Torta Magica light/dark

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 4 eggs
• 115 g flour, for the dark version only 65 g
• 1 tbsp water, very cold
• 125 g butter
• 500 ml milk, lukewarm
• 1 pinch of salt
• 150 g sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 vanilla pod(s), pulp
• powdered sugar
• 50 g cocoa powder, for the dark version
• Fat for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Rest time approx. 4 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours 45 minutes

An amazing cake with three different layers in just one baking process!

Heat the butter in a saucepan until just warm enough to melt. Allow the melted butter to cool to room temperature (important!). Now separate the eggs, also at room temperature. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy, at least 5–10 minutes. The mixture should be really fluffy. When this point is reached, add the water and, for the light version, the vanilla seeds while continuing to beat. Then slowly stir in the salt and the melted, cooled butter. Sift the flour and, for the dark version, the cocoa powder into the resulting mixture and fold in. I’ve had the best results by sifting it into the center as much as possible and then quickly mixing it in. While continuing to stir, slowly add the lukewarm milk. It’s very important that there are no lumps in the mixture. If this does happen, simply use “Trick 7” and strain the mixture through a sieve. Now, in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until stiff. This is a bit tricky, but sounds worse than it is: Pour the stiff egg whites onto the cake mixture. Very carefully, only mix the egg whites into the top third to a maximum of half of the batter. The batter should only be mixed with the egg whites in the top part. The result should be nice and fluffy from the top to the middle, while the bottom part should still be relatively liquid. Lightly grease a 20 x 20 cm baking dish for stability and then line it with baking paper. Cut into the corners of the baking paper to prevent unsightly wrinkles. By the way: The dimensions of the baking dish are crucial for achieving the correct consistency and thickness. I think a few centimeters more or less is no problem, although I have no experience with this. Finally, carefully pour the mixture into the prepared dish – if the liquid part flows to the bottom or sinks and the fluffy egg white part “floats” on top, everything is fine. The “Torta Magica” is now baked in a preheated oven at 150°C (top/bottom heat) for approximately 80 minutes, until the surface is lightly browned. For a fan-assisted oven, bake at 130°C for approximately 70 minutes. Once the “Torta Magica” is fully baked, do not remove it from the pan; instead, let it cool to room temperature in the pan. Once this temperature is reached, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. After at least 4 hours in the refrigerator, preferably overnight, the “Torta Magica” should be thoroughly chilled and have sunk and shrunk slightly—this is intentional. Finally, carefully remove the “Torta Magica” from the pan using the baking paper and cut into approximately 4 x 5 cm pieces. The three layers are now visible for the first time: a flan-like layer, a pudding-like layer, and a cake batter layer. Arrange the pieces nicely on a plate, dust generously with powdered sugar and enjoy.