Nata Cake
Kerry made a dessert that she wasn’t overly happy with, but we thought it was fantastic. The cake is normally done as squares, but she used the round moulds that Gillian had gotten her. She wasn’t happy with the texture but G and I thought it added structure to the custard topping and mounds of whipped cream (her speciality, lucky for us).
To make the cake:
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup cane (or brown) sugar
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp real vanilla extract
- 5 Tbs softened butter
- 1 ¼ cups flour sifted with:
- 1 Tbs cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Preheat oven to 325º F
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks, reserve the egg whites. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until well blended. Gradually add lemon juice, vanilla, and softened butter.
- Sift all the dry ingredients together and gradually add to the mix.
- Beat the egg whites until they start to form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula.
- Bake in a lightly greased 9″ cake pan for 30 to 40 minutes, until cake is golden brown and shrinks away from the sides of the pan.
- Let cool. Slice into serving-sized square, and then again in half to create a top and bottom for filling.
Custard Filling:
- 1 can each: condensed milk and evaporated milk
- 1 can of water (use the evaporated milk can)
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 heaping Tbs of cornstarch (combine this with the water until smooth)
- 2 Tbs of sugar
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 2 Tbs of butter – softened to room temperature
Whisk together the first six ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter, and beat with a wire whisk until the filling is smooth. Refrigerate until cool.
Mound each nata cake square with the filling (Kerry piped it on but it doesn’t have enough structure to hold), replace the top and heap with whipped cream. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
