Magic Durian Custard Cake

恭祝你福壽與天齊

慶賀你生辰快樂

年年都有今日

歲歲都有今朝

恭喜你　恭~喜~你~~

Hahaha! Using this song to wish myself being a year older and also wiser! :)

I was pondering over what cake to make for myself and realised I've not made anything with durians this year even though durians have seen a bumper crop this year and prices for popular durians like mao shan wang are on the cheap, going for prices as low as 1kg for S$14!

I decided to reserve some of the durians bought to make something special for myself and adapted the original Magic Custard Cake slightly to make a truely magical Durian version. 

The outcome...thumbs up!

Magic custard cakes have 3 layers. The bottom layer is denser and kueh-like probably due to the flour batter, the middle is a custard layer from the egg yolks while the top and fluffy layer is from the egg meringue floating to the top. 

Of course, other than the magical layers, the most wonderful part of the cake was the durian! Sinking your teeth into this magical cake is just simply heavenly. I think I've put in way too much durian and that's why my 3 layers are not that distinct and obvious. I felt like I was biting into durian mousse! Lol! My hubby commented he saw 3 layers though...anyway, I'm not complaining as I'm enjoying my mouthfuls of durian heaven too much to be bothered over how many cake layers there are!! But seriously, I think I should reduce the durian flesh to about 200g-250g the next time I make this cake again. :)

If you love durians (other than just eating the durians straight) and custard, having both magically transformed into a cake is something you should not miss!

Magic Durian Custard Cake

makes a 8" square pan 

Ingredients:

390g durian flesh (to reduce to 200g - 250g the next time I bake this cake)
113g unsalted butter

500g milk (to adjust to 490g milk if reducing durian to 200g-250g)
1 tbspn water

4 eggs, separated

115g plain flour

145g confectioner sugar

2 tbspn sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

extra confectioner's sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:

1. Lightly grease and line a 8"x8" square pan.

2. Preheat the oven to 160ºC.

3. Sift flour in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. 

5. Place durian flesh into a blender. Add 90g milk to the durian flesh and give it a good blitz until the durian is pureed.

6. Warm the balance 410g milk to lukewarm and stir in pureed durian. Stir till well mixed and set aside.

7. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites till foamy. Add 2 tablespoon sugar and whisk to stiff peaks.

8. In a big mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light.

9. Beat in the melted butter and the tablespoon of water for about 2 minutes or until evenly incorporated.

10. Mix in flour until evenly incorporated.

11. Gently stir in the durian-milk mixture and vanilla extract until everything is well mixed. I whisk in by hand as it is a very liquid batter to avoid splattering.

12. Fold in the egg whites, 1/3 at a time. Repeat until all of the egg whites are folded in.

13. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is golden.

14. Allow cake to completely cool on a wire rack.

15. Cover the top of the cake pan with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before removing the cake from the pan.

16. Trim the sides of the cakes, decorate as desired and serve.

Some important pointers: 

- Temperature of the ingredients are important. The milk should only be lukewarm so that it does not cook the eggs.

- As the batter is very liquid, it is better to use a hand whisk rather than an electric whisk. Otherwise, you'll end up having to clean up all the splatters.

- When folding in the meringue to the egg yolk mixture, I prefer to use a hand whisk. The mixture is very liquid and curdly. Have no fear, this is normal. Just fold in the whites gently till there's not big chunks of whites left.

- For ease of removal from the cake pan, line with parchment paper. Have about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of parchment paper hanging outside the pan so that the cake can be easily lifted up the cake pan.

- As the cake from the oven will be wobbly and jiggery, I will chill it in the fridge (with a cling wrap covering the pan) after it is completely cooled on wire rack. I find it easier to remove from the cake pan and cut the cake after it has been chilled in the fridge.

- The cake will shrink after it is cooled, so do not be too alarmed.

- Trim the sides of the cake so that you can present the 3 magical layers. 

Thanks for dropping by. Do link back to LY's Kitchen Ventures if you have used any information published in this blog.