Custard Cake

Marina, Zaeda and I found each other on Facebook only about 2 months ago, after more than 20 years apart. We were childhood friends in Malaysia, first knew each other in school and were in the same class for much of our primary and high school. Lanky Zaeda and I were seated together in the last row of our classroom during our Form 4 and 5 (the final 2 years of our secondary school). It was not because we were troublemakers, just that Zaeda and I were a lot taller than many of our classmates then. Marina, on the other hand, was a petite little girl who was almost always seated at the front row. Schooling in those days was fun. We didn't have the luxury of picking our own seats or companion. It was always decided by our class teacher, but none of us ever complained nor did it ever cross our mind that we ought to choose wherever and whoever we wish to sit with. The lack of choices didn't matter to us, we were happy kids nonetheless. Indeed, the simplicity of life and thinking then was a bliss. Those were the formative years. Meeting them over Facebook after 20 years has brought back so many memories of the past. Twenty years is a fairly long time in anyone's lifetime. Zaeda's daughters are now in their teens, while Marina's bundles of joy are already in primary school. There's indeed so much to catch up. Already I have seen many beautiful pictures of their wonderful families and children, posted and constantly updated on Facebook. I share their joy, and can't wait to find out more about them. The uncanny thing is, after all those years apart, with each having gone through such diverse and different life experiences, we somehow ended up sharing a common past-time of baking and cooking, exchanging recipes and marveling at each other's creation. Life has a strange way of bringing people together.

Below is an adaptation of Marina's prized custard cake recipe.  In her original recipe, she has a layer of caramel before the custard. I took some short cuts, ignore the caramel and went straight to making the custard. As a substitute for the caramel layer, one could sprinkle fine sugar over the custard when the cake is done, and place it under the broiler for browning (in the same way as creme brulee).  This cake is best served chilled.

Custard

4 large eggs

500ml fresh milk

70g castor sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cake

70g all-purpose flour

60g fine sugar

2 eggs

20g butter (melted)

Method

1. Grease an 8-inch cake pan with softened butter. Pre-heat oven to 170 deg C.  Melt 20g of butter over low heat and let it cool.

2. Prepare custard. Heat milk together with sugar over fire until sugar melts. Whisk eggs and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Pour hot milk into the egg mixture. Stir gradually to avoid forming bubbles.  Strain custard into the cake pan, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

4. Prepare cake batter. Separate egg yolks from whites. Whisk egg whites with 30g of sugar till soft peak forms. Whisk yolk with remaining sugar till creamy. Combine the two.

5. Sift flour into the egg mixture. Fold gently.

6. Add melted butter into the cake batter. Combine gently.  Pour batter into cake pan containing custard prepared earlier (the batter will float over custard naturally). 

7. Place the cake pan over hot bath and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.