Custard Cake is an absolutely delicious dessert recipe which is also known as Caramel Custard Cake. It is a combination of caramel custard with a chiffon cake as the base
About this Recipe – Caramel Custard
Popularly known as Caramel Custard cake or cake with leche flan
A dessert which is made up of 2 layers. That is, a caramel custard layer topped with a light and fluffy chiffon cake layer.
This recipe tastes best when served chilled
It is a combination of a sweet caramel custard with a tinge of burnt sugar flavors and an airy chiffon cake to add to its texture
Not a very common dessert to find in India, but the moment I tasted it somewhere around a dessert cafe, I fell in love with how moist and full of flavor it was. It had a light creamy texture and I couldn’t think of a better dessert deal than a cake topped with caramel and creamy custard
I always wondered how the layers could be baked together without getting mixed with each other during the baking process. But developing recipes on this topic was answers to all my queries
Why the caramel custard and cake mixtures, not mix or blend during baking?
This caramel custard is also known as flan as it is made with more cream than milk. This makes the custard batter thicker
The main ingredient in this chiffon cake is the beaten egg white. It is the reason why the batter is so light and airy. The chiffon cake batter being light sits over the heavy custard batter and thus bakes separately without mixing during the baking process.
To get this right, make sure to not overbeat the cake batter, as the egg whites would lose its airy texture which then yields a heavier batter
You may also try our
Best Custard Cake Recipe – 3 parts to this dessert
Caramel Syrup
The golden caramel syrup is a combination of fine sugar and water. It is what gives this cake that beautiful golden glaze. This is the 1st layer that goes into the cake dish as its base
Custard
The creamy custard is a combination of cream and eggs. It is rich and has a smooth texture. This is the layer that goes next, after the caramel syrup in the baking dish. This layer takes the longest to bake in the oven as compared to the cake, thus, make sure you judge it right while it’s baking in the oven as you cannot see the layer (as it is below the cake layer)
Cake
The layer which goes above the custard is the chiffon cake batter. Overmixing this batter will yield a flat non-spongy cake. Follow the below video tutorial to get it right
How to make a Custard Cake
Ingredients
For the Caramel:
castor sugar 125 grams
water 40 ml
For the Custard:
eggs 2
condensed milk 150 grams
cream 160 ml
milk 100 ml
vanilla essence ½ teaspoon
For the Cake:
egg yolks 2
castor sugar 25 grams
vanilla essence ½ teaspoon
milk 40 ml
oil 20 ml
all-purpose flour 50 grams
baking powder ½ teaspoon
baking soda ¼ teaspoon
pinch of salt
For the Meringue:
egg whites 2
sugar 25 grams
Method – Custard Cake
For the caramel: In a saucepan on medium heat add the castor sugar and let it melt. Stir every 20 seconds to make sure the sugar melts evenly.
Once melted add the water (do this carefully) Mix well. Boil for 3 to 4 mins. The mixture should be slightly thick with no lumps. Switch off the gas and pour this mixture in an 8-inch baking dish. Tilt the baking dish carefully to make sure the caramel mixture is all around the dish.
Let it chill in the fridge until the other parts of the dessert cake are ready to be added
For the custard: In a bowl, combine the eggs, condensed milk, cream, vanilla essence, and milk. Beat well. The mixture should be smooth and creamy. Set aside
For the Cake: In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence, Whisk well until light in color. Add the milk & oil to the mixture and continue whisking
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the mixture and whisk. Make sure there are no lumps
For the Meringue: In another bowl beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff peaks
Now, combine the meringue mixture with the flour mixture. Fold the meringue carefully making sure you do not overmix.
Assemble for baking:
Remove the baking dish coated with caramel from the fridge and pour the custard batter through a sieve to avoid lumps. Move a toothpick through the mixture to remove extra air bubbles
Next, carefully pour the cake batter that was combined with the beaten egg whites. Move a toothpick through the mixture again to avoid air bubbles
For the baking: Place the custard cake baking dish over another baking dish filled with hot water up to 1 inch (double bath baking method)
Place this in a preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 85 to 90 mins. The cake should feel firm when touched. Do not insert a skewer to check.
Remove from the oven and let it sit at room temperature for 20 mins. Carefully, tilt the dish onto a plate. The custard cake should come out easily with just a few taps
Cool this in the fridge for 2 hours for best results
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
For the Caramel:
- 125 grams castor sugar
- 40 ml water
For the Custard:
- 2 eggs
- 150 grams condensed milk
- 160 ml cream
- 100 ml milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
For the Cake:
- 2 egg yolks
- 25 grams castor sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- 40 ml milk
- 20 ml oil
- 50 grams all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
For the Meringue:
- 2 egg whites
- 25 grams sugar
Instructions
For the caramel:
- In a saucepan on medium heat add the castor sugar and let it melt. Stir every 20 seconds to make sure the sugar melts evenly.Once melted add the water (do this carefully) Mix well. Boil for 3 to 4 mins. The mixture should be slightly thick with no lumps. Switch off the gas and pour this mixture in an 8-inch baking dish. Tilt the baking dish carefully to make sure the caramel mixture is all around the dish.Let it chill in the fridge until the other parts of the dessert cake are ready to be added
For the custard:
- In a bowl, combine the eggs, condensed milk, cream, vanilla essence, and milk. Beat well. The mixture should be smooth and creamy. Set aside
For the Cake:
- In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla essence, Whisk well until light in color. Add the milk & oil to the mixture and continue whiskingSieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the mixture and whisk. Make sure there are no lumps
For the Meringue:
- In another bowl beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff peaksNow, combine the meringue mixture with the flour mixture. Fold the meringue carefully making sure you do not overmix.Assemble for baking: Remove the baking dish coated with caramel from the fridge and pour the custard batter through a sieve to avoid lumps. Move a toothpick through the mixture to remove extra air bubblesNext, carefully pour the cake batter that was combined with the beaten egg whites. Move a toothpick through the mixture again to avoid air bubbles
For the baking:
- Place the custard cake baking dish over another baking dish filled with hot water up to 1 inch (double bath baking method)Place this in a preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 85 to 90 mins. The cake should feel firm when touched. Do not insert a skewer to check.Remove from the oven and let it sit at room temperature for 20 mins. Carefully, tilt the dish onto a plate. The custard cake should come out easily with just a few tapsCool this in the fridge for 2 hours for best results
Recipe Video
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Sunny says
Hi, thank you for this recipe I can’t wait to try it! One quick question, I’ve only ever made custard with egg yolks, is there a reason the whole egg is used?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Sunny .. I find the only egg yolk custard sometimes a bit too eggy.. Thus the use of full eggs. It also avoids wastage and keeps the custard light in weight due to the egg whites
Winnie Koh says
Hi Thanks for sharing the lovely recipe
1) Is there any substitute for the cream?
2) Can I put cooking cream?
siteadmin says
For good consistency, it is best to use cream no less than 32%. Thanks
Pratip says
Hi Alisha,
I was wondering, will it be okay if I use Amul cream(easily available in Indian market) for the cream that you mentioned in your recipe, or it won’t do ? because I feel it has a slight sour taste to it, that’s why I am in a dilemma.
Thank You 🙂
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Pratip.. Amul fresh cream (the blue tetra pack available in the indian market) works really well for this recipe
Racquel C. says
Wow. This sounds so delicious. Would you mind converting the measurements to imperial/American system please. I will definitely try this recipe. Thank you.
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Racquel .. Apologies for this one but grams and ml’s work really well for me and thus I follow recipes with this measurement. With cups, I feel measurements are not precise and thus recipes don’t turn out the same for all. I don’t have the cup measures for this recipe as of now, but will try to have them up soon
Niharika says
Hi! This recipe sounds absolutely delish and I’m going to try it over the weekend. I did have a few questions: I remember reading somewhere that the cake batter goes in after the caramel and then the custard. While baking the custard then moves down and bakes so when you invert it, it’s caramel followed by custard followed by cake like we want. Could that be because the cake was a thicker cake batter and this technique wouldn’t work for this chiffon cake? Should I also use the back of a spoon to pour In the top layer of batter so it falls gently?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hey Niharika.. You just answered your own question.
Yes !! My recipe uses a chiffon cake which is lighter than the custard batter and thus sits up the custard. Yes, using a spoon to pour would definitely help. The reason I follow this set up of layers is that, when you tilt the cake the caramel syrup falls to the sides of the cake and gets soaked into the chiffon sponge making it more delicious
Mariangel says
I love this recipe! I’m doing it for my mom’s birthday this Friday. I tried today so I can practice to avoid any troubles and I love it! My only concern is that there’s no physical way to fit in a 6 inch pan. It’s more for an 8 inch or even a bigger one. Btw is amazing, for the custard y change the milk for passion fruit juice and it tastes out of this world
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi.. Glad you liked it, I love this recipe of mine. Yes, this one’s for an 8-inch tin. And thankyou for the passion fruit tip, gotta try it
Kari says
The recipe, and a few comments above, state it uses a 6″ pan. Here you say it is an 8″ pan. Which is it?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Kari .. It is an 8-inch pan as told to the people in the comments below .. It was a correction that needed to be made and we’ve now done it in the written recipe too
Crizle Anglo says
Hi Alisha! I’ve kept my custard cake in the fridge overnight and the cake part was dry. What should I do?
Can I keep it outside or no?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Crizie..
Once the cake sits out for about 15 mins before eating, it should be moist as the caramel combines with the cake. So, this must have happened due to over baking I believe. But if you’d like the cake to be soggy and full of caramel juices, double the quantity of caramel sauce that we made at the beginning of the recipe (I do this sometimes when I want it soggier with a juicy texture)
Yntal says
Im sooo looking forward to try this ! thanks for sharing!
Alisha Rodrigues says
SO glad..
Becca says
I’m trying to make this cake this weekend, but I’m worried about the temperature conversion. 170C directly converted is 338F. Should I just bump it up to 350F and lower the cook time? And if so, how can I gauge for doneness?
Alisha Rodrigues says
You just answered your question – Sounds perfect
When you touch the top center of the custard it would be wobbly but firm, that’s a sign that its done
Becca says
Awesome thank you 🙂
Tanziha says
Have had a little bit of challenge with the assembly at my end. Caramel then custard batter and the moment I added cake batter it sure didn’t lay on top of custard batter separately And rather went in mixed with the custard batter? I didn’t want it mixed any further so skipped the toothpick part for the last batter. In the oven now. Will see how it turns out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Tanziha .. If the cake batter mixed it’s probably because you didn’t beat the egg whites well or you overmixed the cake batter and made it to watery instead of a light and fluffy cake batter. Next time, keeping the cake batter light should be the aim, only then will it float over the custard mixture. To make sure you do so, beat the egg whites really well and fold it slowly into the cake batter (making sure you do not over mix the cake batter)
Hope this helps !! All the best ..
Thun says
Hi, I tried the recipe but when I turned the cake the caramel layer stayed stuck in the pan!
Alisha Rodrigues says
You’ve probably not melted the sugar well .. This happens when the caramelized sugar is too thick or if the sugar is not melted and still grainy
Trisha says
Hi I was just wondering what type of cream to use? Is it just whipped heavy cream?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Yes Trisha.. Heavy cream is perfect
sherry brubaker says
The perfect ration of cake to custard! This decadent cake is now bookmarked because it was the talk of the town and all my friends want in on my “secret” recipe!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thank you, Sherry !! So glad to hear this… This cake is quite a stunner
Pam Greer says
The layers on this are absolutely gorgeous and delicious! Love the combination of the custard with the light cake!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Oh yes !! Both layers complement each other really well..
Beth says
The layers are so perfect! Love the flavor too!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thankyou !! Glad you like it
Jo says
Oh wow! It looks fantastic. I love custard in any shape or form and in combination with this delicious chiffon cake it sounds like my perfect dessert!
Alisha Rodrigues says
It’s indeed the perfect dessert… We love it too
Anita says
Wow, I usually make just the custard part on its own and it’s already so good. This two in one version must be really awesome. Definitely something I need to try. 🙂
Alisha Rodrigues says
Yes !! It’s absolutely delicious. It’s the best of both worlds. Must try !!
Royal says
Caramel custard cake – do u have the recipe for s as not 20 to 12 people?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Well !! This cake yields a good 8-inch cake with 8 good slices. You may double or triple the quantity of batter accordingly