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    Home » Recipes » Cakes, biscuits and dessert recipes

    Chocolate magic cake

    Published: May 31, 2019 · Modified: May 30, 2024 by VJ · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to recipe

    What's better than Chocolate Cake?  Chocolate MAGIC Cake, that's what.  Fudgy base, covered with creamy ganache and topped off with a layer of super soft sponge.  All made out of one batter mix.  How good is that?

    A slice of chocolate magic cake on a plate, clearly showing the three distinct layers.
    Jump to:
    • Chocolate Magic Cake
    • How is this possible?
    • Ingredients for Chocolate Magic Cake
    • How to make Chocolate Magic Cake
    • Save for later
    • Related recipes
    • 📋The recipe

    Chocolate Magic Cake

    Magic cakes have been around for quite a while now, so many of you will probably be familiar with them.  For those of you who have come across these cakes before, please treat this as a refresher.  For the rest of you, you are in for a treat.

    A chocolate magic cake is simply a cake that is baked out of a single batter, but which transforms magically into 3 layers during the baking process.  At the bottom, there is the fudgy base, in the middle is a delicious custardy ganache, and it is all topped off with a layer of the lightest of light sponge cake.

    I got the inspiration for this recipe from Jo Cooks, who is the queen of Magic Cakes.   I've adapted it slightly to reduce the amount of cocoa as I found the chocolate flavour was a little too strong for my taste.  I increased the amount of flour to compensate.  You need 190g (1.5 cups) flour/cocoa in total - you can adjust it to suit your own taste.

    How is this possible?

    I did some research to find out how this all works.  Spoiler alert … it's not really magic - it's all based on science.

    Apparently, there are 3 factors that influence the way the chocolate magic cake separates during baking:

    • the high ratio of liquid to flour
    • the beaten egg whites in the final step
    • the lower cooking temperature

    Because of the lower cooking temperature, some of the flour has time to settle at the bottom of the cake forming the delicious fudgy base.

    Then the liquid and the egg yolks coagulate and set into the creamy custard centre.

    Finally, the air in the egg whites causes the rest of the ingredients to rise to the top forming the light and airy sponge cake.

    I also discovered that Magic Cakes are believed to have originated in Romania, and are called Prajitura Desteapta.  Google translates this literally as 'Smart Cake' which is pretty appropriate.

    A slice of chocolate magic cake with 3 mini chocolate eggs on top.

    Ingredients for Chocolate Magic Cake

    You can get the complete recipe on the printable recipe card below.

    To make a chocolate magic cake you will need the following ingredients.

    • 4 large Eggs - separated
    • 1 Tablespoon Water
    • 150 g (¾ cup) Sugar
    • 115 g (½ cup or 1 stick) Butter melted
    • 150 g (1 ¼ cups) Flour
    • 50 g (â…“ cup) Cocoa powder
    • 2 cups (1 pint) Milk
    • 1 pinch salt
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

    How to make Chocolate Magic Cake

    Start with the eggs

    • Separate the eggs and beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. 

    Here's some more magic for you - if the egg whites are stiff enough you should be able to hold the bowl upside down over your head and the egg whites will magically stay in the bowl.

    • Beat the egg yolks with the water and the sugar, until the mixture almost doubles in size and turns a pale yellow.  This cake is all about incorporating as much air as possible - so keep beating.

    Beat in the butter

    • Melt the butter and allow it to cool. Add the vanilla and salt to the butter and slowly drizzle that into the egg mixture, beating all the time.  The consistency of the batter should end up like a crepe or pancake mixture.

    Add the flour

    • Sift the flour and cocoa and mix â…“ of it into the cake batter. 
    • Repeat this twice more until all the flour has been incorporated and there are no lumps.

    Add the milk

    Stir in the milk. The mixture will be quite runny at this stage.

    Fold in the egg whites

    • Finally, fold in the egg whites. 
    • Do this very gently. You don't need to break down the lumps of egg white. 
    • The result should be a batter with small lumps of egg white floating in it.

    Bake the chocolate magic cake

    • Prepare a 9" square cake tin by greasing it lightly with a little butter, then sprinkle with a small amount of cocoa powder. This will ensure the cake does not stick to the pan. You could use flour to sprinkle in the pan but then you would end up with a cake with a white bottom!
    • Pour the batter into the prepared tin, and place in a pre-heated oven.
    • This is a picture of my batter in the cake tin.  I actually think I could have left a little more egg white floating around.  Looking at the picture of my cake though, I think it turned out pretty well.
    Chocolate magic cake batter in a baking dish.
    • The temperature of the oven is important - it should be 150C / 325F, which means you need a longer cooking time than a normal cake.
    • A slow cooking time is what makes the 'magic' happen.  It gives most of the flour time to sink to the bottom of the cake and form the 'fudgy layer', before the custard sets in the middle. The remaining flour sets with the eggs to form the sponge cake layer on top.
    • Depending on your oven you will need to bake this cake for anywhere between 45 minutes to 1 hour.  My cake took 50 minutes.
    • As the cake bakes, it will look as though the edges are rising and the middle is sunken.  Don't worry, the middle catches up eventually.  You can see from the picture below what the finished cake looks like.
    • The cake will be ready when the sponge topping springs back when you press it with your finger, and if you shake the tin, the cake should not jiggle.
    Baked chocolate magic cake.
    • This is a picture of my finished cake.  It has a bit of a crack on the top, possibly because I may have over-baked it slightly.  If this happens to yours, just cover it with whipped cream - no one will know, and it will still taste amazing.

    If you'd like to be notified of new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter? To say thank you, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.

    Save for later

    Why not pin this recipe for chocolate magic cake to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.

    Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

    Related recipes

    You can find lots of similar recipes on my cakes, biscuits and dessert recipes page. Here are a few you may like to try:

    • A round condensed milk chocolate bundt cake covered in chocolate ganache.
      Condensed milk chocolate cake with creamy ganache
    • A slice of condensed milk fruit cake on a patterned plate.
      Condensed milk fruit cake (with Baileys Irish Cream)
    • A slice of courgette cake on a plate, showing the texture of the cake.
      Zucchini and pistachio cake - with cream cheese frosting
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      Coffee and walnut layer cake

    📋The recipe

    Chocolate Magic Cake

    What’s better than Chocolate Cake?  Chocolate MAGIC Cake, that’s what.  Fudgy base, covered with creamy ganache and topped off with a layer of super soft sponge.  All made out of one batter mix.  How good is that?
    Recipe by: Veronica
    Baking, Dessert
    Any
    Calories 300
    Prep 30 minutes minutes
    Cook 50 minutes minutes
    Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 1 9" cake
    Print Pin Comment Bookmark Saved!
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    4.67 from 3 votes

    (Click the stars to rate this recipe)

    Equipment

    • Egg separator
    • Mixing bowl
    • Spatula
    • 9" square cake tin

    Ingredients

    • 4 large Eggs separated
    • 1 Tablespoon Water
    • ¾ cup (150g) Sugar
    • ½ cup (115g) Butter melted
    • 1¼ cups (150g) plain Flour
    • â…“ cup (50g) Cocoa powder
    • 2 cups (1 pint) Milk
    • 1 pinch salt
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 150°C / 325°F
    • Grease and flour a 9 inch square cake pan.
    • Separate the eggs and beat the whites until stiff
    • Place the egg yolks, water and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat very well until pale yellow in colour and the sugar is dissolved.
    • Add the melted butter, vanilla and salt and beat well.
    • Sift in the flour and cocoa and add â…“ then mix well until combined. Repeat twice more until all the flour has been used.
    • Now stir in the milk. The mixture will be very runny at this stage.
    • Add the beaten egg whites and stir through until combined. The consistency should resemble a thin crepe or pancake batter.
    • Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and place in the preheated oven
    • Bake for approximately 50 minutes.
    • Allow to cool and cut into squares.

    Notes

    Tip - if you are making a chocolate cake then flour the tin with a little cocoa rather than flour.  
    Beat well at each step to ensure that all the ingredients are well incorporated.
    Don't beat all the air out of the egg whites, just mix through gently. It is OK if there are still small lumps of egg white showing.
    Keep your eye on the cake, don't over-cook it.  Different ovens will behave differently.  The cake is done when it springs back when pressed with a finger (feels spongy) and no longer wobbles or jiggles.  You may need to adjust the cooking time by a few minutes either way.
    Calories have been calculated per slice, based on cutting the cake into 9 squares.

    Nutrition

    Calories - 300kcal | Carbohydrates - 36.7g | Protein - 7.3g | Fat - 15.5g | Saturated Fat - 9g | Cholesterol - 117mg | Sodium - 154mg | Potassium - 221mg | Fiber - 2.1g | Sugar - 21.7g | Calcium - 88mg | Iron - 2mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

    Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
    All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
    Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I'd love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
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    About VJ

    Before I started my food blog I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, mostly made from scratch, using everyday pantry ingredients.

    Reader Interactions

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      4.67 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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    1. Melanie Robb

      July 04, 2023 at 2:57 pm

      Hi..I've read the printable recipe and your article... where do I add the milk?

      Reply
      • VJ

        July 04, 2023 at 7:30 pm

        Oops sorry - I seem to have missed that out completely. The milk goes into the batter after the flour and before the egg whites. I've updated both the article and the recipe card accordingly. Thanks for pointing it out 🙂

        Reply

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