There has to be a better name for this than "magic cake". Can you help me name this recipe, so I can troubleshoot it?

I followed a link trail from LifeHacker to the Telegraph uk for a "Magic three layer cake" (http://www.telegraph.co...) which is an eggy concoction that when baked separates into a sponge cake top layer, a rich custard center, and a dense almost pastry-like bottom layer.

We've made one, and it turned out rather nicely. However, in the photos accompanying therecipe the three layers are roughly even thirds. Ours was dominated by the center custard with just thin crusts on either side. Still very tasty and interesting, but I'd like to figure out what variations might have caused our center layer to be much more thick than the either two.

With a name like "Magic Cake" all I can find via Google is is Pinterest-esque recipes and click bait articles ala "OMG She puts two eggs in a blender, and then THIS happened!~!" Nothing conducive to a thoughtful consideration of the ingredients and subtle tweaking and tuning of the recipe.

Can you help me name this recipe in some more level-headed way to facilitate my own research, or else offer some suggestion yourself as to what might help the layers form more evenly?

PhillipBrandon
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6 Comments

Ted
Ted November 8, 2015
This might be helpful.

http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/magic-cake/
 
Susan W.
Susan W. November 8, 2015
Here's one that Google found. I pulled up 5 versions by searching Magic Cake.
http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/magic-cake/
 
Susan W.
Susan W. November 8, 2015
Here's what I found with Google.
http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/magic-cake/
 
Susan W.
Susan W. November 8, 2015
Cooks Illustrated (January 1995) has what they call a Pudding Cake. It had recipes for lemon and one for chocolate. They are really good. Here is an exact copy of the lemon version. You could probably play with the recipe and make a vanilla version. If you want the chocolate version, I can find it in my bound copy. I have 1995, I think.
http://www.chowhound.com/post/cooks-illustrated-lemon-pudding-cake-recipe-743629
 
Susan W.
Susan W. November 8, 2015
Forgot to add, you have to scroll down to Sunnyskies post. I haven't made the Cook's Country version.
 
SilverSage
SilverSage November 8, 2015
Bisquick had a recipe on their box years ago called "Impossible Pie". You put the batter in the pan an as it bake it separated into two layers - one crust-like and one custardy.

Many recipes followed called 'pudding cakes'. I know Martha Stewart had one. Same concept - the batter separated into a pudding layer, topped by a cake layer.

I think the Magic Cake is a cross between the two - the crust layer of the impossible pie, the cake layer of the pudding cake, and the custard layer in between. Perhaps you can trouble shoot by reviewing recipes for the ancestor recipes to the Magic Cake.

 
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