How to make a smart cake? What is it like? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. This dessert is called a smart cake, a magic cake, a magic cake, and, finally, as in the original - tarta magica. His recipe was invented by the Spanish culinary hostess Mendez Mabel and in 2013 shared her confectionery fiction with the whole world. To this day, there is debate about the texture and taste of this baking, causing either absolute rejection or complete delight.
Why is it called that?
Why is smart cake called so? The reason is simple, as is the baking itself: with an elementary set of the most popular products, batter miraculously transforms into a real cake.
It ideally consists of three layers: below - something like a thick jelly-casserole, above - an airy biscuit, in the middle - a tender custard. But for other types of cakes, it is necessary to separately prepare the cream, dough base, glaze.
Reviews
What do they say about smart cake? Reviews this dessert gets the most different. It would seem that everything is really simple. But many chefs complain that for some reason they didn’t have a smart cake. Namely, there is no three-layer separation. They say that they only got a dense bottom layer and a biscuit. Also, many hostesses are stopped by a very peculiar taste of the finished baking.
Those who tried to cook up a smart cake, claim that they get an extraordinary sweet omelet. Say, the finished product feels the typical taste of an egg. Some say that only omelette is present at the bottom of the bakery. But they were able to hide this aftertaste by adding a zest of citrus fruits (lemon or orange) to the dough.
In general, a smart cake is an dessert for an amateur. He is not quite familiar and really unusual. Custard and biscuit, no doubt, are loved by many. But what is below is undoubtedly something inexplicable. The hostesses say that the bottom layer looks like a completely homogeneous, dense, gnarled mass, as if it had just not been baked. But as planned, it should be like that.
Cook smart cake or not? Decide for yourself. Many chefs bake this dessert many times already, which means that they are satisfied with the result.
Components
The recipe for a smart cake involves the use of such components:
- 500 ml of milk (preferably 2.5%);
- 150 g of sugar;
- 125 cow's oil (82% required);
- 4 eggs (50 g each);
- 1 tbsp. l water;
- a pinch of vanillin;
- 115 g premium wheat flour.
Product Preparation
Agree, the smart cake in the photo looks stunning. So, first turn on the oven at 160 ° C and proceed to create the test. Wash the eggs and pat dry with a towel or napkin. Separate the yolks from the proteins.
Squirrels send in a cold place, and put the yolks in a container in which you will prepare the dough. If you use homemade eggs with bright orange yolks, then the pastries you get will be a sunny appetizing color. Combine the yolks with sugar, vanilla and a tablespoon of home-temperature water.
Whipping
We continue to figure out how to make smart cake. Beat everything with a mixer at high speed so that the mass brightens and increases in volume, and the sugar dissolves completely. You will need at least 5 minutes to do this. Of course, you can use a whisk, but then you have to work very well.
Oil addition
Melt the butter and refrigerate to home temperature. For this purpose, you can use the microwave - it is convenient and fast. Add the butter to the yolk mass, whisk together for another two minutes.
What to do with flour?
Sift flour through a sieve twice. Thanks to this technique, you will enrich it with oxygen and get rid of lumps and various impurities. Pour the flour in 2-3 doses into the mixture, stir with a whisk or a mixer at low speeds.
Adding milk
Now pour milk into the dough in parts, each time whipping the mass to the same state. Remember: milk must be warm! As a result, you will get a very liquid dough, identical in consistency to kefir.
Squirrel Actions
Next, you need to beat the cold proteins into a stable and strong foam. Use a mixer for this. It is important to beat them well so that they keep their shape. You can simply turn the bowl upside down: if the foam does not budge, then you did a great job.
Introduce whipped proteins into the dough for 2-3 doses. You cannot use the mixer at this stage! Mix them so that the dough becomes homogeneous. It is very convenient to use a whisk here - so mixing will be simpler and easier. Ready to bake the dough should be very liquid. It will be as if divided into two layers - air and liquid.
How to bake?
How to bake smart cake in the oven? Lubricate a suitable baking dish with butter (a teaspoon is enough). Pour the dough into it.
Bake the cake in a preheated oven for about an hour at an average level at 160 ° C. Cooking time depends on the qualities of your oven, so focus on its nature. A cake is considered to be ready when the top layer (biscuit) becomes ruddy, and the cake itself shakes when the form is shaken.
Remember: it is forbidden to open the oven during baking, otherwise the product will sag! After an hour, check the readiness, turn off the oven, and leave the form with a smart product to cool with the door open to a slightly warm state.
Next, remove the mold and completely cool the baking. Ideally, the cake should be sent to the refrigerator for another half an hour, but many eat it at the same hour. Cut the product in portions and serve with fresh cream and fruit to the tasters, carefully monitoring their reaction. Be prepared for praise or criticism.
Some people like this cake, but some don't. All that is not eaten, store in the refrigerator. By the way, many argue that in the morning with unsweetened coffee, a smart cake is great.
If you have not decided yet whether you need to cook such pastries, just cook it once. Don't beat around wondering if you like it or not.
Nuances
Some housewives claim that before they got a smart cake, they made it 12 times! Why did they so stubbornly study his oven? Because it is an impeccable version of home-made economical and sweet pastries for busy housewives of the modern world, which should do much more in a day than a woman had to fulfill some 20 years ago.
The smart cake recipe meets the spirit of the times of androids and smartphones. There are a number of nuances that affect the final product. In the baking process of the product we are considering, every detail and every step is important:
- Flour must be sifted three times.
- Cold proteins should be whipped in a non-metal dish with a pinch of salt until stable peaks.
- Observe proportions clearly.
- The oven must not be opened during baking (we talked about this above).
- When whipping proteins, even a drop of yolk can adversely affect the final product.
- The time and temperature of baking depends on the quality of your oven. For example, in a gas oven you need to bake at 175 ° C, and in an electric oven - at 165-170 ° C. Cooking time also varies. In an electric oven you will have to bake only an hour, and in a gas oven - 1.5 hours.
In a slow cooker
Now let's find out how to cook a smart cake in a slow cooker. Its secret is that you pour the batter into the mold, and in the end it will stratify into three layers: a biscuit at the top and bottom, and in the middle - a gentle cream. By the way, we have already talked about this. So take:
- 1 multi-glass of sugar;
- 3 multi-cups of warm milk;
- 4 cold chicken eggs;
- 1 multi-cup wheat flour;
- 1 tbsp. l cold water;
- vanilla sugar (to taste);
- 100 g of cow's butter.
Consider this smart cake recipe step by step. Follow these steps:
- Melt the butter in a slow cooker in the "heating" mode.
- Rub the yolks with vanilla sugar and regular. Add cool water and stir. Then pour in the melted, cooled cow oil. Pour flour in small portions and knead a thick dough.
- Pour the milk into the dough with a thin stream, stirring so that there are no lumps. You should have a liquid mass, like pancakes.
- Beat the whites with a mixer at low speed. Then add a pinch of citric acid and a pinch of salt. Then whisk at a maximum speed of 2 minutes. As a result, you should get a strong protein foam, which does not fall when the bowl is turned over.
- Gently mix the proteins in the dough with a wooden spatula. It is important that they do not lose splendor and do not fall.
- The finished dough should be thinner than pancake, but thicker than milk.
- Carefully pour the dough into the multicooker bowl and set the “baking” mode. Cook dessert in a slow cooker for 1 hour. Open the lid after a beep and allow the baking to cool in the bowl.
- Remove the chilled cake from the bowl using the steaming basket. Sprinkle the top of the product with powdered sugar, cut it into small squares and serve. This recipe for a smart cake made in a slow cooker is praised by many.
Moody cake
Often the cake we are considering is called not only smart, but also moody. Indeed, depending on the height of the mold, the fat content of the components and the method of baking, the ratio of the layers may vary. That is why everyone has a smart cake differently: a 1 cm biscuit layer, a thin biscuit film or a biscuit did not exfoliate at all.
Someone doesn’t succeed at all, someone really likes it, and someone claims that the product looks like a sweet omelet. In any case, there is no one indifferent.
Professionals say that the product does not look like an omelet. It’s just that people probably never ate custard pies. Next - vanilla interrupts the taste of eggs, so it must be put in baked goods. If you do not pour it in, then it will give an omelet.
Proteins in the dough must be mixed with a spatula or spoon, the mixer can not be used. Otherwise, the dough will go bad.
What are the results?
Those who are preparing a smart cake for the first time are afraid that the dough turns out to be like water. But, waiting for the result, they are delighted. After all, baking is stratified and mouth-watering.
Some overshoot the cake in the oven. As a result, it is well baked and does not sway. And still, these people want to bake the cake again. Some do not completely knead the proteins, so lumps float in the test. Others bake in small forms, so the cake is high. And all the same, these hostesses say that the pastries are very tasty.
Many housewives say that they managed to cook up milk pudding instead of a three-layer cake. They were very disappointed. Some claim that they baked this delicious dessert in just 35 minutes! Others bake for a long time, and they still think that the cake is raw. Cook, study, and you will succeed. Eat with pleasure!