Crinkle cake, also called a crinkle, is a simple dessert made with phyllo dough, butter, sugar, and egg custard, like what’s used in galaktoboureko (minus the semolina). The crinkle went viral after a baker named Ramena shared it on TikTok. The simplicity and ease of the dessert appealed to many, including myself, and soon enough, everyone was trying the recipe.
To make a crinkle cake, you essentially bunch up phyllo dough and place it into a baking pan, then top it with all the good stuff— butter, custard, and sugar syrup all of which together give the crinkle its shiny, glistening top. I mostly stayed true to Ramena’s recipe but added nuts for more of that baklava texture and used vanilla paste instead of extract in the custard. I imagine the addition of cinnamon would be lovely as well.
Crinkle Cake
Equipment
- oven
- baking pan A 13½" pan will accommodate the full width of the phyllo dough. If using a smaller pan, trim the phyllo to size and use the scraps to create another row.
Ingredients
Syrup
- 1 C. sugar granulated
- 1 C. water
Custard-Cake
- 1 lb. phyllo dough 1, 16 oz. package, thawed, about 18 sheets
- 1 C. butter melted; 2 sticks
- 1 C. sugar granulated
- 1 C. milk whole
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp. vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 1/3 C. nuts optional, whatever you have on hand
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
Syrup
- Add the sugar and water to a saucepan.
- Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat as needed to prevent it from boiling over.
- Stir occasionally until the mixture reaches a syrupy consistency, about 12-15 minutes. Do not let caramelize.
Prepare the Crinkle
- Meanwhile, prepare a long baking pan, dish, or disposable aluminum tray. I used one that is 13 ½ x 8 ¾ inches.
- Working with two sheets at a time, lift the phyllo dough and crinkle or fold it accordion-style.
- Tuck the crinkled sheets of dough into the pan. Repeat until all the dough is used, lining the sheets up as you go. Sprinkle nuts over the dough before crinkling, if desired, to add texture.
- Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes or until the dough is slightly toasted. This will prevent the cake from becoming soggy.
Custard
- Whisk the sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla together until well combined. Set aside to give the sugar time to dissolve.
- Pour the melted butter over the toasted phyllo dough. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and pour the custard mixture over the top.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the custard is absorbed and the crinkle cake is golden brown on top.
Serve
- Remove it from the oven and pour the syrup over the crinkle cake.
- Slice and serve warm.
Nutrition
How Does it Taste?
Buttery goodness with just the right level of sweetness? Yeah. The custard flavor kicks in once you crunch through the golden brown, flaky exterior. Having said that, it’s not quite as custardy as I thought it would be, although certainly its eggy richness does come through.
Now the reason it’s called a cake is apparent: the phyllo develops a cake-like texture, albeit a relatively dense one, due to the moisture from the eggs and milk being absorbed in it. And since the ingredients are similar, I thought the dessert might resemble baklava, but it’s nothing like it. Baklava is crisp throughout, thanks to its distinguishable layers, while crinkle cake only has that quality on top. Overall, it’s a great dessert and a cinch to make. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️