This article contains many recipes for “Smart Cake” - a delicious and magical dessert.
A smart cake is also called a magic cake. It is easy to prepare, since you do not need to prepare the cream and sponge cake separately, as for regular cakes or pastries.
- Just mix all the ingredients to get a magical dessert that can be served at any holiday table.
- Delicate consistency, pleasant vanilla taste and minimal cooking time - all this makes this cake popular.
- In this article you will find several different recipes for such a dessert, which will help you surprise your family and guests with its unique taste.
“Smart cake”: step-by-step classic recipe in the oven
Why is a cake called smart or magical?
- The thing is that to prepare the dough you just need to mix all the ingredients, and then the magic time comes.
- During baking in the oven, the dough itself will separate into sponge cake, vanilla cream and delicate soufflé.
- This happens due to the different fat content and weight of products. As a result, you get a sponge dessert with cream and a delicate soufflé.
- Below is a step-by-step classic recipe for Smart Cake in the oven.
You will need the following ingredients:
Ingredients for Smart Cake
The cooking process will be like this:
Place the butter in a bowl and place it either over low heat or in a water bath. It should melt, but not burn. If you put the oil on fire, stir constantly until completely dissolved.
Melted butter for Smart Cake
Separate the egg whites from the yolks . Beat the whites with a mixer until stiff foam. It should be of such a consistency that when turning the bowl over, it does not flow down its walls.
Tip: To ensure that the whites are well beaten, you can first put them in the freezer for 15 minutes to cool. It will be good if they are lightly covered with a thin film of ice on top. These chilled whites whip instantly.
Whipped whites
Then beat the egg yolks, granulated sugar, water and vanillin with a mixer until you get an even mass - without grains.
Dough for Smart Cake
Pour melted and cooled butter into this mixture . Beat with a mixer, and while continuing to beat, add flour - 1 tablespoon at a time. The mixer should be running on low. When all the flour has been added to the dough, add milk, after warming it up slightly. Beat the mixture again with a mixer.
Dough for Smart Cake
Add the beaten egg whites and gently stir the dough with a spoon . Do not beat it with a mixer so as not to damage the structure of the protein mass. For such a dough, it is good if the proteins are not completely mixed with other ingredients. As a result, the mixture should resemble pancake batter, but with white lumps of whipped egg whites.
Dough with added proteins for Smart cake
Then line a deep baking dish with parchment paper . Pour the prepared mass and place in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 1-1.5 hours. If you have a gas oven, then baked goods cook quickly in it and can burn, then bake the dough for 45 to 60 minutes. You can bake longer in an electric oven. The degree of readiness is determined by the appearance of a well-browned top crust.
Baking a Smart Cake in the Oven
When the pie is well browned, remove the pan from the oven and place on the counter to cool for 2 hours. Then put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This is necessary to reveal the unique vanilla taste. Remove from the refrigerator, cut, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Smart cake
Description of dessert
Why is the cake called “Smart”? In order to prepare this dessert, you need to make one dough from all the necessary ingredients. Next comes the time for magic. During the baking process, this homogeneous mass will itself be divided into three components:
- biscuit base;
- custard;
- vanilla souffle.
Segregation occurs due to the fact that the dough components have different fat contents. The result is a delicious cake with cream filling, which can be served instead of a birthday cake.
Features of preparing “Smart cake” in a slow cooker
Smart cake cooked in a slow cooker
A multicooker is a real helper for any housewife in the kitchen. You can cook absolutely everything in it, from soups to main courses and desserts. The “smart cake” prepared using this “miracle pot” will turn out especially tender and rich. But keep in mind some features of preparing a cake in a slow cooker:
- The recipe for making dessert in a slow cooker will be the same as when baking in the oven.
- There is no need to cover the multicooker bowl with parchment . It is enough to grease its walls with soft butter and then sprinkle with flour. This will allow the dessert not to stick to the walls and then it can be easily removed from the bowl.
- You need to cook on the “Baking” mode for 1 hour.
- After a characteristic signal indicating that the time has expired and the dish is ready, remove the finished “pie” from the bowl and let cool for 2 hours.
You can serve this cake with the sponge cake up or down. This dessert goes very well with unsweetened hot drinks: tea, coffee, coffee drink with milk.
“Smart cake”: chocolate, recipe with cocoa
Chocolate Smart Cake
Chocolate “Smart Cake” is prepared in the same way as the classic one, but with the addition of cocoa. The result is a very tasty dessert for chocolate lovers. Here is the recipe for chocolate “Smart Cake” with cocoa:
You will need the following products:
Ingredients for chocolate Smart Cake
Prepare like this:
- Melt the butter in a bowl over low heat or in a water bath.
- Separate the whites from the yolks and beat the whites until a stable foam forms.
- Beat the yolks and powdered sugar with a mixer.
- Continue whisking and add water and cognac.
- Then add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat.
- Sift the cocoa powder through a sieve and add it to the dough, continuing to beat.
- After this, continuing to whisk, pour in the melted and cooled butter, as well as milk heated to 40 degrees.
- Remove the bowl from under the mixer and add the whipped whites into the mixture, gently stirring the mixture with a spoon. There is no need to vigorously knead the dough with the whites; let them remain in the form of white lumps.
- Line a baking pan with parchment or grease with butter and sprinkle with flour. Pour the dough and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 1 hour.
- If your oven heats up well and bakes too quickly, then baking the dough for 45 minutes is enough.
Worth knowing: The degree of readiness is determined simply: the pie should be dry on top, with a well-browned crust. The wet mass of cream and soufflé will sway a little - this is normal.
Then cool the “pie” on the table, cut into pieces, sprinkle with powdered sugar or topping and serve.
Important: Do not try to cut the dessert while it is hot, otherwise it will settle and lose its delicate consistency.
How to serve the cake correctly?
A regular chilled cake is cut into small pieces. The easiest way to decorate a dessert is to sprinkle powdered sugar or coconut on top.
If you still want the dessert to look like a real cake, then use cream, you can prepare a regular protein one, it will take a little time, you can come up with something more complicated, “pour” the cream into a syringe and create, create, create.
Add strawberry pieces or small cherries on top of the cream. In general, any fruits and berries are used for decoration: kiwi, grapes, banana, raspberries, and tangerine pieces are perfect.
Instead, you can use any nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts) or any other dried fruits. Very tasty cakes are made with chocolate icing, or maybe just chocolate pieces? Or chocolate chips? You can see for yourself that there are many options, maybe you have your own special recipe, it all depends on your desire and your imagination.
It will be even tastier if you serve the cake with a cup of hot coffee or chocolate.
“Smart cake”: recipe with cottage cheese
Smart cake with cottage cheese
If you combine “Smart Cake” and cottage cheese in one recipe, you will get a dessert with a unique taste. It can be served for breakfast, as a sweet dish for a small child, or on a holiday table. Here is the recipe for “Smart cake” with cottage cheese:
Prepare the following components:
Ingredients for Smart Cottage Cheese Cake
Prepare like this:
- First prepare the curd layer: rub the cottage cheese through a sieve, add butter (first remove it from the refrigerator to soften). Also add potato starch and vanilla to these ingredients. Mix all ingredients.
- Rinse the raisins and dry on a paper towel.
- Grind 2 egg yolks with 50 grams of granulated sugar. Cool 2 egg whites in the freezer for 15 minutes and beat with sugar (100 grams), adding 1 teaspoon each.
- In the curd mass, which was prepared in advance, put the yolks with sugar and whipped whites, add dried raisins and carefully mix all the ingredients, but not with a mixer, but with a spoon or silicone spatula, so that the structure of the stable foam of the whites does not deteriorate.
- Grease a baking dish with butter and sprinkle with flour.
- Place the curd mass into the prepared pan and place in the oven for 10 minutes at 170 degrees until it “sets” on top.
Meanwhile, prepare the smart brownie dough by mixing all the ingredients as described above. Then do the following:
- Remove the curd layer from the oven, cool slightly and carefully pour the cake batter over it.
- Place the mold back in the oven at 160 degrees for 45 minutes.
- When the biscuit crust turns golden, remove from the hot oven and cool on the counter for 1.5 hours.
- Then cut the “pie” into small pieces, sprinkle with powdered sugar and decorate with halves of any berries.
The result will surprise everyone who tries this cake. At first it is completely unclear how you can combine cottage cheese, soufflé, cream and sponge cake in one cake, but after revealing the secret of the recipe, everything becomes clear.
Possible reasons for failures when preparing dessert
Sometimes the end result of baking is such that the question arises: “Why didn’t the Smart Cake turn out?” Reviews from housewives indicate that this dessert is not only smart, but also sometimes capricious. Below are described the subtleties and tips of experienced chefs, following which you will definitely achieve success in preparing the delicacy.
- Egg whites must be beaten very well. To form a stable foam, they must be used chilled. Metal utensils, including mixer whisks, should absolutely not be used. Only a dry and clean container made of glass or plastic can be used. Water or yolk should not get into the whites; even one drop can lead to failure. You need to start beating at the minimum speed of the mixer. After saturating them with air, the speed must be increased. If the whites are whipped correctly, then even from a completely upside down bowl they will not fall out. For greater effect, add a pinch of salt at the beginning of the process.
- Butter in the recipe can be replaced with margarine.
- The flour must be sifted at least three times. This saturates it with oxygen and affects the quality of the biscuit. It will turn out more tender and airy.
- You can't neglect adding vanilla sugar. Its task in Smart Cake is to eliminate the egg smell. In the absence of vanilla aroma, the dessert may taste similar to an omelet, and this is not good.
- The proportions must be strictly observed.
- The mixer should only be used until the beaten egg whites are incorporated into the dough. You need to add the egg foam very carefully, do not mix vigorously, use a silicone spatula.
- The baking temperature and time directly depend on the specific oven. In a gas oven you need to bake the dessert at a temperature no higher than 175 °C for 1.5 hours. In electric – one hour at 165-170 °C.
- The oven must not be opened during baking.
- “Smart cake” is considered ready if it is browned on top and its internal contents are slightly jiggly.
- You only need to cut the cake when it’s cooled; if you try to cut it while it’s hot, it will fall off.
“Smart cake” is an excellent baking option for modern housewives who need to do so much during the day. The dessert is very tasty, does not contain expensive ingredients and does not require much labor and time. If you follow all the advice in this article and make the right dough, you will be rewarded with a lush and tender dessert that literally melts in your mouth. Bon appetit!
“Smart cake”: coconut recipe
Smart coconut cake
“Smart cake” with coconut turns out very tasty. Coconut flakes give the dessert a completely different flavor. Coconut recipe for “Smart Cake”:
- To prepare this dessert you will need all the products that are used in the classic recipe. See text above. In addition, buy 1 can of condensed milk and coconut flakes (100 grams).
- After you have prepared the “pie” according to the classic recipe, remove it from the oven to the table.
- Without waiting for it to cool, pierce the biscuit with a fork so that it is completely in the small holes. After cooking, the sponge cake is always on the bottom, so the cake needs to be turned over. Just pierce the biscuit!
- Then pour half a can of condensed milk, spread it over the cake with a spoon and wait until the surface of the sponge cake is soaked - for 15-20 minutes. If you end up with a small layer of sponge cake, reduce the amount of condensed milk. Take just half the jar and divide it into 2 parts, grease the top of the sponge cake.
- After this, pour the rest of the condensed milk and spread over the surface.
- Now sprinkle thickly with coconut flakes and leave on the table for another 30-40 minutes until completely cooled.
Before serving, cut the dessert into small squares and serve with tea or coffee. The condensed milk dripping inside the biscuit is very appetizing and tasty.
“Smart cake” - how to take away the taste of eggs and make it tastier: tips
Delicious Smart cake without egg taste
“Smart cake” has a milky and creamy taste. But many housewives, after preparing such a dessert, complain that the taste of eggs is too noticeable in its taste. Many people even make a pie that tastes like a sweet omelet. How to remove the taste of eggs and make dessert tastier? Here are the tips:
- The dough should be liquid . Some housewives are afraid to bake a cake from such dough and add more flour - this is a mistake. In this case, the dessert will turn out heavy, tasteless, and taste like eggs. Bake strictly according to the recipe and do not worry that the dough is liquid before baking.
- You can try using homemade eggs instead of store-bought eggs. It has long been known that poultry farms use feed for chickens, the taste of which is then imbued with the eggs of laying hens. Many women claim that homemade eggs make Smart Cake tastier.
- Be sure to add vanillin or vanilla sugar to the dough . It helps cut out the taste of eggs. Also try using orange zest instead of vanilla. It turns out a completely different taste - not vanilla-egg, but citrus.
- Another secret that is used by many women is dough without yolks . The whites are all added and beaten as written in the recipe, but you don’t have to add the yolk. After all, it is what gives the baked goods a specific shade of taste and smell.
To begin with, try not putting all the yolks, but for example, half of the total required number of eggs. If you like it, then make the pie without yolks at all.
Smart cake: calorie content
If you are watching your figure, then you have to give up sweet cakes. But sometimes you can allow yourself to be pampered with a delicious dish, especially such an unusual one. One piece of Smart Cake contains about 250 calories. Many sweets have much higher calorie content. Therefore, you can afford “Smart Cake”, for example, on a holiday, and you can burn extra calories the next day in the gym.
Calorie table for the finished “Smart Cake” and its individual ingredients. (Calorie content is calculated approximately, excluding cooking).
Smart cake: calorie content
Remember: If you bake a chocolate brownie, the caloric content increases, and will be about 300 calories or more.
Another important point: There is no point in replacing butter with margarine, as many housewives do, since the calorie content of these products is the same, and margarine is more harmful to health due to the content of trans fats.
“Smart cake”: reviews
Smart cake
Most women are hesitant to make a Smart Cake because they are afraid that it might not work out. Some people stubbornly bake for every holiday until they get the desired result - the perfect result, while others, born cooks, make a delicious dessert the first time. In any case, if you wish, you should cook it following the recipe and taking into account all the above tips. What other nuances exist, read in the reviews of already experienced housewives:
Lyubov, 25 years old
I graduated from college with a degree in pastry chef, and even I got this dessert the second time. I was able to achieve a soft and airy consistency by sifting the flour multiple times. During sifting, the flour is saturated with oxygen, and the dough turns out tender. I sift at least 3 times. I definitely add vanillin.
Alya, 30 years old
I have loved making cakes since childhood, and I decided to definitely make a “Smart Cake”, despite the fact that many are afraid to bake it. When separating the whites from the yolks, it is important to do this carefully, since even 1 drop of yolk can spoil the whites - they will never foam. When beating chilled egg whites, I add a pinch of salt - this helps to quickly achieve an ideal result.
Igor, 33 years old
I am a professional pastry chef with many years of experience. I would like to note the following: to make such a cake, you need to use a mixer at high speed only at the initial stage. Then the speed is set to minimum, and when the whipped whites are added to the dough, we remove the mixer completely. At this stage you should only use a silicone spatula. In addition, the baking temperature is important - no more than 170*C and no less than 165*C. Bon appetit!
Other cooking options
Everyone loves sweets. If you suddenly want to try something unusual like a “Smart Cake,” I suggest trying profiteroles with a delicate sweet filling, or experiment and replace it with a salty filling. I have always dreamed of learning how to bake beautiful eclairs at home, and with each new time they turn out better and better. But the classic recipe for Potato cake does not require much effort to make beautifully. Everyone probably remembers sweet and soft products from childhood. I also have a recipe for you for a potato cake made from cookies - to save time and effort. And finally, think about the classic custard cakes for aromatic coffee or hot evening cocoa.
Do you like to surprise your loved ones with such a “smart” dessert? What are your secrets for mixing the base or baking such a miracle? Write your reviews in the comments. New culinary discoveries and bon appetit!
