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Is This a New Dessert? Claire Saffitz Attempts Crème Caramel Custard Cake | Dessert Person

Byamazingfoodstv


Thank you to Heilala Vanilla for sponsoring today’s episode. Their vanilla is perfect for holiday baking and also makes a wonderful gift.
Enjoy 20% off with code CLAIRE25 at www.heilalavanilla.com on all regular-priced products!

Is this a new dessert? In today’s episode, I’m combining elements of crème caramel, tres leches, and a classic genoise sponge cake to create what I’m calling a Crème Caramel Custard Cake. Instead of soaking the cake in the traditional three-milk mixture like tres leches, I soak a genoise in a pourable custard base and let it rest overnight, so the cake absorbs the custard and becomes tender, silky, and sliceable beneath a glossy caramel top.

The flavor really centers on vanilla, so I’m using Heilala Vanilla, which adds a warm, floral depth that carries through both the custard and sponge. High-quality vanilla makes a noticeable difference in a dessert this simple.

This recipe requires patience: making caramel without crystallizing, whipping a stable genoise batter, soaking overnight, and baking gently so the custard sets without curdling. The result is a cake that looks dramatic when unmolded and has the soft, jiggly texture of flan with the structure of cake.
#clairesaffitz #tresleches #flan #custard #cake

Creme Caramel Cake
Serves 8
Cake
300g (6 large) eggs
188g sugar
Pinch of salt
188g flour, sifted
40g butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Caramel
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Custard
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
½ vanilla bean
Generous pinch of kosher salt
6 large egg yolks (3.2 oz / 90g), at room temperature
2 large eggs (3.5 oz / 100g), at room temperature
½ cup demerara sugar (3.5 oz / 100g)

Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:58 Ingredients & Special Equipment
03:59 Heilala Vanilla
05:23 Make the Sponge Cake
13:28 Make the Caramel
16:05 Make the Custard
20:30 Trim the Cake & Assemble
30:12 Remove & Let Cool
31:42 Serve
35:34 Cat cam

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Video Series:
Producer/Director: Vincent Cross
Camera Operator: Calvin Robertson
Editor/Motion Graphics: Hal McFall

Animation Credits:
Character Designer/Animator/Backgrounds: Jack Sherry
Character Rigger: Johara Dutton

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38 Comments

  5. Does anyone know where Claire’s balloon whisk is from? I had one just like it when I worked in a kitchen but it was stolen right before I quit and I’ve been looking to replace it for years! Any leads would be so so helpful!

  6. Have people tried making a genoise with a handmixer? I would love love to make this for christmas, but i don't own a standmixer. I'm stubborn enough to just try it without one, but i would like it not to flop obviously:') Does anyone have any experience with this? Thaaank you Claire for this invention!!<3

  9. I made this for Thanksgiving, and what a hit! Everybody loved it. Best of all, I started it on Tuesday, did the final bake on Wednesday then let the cake sit until Thursday. It was perfect when I turned it out, and was quickly scarfed up. Sharing the recipe with all. Thank you, Claire!

  11. I made this recipe and here are my notes:
    – I decided to try weighing down the cake during the last baking step. I used probably 4 pounds of weight and it resulted in a lot of custard spilling up and over the sides during baking and never re-absorbing, leaving me with a drier, less flavorful cake, and the weight squished the caramel up into the cake in a way that wasn't great. Not sure if less weight would have worked, but I would not suggest using a cast iron pan or brick as a weight. Maybe a little plate would have been okay?
    – Do not skimp on salt. Recipe calls for a "pinch" but make sure it's really a big chef's pinch– consider just using a teaspoon or more of kosher salt instead of pinching. I suggest also salting the caramel.
    – We made extra caramel and were glad — caramel is a pain to get out of a pot.
    – When transferring the cake with unbaked custard and caramel into the fridge, I heard the caramel crack. Not sure if that ended up impacting some of why our caramel layer disappeared– it may not have mattered but also may have dissolved more easily from top and bottom.
    – I had a standard 2.5" or 2.75" high or so 9" nordicware cake pan for this. It worked just fine for the first cake bake, but the recommended 3" may have been better to avoid custard spilling out during the final bake and not re-absorbing.
    Recipe has a ton of potential. Ours came out tasty but not transcendent. I think it would have been much better if more of the custard had remained in the cake– the cake doesn't taste that great on its own, so it relies on a ton of custard being shoved in there to be a good dessert overall.

  12. I made it!! Not only did I forget the butter in the cake, I also couldn’t fit the cake with custard in the oven on Thanksgiving and had to cook it in my tiny TOASTER OVEN for TWO HOURS 😂 I couldn’t do the full water bath in there and honestly it was great that the sides were caramelized. Next I want to try it with a yuzu element. My mom described it as dessert for a royal toddler and I tend to agree as the flavor is very simple. ❤

  14. I made this twice in the last 2 weeks. The first one I forgot the water bath, the caramel burned we still ate the cake part😂. The second one was for today Thanksgiving we polished it off. It’s one of the best cakes I’ve made!!!

  21. People in the comments say they have been making this dessert in their country for years, but when I searched for pictures of those desserts on the internet, it turned out to be completely different from what you made. So, I think you might actually be the first person to make this type of cake.

  35. Hi! In Puerto Rico we call it flancocho. Flan and cake together, with thediference that we make without let the cake to absorb the custard and when is done you can see the layer of cake and the layer of flan. But that way seem awesome too. 😋😋😋

  38. I enjoy watching your videos because even if I just apply heat to things I make and have a very rough idea of what I'm after flavor and texture wise, my family says it's great but I think it's underwhelming because I know what I'm chasing. So to see you LOVING what you made and still knowing what you can do better is like the "Holy crap, and I didn't even perfect it yet….dude."

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