Magic cake

One visit to Ming's house, one pleasant evening spent in the company of nice people, one new dessert favorite, one new recipe on the blog.
Not a bad deal, right?
The last addition to our favorite list was the "magic cake".
It was a mom' morning in, with delicious Korean pancakes and one magnificent magic cake.
The leftovers came home with me, khhmmm, and I resisted not to eat it all before I gave it to the kids, and had to listen to the fight over the size of the slice they get, and who gets the last slice.
Sure enough, I had to promise that they'll get a whole cake when they get home from school.
I actually remembered seeing this cake, and I have a Le Cordon Bleu book called "Vanukkaat" aka Puddings, which has a "Lemon Surprise" pudding that sounded heavenly, but was lazy to give it a try. Next!!

But before I run too far from the present, here is the recipe that is baking just now in the over.
Ingredients
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 g (3/4 cup) sugar
125 gr (1 stick and 1 large tbsp) butter, melted
115 g (3/4 cup) all purpose flour, sifted
500 ml (2 cups) milk, lukewarm
lemon zest of 1 lemon, optional! I just wanted to add some flavor
powdered sugar and some berries of your choice for serving

Preheat the oven to 160 C, or 320 F.
Separate eggs, and beat the egg yolk with the sugar until creamy white.
Add the vanilla essence, melted butter, and let it sit until the egg white get beaten.
Beat the egg whites until peaks form, but don't overbeat until the foam kinda "crumbles" apart when stirred
Add the milk to the egg yolks, mixing in lightly, until well combined.
Sift in the flour, and mix until a smooth, crepes like batter forms.
Now it's time to fold in the egg whites.
First, fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to lighten the batter, and continue adding the remaining whites. Try to not overmix, to leave the egg whites fluffy.

Pour the mixture into a 20x20 cm (8x8 "), or 25 cm (10") round cake form.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is a nice light caramel color.
I had to place an aluminum foil sheet on top at about 20 minutes because it was browning too fast, but the bottom was still liquid. I could see because the form didn't close tight enough, and it was dripping a bit.
At 35 minutes was looking really promising, couldn't wait to get it out, cool it, and, well, eat it :D.
I baked it for overall 50 minutes, and cooled for way too long for my liking :).

The batter was successful if it separates into 3 layers: the bottom has the flour, the middle one is a baked cream anglaise color and texture, and the top has the fluffy, light egg whites.
The layers seem to show pretty nicely, as well as the arrival of the boys from school. They just can't keep their hands off the cake and let it cool!!
But you, now you must exercise some self-control and let is cool, preferably overnight. :)
Serve with powdered sugar on top, and optionally add some fruits for tartiness.
Bon appétit!