.8 g
- Cholesterol: 123.8 mg
Keywords: custard cake, chocolate custard cake
Hema says
Thanks Guys, Your Recipe Was Too Fantastic. Me and My Family Loved it. I Will Share your Rrecipe with my friends. Hope they will love it too.
★★★★★
Diana says
Used the convection setting and took it out at 45 minutes after testing with a toothpick. Has a unique texture...a bit gelatinous with a cakey sway. Is that a word? ANYWAY, it’s tasty (I had to test a corner) and will be topped with whipped cream and a shave of chocolate following tonight’s dinner.
★★★★
Leslie says
Looks delicious! I wander if I could put it in an uncooked pie crust? I don't know why but I'm really craving it in a pie. Lol
Yusuf says
Well, not sure about putting it in a pie because of its texture. Would love to hear the result if you try it.
Paula Prescott says
I am gluton and dariy intolorance..so made with gluton free plain flour and free from chocolate milk tirn out beautifull
Yusuf says
Thanks for the feedback Paula!
Jules says
Thank you, mine turned out perfectly! My oven only needed 50mins. Great recipe 👍🏻👍🏻❤️
★★★★★
Alex says
I’m sorry to say that this recipe did not work out for me at all. The batter ran all over the pan and onto the bottom of the oven and is burnt on. I hope this only happened to me and I’m sure it would have tasted great.
Yusuf says
Sorry to hear that the recipe didn't work for you. This is a recipe we make often. Not sure what might have caused the problem you had.
Kayla says
I want to know if you can use a milk alternative instead. I have a friend who can’t have dairy thanks!
Zerrin says
Hi Kayla! Never tried it myself but I've seen people making it with plant based milk.
Mckenna says
I have made this for my father’s birthday the last few years and every time it is a huge hit! It’s a delicious dessert without being over the top. I’ve never had a problem with the outcome but I do have to add time to the bake but that may be due to living at a high altitude. The cake turns out exactly like the pictures in my experience.
★★★★★
Terri says
My cake didn’t look like the picture. It had a creamy colored custard and the custard was a little too firm. I baked for 50 minutes. It still tasted good even though it was not chocolate all they and not a creamy custard. I’d make it again.
★★★★
Jen says
Made this yesterday and it turned out perfect. The people who say it failed may have overbaked it. Start Checking it at 40 min, it may be done if the edges are firm but the middle still jiggles. Don’t assume you’ll need the full 60 minutes in the recipe.
★★★★★
Kim says
This was awful. Bottom layer was like rubber. The middle was like scrambled eggs. The picture and description is like nothing like it turns out. I have been making for over 40 years and I had a feeling this was too good to be true. Don't waste your time or money in this one. Good thing I did a test run before serving to family. I will stick with the tried and true.
★
Sheila Foley says
Hi but I have to disagree with you I just took up baking a few months back because I had spare time on my hands all my kids had left home I made this cake for the first time last week it turned out like the picture and it's was as It's was lead to believe it would be and it went down a treat I think you should keep your very rude opinions to yourself and let people try this cake and make up their own minds thank you Sheila ps. This cake was fab I'm making it again today
Faith says
I had the same results as the OP. Saying it turned out poorly is not rude, it’s factual. My bottom layer is spongy and there is no custard layer. I wouldn’t make it again.
Nada says
Can i use a 24×2 4cm square pan??
I also want to know if the texture of this cake is better ir tour gluten free version because I found your gluten free version amazing too
maisha says
i want to try this recipe.for this ,i want the measurement of 1 cup= ? ml.(you used)
Zerrin says
Hi Maisha! 1 cup= 250ml
Matt says
Would a springform pan be an option? What about adding pecans?
Zerrin says
Hi Matt!
I think a springform pan would work fine as well.
Never tried it with nuts and I guess it wouldn't be a good idea because the batter is really runny. The pecans would probably sink.
Paula G Carney says
I need a special chocolate dessert for a group birthday celebration. So glad I made a test run of this recipe. I'm shocked at all the positive reviews on this dessert it was definitely not are we do for me. Followed the recipe exactly and it looked just like the picture when it was finished and cool.
The bottom layer had a skin similar to what develops on uncovered pudding except thicker and NOT very appealing. The center was like a thick mousse as I expected.
Now for the taste, which seemed very lacking. Not much flavor not very chocolatey either although I used high grade Dutch cocoa. Had my neighbor taste it without any preliminary comments from me. After trying it she said" it needs something there's not much taste". I gave her half to take home to her family to give it a good sampling. They enjoyed it after she covered it with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. if I have to do that much to improve a dessert it's not one that I will make again. It was a big disappointment.
. I guess I'll go with my standby of chocolate mousse parfait chop with whipped cream and raspberries for the birthday celebration.
★
Joe says
If I wanted to make a double sized batch in one pan, what would you say for cooking temp and time adjustments? I'm thinking about making one for a special event! Also, what size pan would that be? Maybe 13 x 9?
Oz says
I saw this exact same recipe in a magazine and decided to give it a go. I'm a fairly experienced baker and I know how to follow a recipe to the letter, but this came out with a texture somewhere between over-baked quiche and rubber. It was utterly vile and went straight in the bin. Flicking through the comments I see that at lease five or six others have found the results underwhelming. You'd have to conclude it must be a somewhat hit or miss recipe.