Custard Cake is a Filipino cake made up of chiffon cake topped with creme caramel and brown sugar syrup. A very popular baked item in the Philippines and it is sold in almost all bakeries.
Another surprise as I came home and saw a big baking pan of custard cake with a note telling me to take a picture of it, my wife is getting up to speed with her baking. Now I am excited on whats next on the bakers oven. Custard Cake the Filipino version is a really popular tea time (merienda) snack it is sold almost on all village bakeries and as a child I remember that I always ask my mom or auntie to buy me one when we pass by the bakeries but they seldom do as it is one of the expensive breads in their shelf, I remember the “pan de coco” a coconut filled bread and “spanish bread” a sugar – butter filled bread roll would cost only 50 cents a piece during my time but the custard cake would cost around 3-5 Php depending on the thickness of the custard. So this is only bought as a treat, but now I can enjoy it to my hearts content and control the thickness of the custard.
Custard came from the English cuisine which was existent since the fourteenth century. The first recipes contained almonds, thick milk, water, salt and sugar until it was noted by a guy named Henry T Riley that a ‘proper’ custard is made without almonds. During those times custard is referred to a variety of savoury dishes thickened by the above ingredients. But in France itis a different story as the word custard or creme moulee is thickend by using eggs and when flour or corn starch is added it is called creme patisserie, then if you add gelatin it will now be called crere anglaise collee.
Not all custards are sweet in fact with the history mentioned above it started as a thickener for dishes, meat dishes that is. But even now there are custards that ain’t sweet such as quiche. But for this one we will stick to the sweet side as that’s what my other half had prepared.
Custard Cake is a Filipino cake made up of chiffon cake topped with creme caramel and brown sugar syrup. A very popular baked item in the Philippines and it is sold in almost all bakeries.
Heat a 9 x 13″ baking pan in the stove top using medium heat.
Pour in the granulated sugar and water then let it caramelize. You may want to stir the sugar once in a while to make sure that everything is equally distributed withing the area of the baking pan.
Cool then set aside
Custard
In a mixing bowl, mix using fork the egg yolks, milk and sugar. Make sure sugar is completely dissolved.
Pour the custard mixture in the baking pan with hardened caramel. Set aside
Cake
In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer beat egg yolks while gradually adding the sugar, stop beating if light lemon color is achieved and combined well.
Sift flour and baking powder together then gradually add flour alternately with the milk into the yolk mixture.
Add the lemon juice and gently mix until smooth. Set aside
Meringue
Using a mixer, beat egg whites until fluffy then add the cream of tartar. Continue to beat on high until soft peaks begin to form.
Now add the granulated sugar very gradually while continuously beating until meringue is stiff.
Custard Cake
Preheat oven to 180C.
Fold in the cake mixture into the meringue mixture until well mixed
Pour the whole mixture over the custard and make sure not to stir it, the custard will sink because its denser than the meringue cake mix.
Place the cake pan in a larger pan half-filled with hot water.
Place in the oven center and bake for 1 hour (or until firm) at 180C.
Remove the whole pan and place in a cooling rack, let it cool down to room temperature
Once cooled remove cake pan from the bottom pan, cool it down further.
Remove from cake pan by running a knife on the edges and inverting to a platter. Place in fridge and serve chilled.
Notes
If you don’t have cake flour, to make a cup of it, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour then remove 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Replace the removed all-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Caramel · 1 cup sugar · 1/4 cup waterCustard · 6 eggs, at room temperature · 1 can condensed milk · 1 can evaporated milk · 1/4 cup sugarCake · 6 egg yolks, at room temperature · 1/2 cup sugar · 1-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted · 1 tsp. baking powder · 1/2 cup milk diluted (1/4 cup milk mix with 1/4 cup water) · 1 tsp. finely grated lemon rindMeringue · 6 egg whites, at room temperature · 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar · 1/2 cup sugar
het there, recipe and photo look very yummy. not so clear on the cake method though. should i combine the egg yolks with sugar to the milk/water/ flour mixture? pls reply asap. wanna try this for a birthday! thanks much.
Yes you are correct you pour the batter on the uncooked mixture, they wont mix up as the top part is lighter due to the over beaten egg white. The bottom part will remain below as its a heavy liquid.
hello 🙂 i’m about to make this but i suddenly noticed you only used condensed milk for the flan? no evaporated milk at all? i would appreciate a reply, thank you!!
This is like a sponge cake where it really does not need the oil. Oil for most cakes give moisture which is needed specially for dense cakes this one is light and fluffy so no need for that type of moisture. Plus the caramel custard is wet enough so the moisture comes from it.
Hello! I’ve noticed that you don’t put egg whites in the custard mixture. Just wanna know if the custard still came out soft, creamy, and stable without egg whites. Thanks!
Yes we dont put egg whites on the custard which in turn makes then creamy and soft but not soggy. The top will have the same texture as creme caramel but a bit firm.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I remember when I was young, i would go to a bakery planning to buy this cake but in the end I bought Kabayan or Spanish bread because they were much much cheaper.
hi, i just wanna ask . . . instead of lemon juice, can i use lemon essence like that of McCormick? and also, instead of fresh milk, can i use evaporated milk for the custard?
I just made it using cupcake pans, following the exact instructions but baked it for 1 hr and 30 minutes I think it’s too sweet for me but the cake was soo soft. Maybe next time i’ll adjust the sugar. Thanks for the recipe☺️
I like the leche flan on top the most !
Daddy
This looks delicious 🙂
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het there, recipe and photo look very yummy. not so clear on the cake method though. should i combine the egg yolks with sugar to the milk/water/ flour mixture? pls reply asap. wanna try this for a birthday! thanks much.
Yes, continue beating the egg yolks and sugar for up to 2mins then gradually mix in cake flour alternately with the milk.
thank you sooooo much! i appreciate the quick response. I cant wait to try this. i’ll let you know how it turns out. thanks again 🙂
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This looks beautiful AND delicious! Wonder if I could make it work with coconut milk?
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Pretty involved recipe but the result looks utterly worth it! custard…cake…win 🙂
in italy we say GNAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMM…… so appetizing…. i would eat the screen of my laptop……. have a nice week.
aria
This looks so amazingg!! just wondering whether we use the whole eggs or just the yoiks for the custard?
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You just use the yolks
Wow. That looks legendary.
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Oh! This looks amazing!
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That looks delicious, will be trying it soon. I do need to know how large is a large can of condensed milk, though. Will 400 ml do?
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Thats the one 🙂
Thanks for the quick response! I can’t wait to sink a spoon into that delight 🙂
This looks absolutely wonderful!
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how come there’s water on the list of ingredients for the caramel but not in the procedure? i would really love to make this
Sorry instructions are not clear, I amended the Caramel method.
How much water is needed in making the cake? Water is not on the list of ingredients for the cake.
My apologies water should not be on the method for cake so omit that step and just use milk. I will rectify recipe later. Thanks for noticing it.
i do not need oil for cake recipe?
This is like a sponge cake where it really does not need the oil, hope that helps
Hey, I’m a bit confused. So I mix the custard ingredients and then pour the cake batter on the uncooked custard mixture? Aren’t they going to mix up?
Yes you are correct you pour the batter on the uncooked mixture, they wont mix up as the top part is lighter due to the over beaten egg white. The bottom part will remain below as its a heavy liquid.
Thanks much! Will be making it tomorrow 😀
hello 🙂 i’m about to make this but i suddenly noticed you only used condensed milk for the flan? no evaporated milk at all? i would appreciate a reply, thank you!!
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Yes thats right but I used fresh milk
No oil or butter required for the cake? thanks.
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Yup no oil or butter in this one
why tho? i tried your cake recipe alone and it was totally fine without the oil. do u know why? other cake recipes always have oil or butter..
This is like a sponge cake where it really does not need the oil. Oil for most cakes give moisture which is needed specially for dense cakes this one is light and fluffy so no need for that type of moisture. Plus the caramel custard is wet enough so the moisture comes from it.
Hello! I’ve noticed that you don’t put egg whites in the custard mixture. Just wanna know if the custard still came out soft, creamy, and stable without egg whites. Thanks!
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Yes we dont put egg whites on the custard which in turn makes then creamy and soft but not soggy. The top will have the same texture as creme caramel but a bit firm.
Oh okay. Thanks so much! More power to your site!
Love the recipe. Going to try this for sure. What is diluted milk and how much of it? and also How much is 1 large can of condensed milk?
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Sorry for the confusion the diluted milk was supposed to be milk only, so I adjusted the recipe to reflect. As for the condensed milk its the 400g can
Mmmmm looks delicious! Is Custard Cake often in Filipino restaurants or would it be best to make this at home first?
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This is not usually available in Filipino restaurants but if you are in US you might try Goldilocks if not then try to make them 🙂
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I remember when I was young, i would go to a bakery planning to buy this cake but in the end I bought Kabayan or Spanish bread because they were much much cheaper.
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hi, i just wanna ask . . . instead of lemon juice, can i use lemon essence like that of McCormick? and also, instead of fresh milk, can i use evaporated milk for the custard?
Yes you can on both but on evaporated milk please add water to dilute the taste
wow….what an amazing super yummy delicious dish you’ve shared thanks for the info.
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Can i bake this using built in electric oven but the coil is on top only?
I haven’t tried it but its worth the try, most probably it will as its the same concept of an oven
I just made it using cupcake pans, following the exact instructions but baked it for 1 hr and 30 minutes I think it’s too sweet for me but the cake was soo soft. Maybe next time i’ll adjust the sugar. Thanks for the recipe☺️
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I hope you can still see this and still reply. If I want to do this on a steaner, will it be ok? Thanks!
I havent tried that method and my guess is that it will become more like puto flan instead of custard cake