My favorite custard cake
February 16, 2012 142 Comments
The custard cake
There is no denying to the Spanish influence in Philippine cuisine. Well, 333 years of colonial rule is something so every aspect of Philippine life has bits and pieces of that moment in our history. Too bad that we do not speak Spanish as a major language compared to the Latin Americans but many Philippine words are derived from Spanish.
One of the Spanish desserts that I love so much is the flan or creme caramel. When I was a child, I could only get to taste it at wedding parties or fiestas. The flan is really heaven to me then and even now. I just love that combination of the sweet caramel sauce and the creamy smooth flan, hence, I made it my mission to learn how to make it and master it. I’ve been making flan for a long time and it has actually become one of the most sought after desserts by friends and family. I decided that I need to bring this flan to the next level and that is the custard cake.
I started baking quite seriously only last year. Not that I enrolled in some baking class but just self-taught myself and scoured the internet for recipes. I started with recipes of food I remember from the Philippines and took off from there. I was so happy to stumble upon the site of Casa Veneracion and her recipe of the perfect custard cake. With a bit of experience on the individual components (custard and chiffon cake), I did a bit of tweaking but for the rest, I copied her recipe. What I like so much about this recipe is that the cake and flan are on 50/50 level compared to the ones in the Philippines where the flan is all but a very thin layer. To flan lovers like me, this is the perfect treat! 
I made this cake for the first time on my birthday last year and brought it to the office for my colleagues who were stunned. They couldn’t believe that I made this myself. Here in Holland, the tradition is to bring cake on one’s birthday. The Dutch normally brings the apple pie or “vlaai” bought from the baker which are normally oozing with lots of whipped cream. I decided to be different on my birthday, bringing something homemade.
To make this cake, I divided the process into 3 parts: caramel, custard and cake.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). This cake is baked au bain marie so fill a deep baking tray with half a level of hot water.
Caramel:
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup water
Instructions:
1. Make the caramel. Place the sugar and water in a thick bottomed pan. Turn the heat to high and bring the water and sugar to the boil without stirring. Then lower the heat to medium-high and continue boiling. After about 8 minutes, the mixture will start to brown. Continue boiling until the liquid is the color of amber.
2. Pour the caramel in your baking tray. I am using a deep Pyrex oven bowl (either the 8 x 8 or the lasagna bowl will do).
Boiling the granulated white sugar and water to make the caramel
The sugar on its way to caramelization
Cooking the sugar until it turns amber
The caramel poured onto an oven proof bowl to cool down
Custard:
Ingredients:
5 large (or 6 medium) eggs (yolks and whites)
1 can condensed milk (397 gram)
1 can skimmed or full milk (397 gram)
1/4 cup white sugar
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 mandarin or 1/2 orange or citroen
Instructions:
1. In a bowl, beat the eggs.
2. Add the sugar, condensed and skimmed milks.
3. Add the mandarin or orange or citroen juice and the finely grated rind.
4. Pour on top of the cooled caramel.
The eggs
The custard poured over the caramel
Chiffon cake:
Ingredients:
3 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tbsp. canola oil
3/4 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 cup skimmed milk
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. granulated white sugar
Instructions:
Cake mixture:
1. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the 1/4 cup minus 1 tbsp. sugar until smooth and lemon colored.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder.
3. Add the milk and flour alternately, mixing after each addition.
4. Add the oil and beat thoroughly.
The cake mixture
Meringue (egg white mixture):
5. In another bowl, add the cream of tartar to the egg white and with the hand mixer, beat at high speed until the egg whites turn foamy.
6. Add yhe sugar little by little and continue beating until the egg white mixture is stiff.
7. Slowly fold in the cake mixture using a rubber spatula. Do this slowly until the cake and meringue are well blended.
8. Pour the combined cake and meringue mixture over the flan. The cake mixture is light and airy so it will float over the custard mix.
9. Baked au bain marie at 350F (177C) for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick when inserted at the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool down and then chill in the fridge.
11. To serve, using a knife, trace the side of the cake. Take a plate that can hold the cake and place it upside down on top of the oven bowl. With one hand under the oven bowl and the other hand on top of the plate, invert the cake onto the plate.
The meringue (stiff egg whites) about to be mixed with the cake mixture
Folding the cake mixture into the meringue
The custard cake being baked au bain marie
Cooling the custard cake
Cross-section of the perfect custard cake - 50/50 flan and cake
About Malou
Wow, looks delicious, I’m going to try this one for sure some day soon. Last time I tried flan it took a few days to clean the oven dishes from the caramel though, haha.
This is really delicious and that combination of the cake and flan is just amazing. To clean the caramel from your oven dishes, soak them in water with soap.
Do you need to add baking powder? Iv just made one today and it dosent look the same as yours. my top layer (cake) looks flat it didn’t rise like yours
…. did you forget to add baking powder?
Yes, half teaspoon. Apologies that my recipe missed that.
Sounds yummy and looks delicious! I’ll have to try this one. Thanks for the recipe.
Joy
You are welcome, Joy.
That looks amazing. I’m going to try this. My favourite filipino desert is casava cake YUM!
Thanks a lot. I love cassava cake too. I make that from time to time.
i would love a recipe for the casava cake, I’ve lost mine made it years ago.
OK, will post that one of these days.
That looks so beautiful and soooo delicious….I might just make one for my dad’s birthday coming up…thanks!
I’m sure that your dad will love this cake.
Double-wow! I’ve seen recipes for flan, but this one really gets detailed enough that I think I’d find it easy enough to do. Great pictures to illustrate it. I’m printing the recipe to try to make soon. I think it would be especially luscious with fresh strawberries, although they’d have to be ones shipped to the area from California at this time of year. Big carbon footprint. Maybe frozen ones will do. My husband will love this! Thanks, Marlou.
Glad to know that you like this recipe, Marilyn. This is a personal favorite because I love flan and chiffon cake. Having them both in a single cake is just amazing.
You’re doing my waistline absolutely no favors.
Ha, ha, ha! True, this just takes a moment on the lips and a lifetime on the waistline.
Thank you so much for the step by step instructions….this will wow the next dinner party!!
Glad you like this. Always a pleaser in a dinner party.
Hi Malou! this is so good:) Leche Flan is my fave Filipino dessert. I will try this recipe,love your foodie pictures.
I guess all of us Pinoys love leche flan. This is a marriage of the flan and the chiffon cake, both Pinoy favorites.
Malou, I’m a big fan of flan. I will try this over the weekend! Theadora (You should start teaching classes. Or maybe you do?!)
Let me know how this turns out for you.
I enjoy cooking and baking but maybe teaching is not for me … I am lacking in patience. OK, I am practicing that with my daughter as we do baking cookies and cupcakes together.
Mmmmm, your custard cake looks mouth-watering!! And what a great idea to bring your own cake into the office on your birthday.
When I was little, my mom used to make strawberry and chocolate cupcakes for my birthday, and sometimes she’d alternate the flavors so that the cake part was strawberry, and the frosting part chocolate (or vice versa). I was always sooo excited to share them with my classmates.
Flan also used to be one of my favorite desserts when I was little. As for the Spanish influence on Philippine cuisine, I’ve begun noticing it more and more the longer I’m in Spain. There are very similar foods and dishes here, like tocino, ham and pork dishes in general, and as you’ve mentioned, the flan!
I’ve been to Spain a couple of times but getting a good flan is frustrating at times. Some are watery and not really that creamy and smooth like the way we make it in the Philippines.
I have not been able to have a truly delicious flan in Spain, like those of my childhood, but I had convinced myself that perhaps I was glorifying flan in my childhood memories. But now that you say it, I think you’re right. My mom used to make them wonderfully creamy, and I grew up in a predominantly Filipino community where I had the luxury of eating the occasional homemade Philippine meal at a friends’ homes, and their mothers’ and aunts’ flans were delightful. I truly cannot wait to try out your recipe and be taken back in time!!
Those Spanish restaurants use the instant custard mix for their flans because the real flan takes a bit of work to make. It is funny that they introduce this dessert in the Philippines but now have fallen short at keeping its quality and consistency.
I’m sure that this recipe will be a trip back in time for you gastronomically. Let your Spanish hubby have the real flan.
Looks delightful!
Thanks a lot, Kelli.
I love leche flan, but I’ve never had the half custard/half chiffon. Yummy!!
daisy
This is a marriage of my two favorites…flan and chiffon.
I love creme caramel, but have never seen it with a nice, light, fluffy cake in it – mmmm, I definitely want to try this!
The fluffy cake is so light that it floats on the custard. This is such a lovely dessert.
Malou, this looks so good! I think I have had flan once in my life! Thank you for posting!
Flan is a big favorite of mine, Jane. You can try it in your kitchen repertoire
What a masterpiece! I ‘m salivating as I write this
simple ingredients can often create the best dishes! Those layers are amazing (in the cross) section too!
Thanks a lot. You are right, the simple ingredients make up for the amazing charm of this dish. There are not so many dizzying flavors assembled but just the creamy loveliness of the flan and the simple chiffon cake.
I love flan and I love a light chiffon cake so this recipe just made it into my “must make” file! Thank you so much for sharing it.
I’m glad that this cake meets your expectation.
Fantastic! Love the layers And the way you do the bain marie! Inspiring!
And I’m now on a diet! Whhaaaa!
Malou, I absolutely love flan and just had it last night at a restaurant for Valentine dinner dessert. Your instructions are so clear, I may even try to make this custard cake! Thanks so much for sharing.
It is good that you can get the flan at the restaurant there, Dor. I am quite picky and some Spanish restaurants that offer them here are cheaters using instant custard mixes which I can easily figure out. Hence, I make it myself.
I love flan! Ahhhhh!
I love it! That cross-section is making me drool!
It’s also wonderful to be able to learn more about Holland and the Philippines through you and your food. Thank you!
This is something that a great chef like you can easily execute.
I introduced the Dutch to my Philippine kitchen and I’m afraid that from being potato-eaters, I’ve spoiled their taste buds a bit, ha, ha, ha!
this is new, I thought this was plain leche flan. Anyhow, this looks really good too, thanks for sharing your recipe
It looks so good! Probably wouldn’t keep very well in the mail, huh?!
I will surely try this one. Looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing!! Bon apettit…
that looks wonderful!!..it looked intimidating, but your instructions are motivating me!
I can understand that because of the 3 components of this cake, you will find it intimidating. When I first read the recipe where I derived this from, I also got intimidated especially from the long description of the various steps. After figuring out how to go about it, I realized that it was simple after I simplified the description of each of the steps involved.
This looks fabulous. I am saving this one. Thanks so much for sharing!
Malou, I have nominated you for the Sunshine Award. Check out my blog entitled “Sunshine Coming My Way” for the details.
Thanks a lot, Dor. Your nominations for the blogging awards are a source of motivation for me to keep posting. I’ll work on passing on the nominations when I finally have a bit of time, life as a mum and also having my work which is pretty busy at the moment are keeping me from working on the nominations of other bloggers.
Amazing! Just’s look amazing
What a nice treat to see, my mom used to to make custard cake all the time with the chiffon, and I was craving this exact cake last night – then saw your post. It’s still mouth watering…yum!
Wow, what a coincidence!
looking really tempting
Like! Like! Like! Isn’t Flan heavenly? Omg…..
Hi Malou! Thanks for liking my ‘Snow in Rome’ post. I love baking and I love flan. Will try this with my messy little sous-chefs! Thanks. Kimberly
Hi there Kimberly, I’ve been in Italy at scorchingly hot temperature so it was nice to see your post of Rome under a completely different setting.
Haha! Don’t start packing your snow parka just yet, Malou. It still is rather unusual. Hot and humid – like you experienced – is still the norm for much of the year!
True. Yesterday I wore a lighter coat and regretted it. I was freezing.
Thank you for sharing the recepies. i will try this!!!!!!!!!
WOW this looks YUMMY!!!
THANX Malou for sharing this
Happy to know that you like this recipe. It is a personal favorite.
This looks amazing! Do you take requests? Specifically, I am looking for a Chicken Adobo recipe
My apartment-mates in college were Filipina, and used to cook this up on weekends…I miss it!
Thanks a lot. I cook adobo a lot but never really measures the ingredients when I do that. So typical as that is a very common dish that I learn from my early foray into the kitchen. I will post the recipe here one of these days (after I do some measuring of the ingredients) but if you want it now, here’s how you do it:
Just put together in a pan the following: chicken pieces, crushed garlic, soy sauce (salty one), vinegar, bay leaf, freshly ground pepper, a little sugar and water. Cook the chicken over medium heat until chicken is tender and sauce has reduced and thickened.
Serve with boiled/steamed rice.
Thanks, Malou!
Wow! That looks AMAZING!!! Good for you for searching for recipes and just going for it! That’s the only way to learn, find a recipe, tweak it for your own tastes and start experimenting! I hope you family liked the flan as much as you did!
There is satisfaction in being able to pull successfully a new recipe. I’m so glad that this custard cake is now on my repertoire of cakes. Before, my baking choices were so limited but after doing a lot of experimenting, I’m not daunted anymore. I’m loving the journey into baking
This looks SO good.
It tastes good too, Jasmine.
Wow, this looks amazing!
Uh oh….This looks too marvelous to ignore. Wish me luck on making it.
Thanks a lot. I think you will be able to pull this recipe successfully.
Wow. That looks absolutely fantastic. I want, I want!
The half & half is new to me! Looks delicious!
wow, this looks seriously amazing! How cool that it becomes two completely separate layers
Malou, this looks amazing! A complete work of art. I’m sitting at work and you’re making me drool
I was looking for a good dessert for tomorrow. I just found it!
I’m glad that this post is a good source inspiration for the dessert you need to make.
Oh, this looks just wonderful! I think we will have to try this in our family as we are also great lovers of flan.
Absolutely beuatiful! I should try this! Thank you for this recipe!
This looks amazing !
Thank you for following my blog by the way, I’ve enjoyed discovering yours (and I am following) and have added your blog to my blog roll so I can look forward to visiting again
Love your blog and can truly relate to your life as a mum. I enjoyed looking at the pictures of your family too.
Just spotted your reply, that’s really kind of you, thank you
This looks just delicious!!
The photos of the completed cake make my mouth water! Looks delicious!
Two wonderful worlds collide: custard and cake!
What a terrific post to your blog! I love the detailed descriptions and photos for each step, you have me thinking this is something I must try. My brother-in-law’s girlfriend is originally from Puerto Rico, and flan is a favorite of hers, so this would likely be a big hit. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks a lot, Nate! True, Latin Americans love the flan given their Spanish colonial ties.
OMG- I am absolutely making this next time we have company for dinner! A combination of everything that I love for dessert!
I’m sure that your dinner guests will enjoy this dessert with coffee, espresso or cappuccino on the side.
Oh my goodness.. just look at that amazing looking cake. Yes, this is calling me and I have a weird looking grin on my face just thinking of how this would taste lol
This tastes really good, Kay. It’s the marriage of two favorites of mine – flan and chiffon.
Absolutely delicious!
All those dirty pans, though. All that washing up!!!
This cake is worth all those washing up, lol!
What a gorgeous dessert…will have to try this as I love custard. Thanks for sharing it.
so beautiful, I can’t wait to try making it myself. Did you butter or grease the pyrex baking pan?
No, I did not grease the pyrex baking pan.
Looks delicious!
It looks delicious! I love caramel. One of my favorites is alfajores…delicate sandwich cookies with dulce le leche in the middle. How can anyone go wrong with caramel! Is it your birthday then!? Happy Birthday!
I’ve made alfajores some weeks ago, got so curious about it. My manager is from Uruguay and every time she flies home, she would hand-carry the alfajores for us. It’s kind of funny that now I just make it in my kitchen.
I made this cake for my birthday last year (August).
This looks wonderful!
I have to compliment you on the photos you post- always so beautiful!
~M
Thanks a lot, Maybelle.
That is an amazing looking flan/cake… I will take the recipe and try it out sometime. Yummy!
Thanks a lot. If you love flan, this is really good.
I love, love ,love flan. There used to be a little hole in the wall restaurant when I was in college. It had the best flan and arroz con pollo and the lines were around the block. The lady who owned it was from Mexico, I think, and the food was inexpensive and phenomenal… I love flan.
Looks SO GOOD!
I’ll be trying this one out soon.
This looks pretty amazing. I’ve had flan before, but never with the meringue component. Thanks for visiting Polloplayer!
WOW! That sure tasted delicious!
Thank you Malou
Rafa
That looks really yummy, and the pictures are great for showing me how you made it. I probably would have been scared to try it without them. But I am inspired, maybe one day i can make that too!
That looks like a gorgeous cake!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. This recipe looks very nice, I might give it a try!
I love your recipes. I would love to try this – I wonder if it’s beyond my skill set?
I’ve never made a flan or anything close to it before. It looks dangerously delicious.
Okay – another bookmark!
Oh, that is just fantastic. Am definitely going to try this.
Thanks!
Wow! This looks like a fantastic combination. I love the final picture of the sliced cake where you can see the layers so clearly. Delicious!
This looks amazing!
Oh my goodness!! This is incredible. I’m not sure I have the skills to make it but I would love to eat it!!! Wow!!
Looks Delicious! I would definitely give it a go!
Malou, this cake is stunning & your photos are superb. Thanks again so much for following my blog
. We definitely have a lot in common. I love the Dutch tradition of bringing your own birthday cake to work, too – that’s great. Thanks for sharing this. An older post of yours, I know, but this cake just looked so yummy…
This looks amazing! I’ll have to try it!
Im definitely try this one!
Thanks for sharing your recipes.
This looks so yummy!
Oh – that looks good. Haven’t had custard cake since childhood!
Seriously gorgeous and tempting!
This really does look so yummy. I love that you included step by step photos (when I am trying new recipes I always wonder “is this what it’s supposed to look like?”)!
Thank you for reading my post, Spring Again, and for this yummy recipe!
That looks fab. Texture of soft sponge and custard and then caramel too..
This looks awesome. I love Filipino food and have a lot of Filipino friends. I’m going to make this on Good Friday to surprise my Filipino friends, thanks for a the great recipe.
Food appeals to the nose, the tongue, and the eye. There are so many dishes, meals, where the “display” makes the anticipation of the taste… exciting!
Your custard cake looks exquisite. I don’t have an adequate kitchen for culinary masterpieces, but sometimes I wish I did.
This is a really good explanation on the background/history of a food, and its preparation. Good on you! ;-D
Hi! Thank You for visiting my site!!
I hope I can inspire you as you have inspired me!
Great site – with lots of great information!
Thank you for sharing!
Lee
Oh my word-I want this for breakfast right now !! It looks soooo delicious!
Wow! This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing, I will be trying this recipe. Thank you for liking my Limoncello post
OMG – totally amazing!! I didn’t know such a thing was possible! Cake, custard and caramel. I’m deflintely going to try this bad boy. Thank you!!
I know what I will be doing over the next long weekend!
Look delicious.
Hi, thanks for stopping by to read my blog.Your cake looks AMAZING!!!! I’ll definatelly try it.
This looks amazing Malou – I am a pathetic cook so this step-by-step guide shall be a lot of encouragement and a chance to start afresh …
Hi Malou, love this recipe… look for some variation on it some day from me from some faraway land… I will give you credit for the inspiration. Thanks so much!
Malou I’m getting ready to make this and have a question, when you say a can of full milk do you mean evaporated milk? have you ever used just regular milk or subbed out half and half?
You can use the regular milk or even evaporated milk.
Great. I’ll let you know how it all turns out!!
Yummy, love the flan!