Crinkle Cake Is the Best Dessert You’ve Never Heard Of

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Our recipe testers raved about this shortcut cake recipe.

crinkle cake
Photo:

Kelsey Hansen

Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr
Cool Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 30 mins
Servings:
20
Yield:
one 13x9 pan

If you're not on TikTok, you may have missed the viral Crinkle Cake recipe. The easy dessert is made with flaky phyllo dough, custard, and honey syrup. The recipe may sound complicated, but the technique is actually quite simple. There's no need to butter and layer the phyllo dough, and the custard cooks right in the pan as the cake bakes. Meet your new favorite summer dessert.

What Is Crinkle Cake?

Crinkle cake first showed up on our radar when baker Ramena (ramenasaidwow) shared her easy recipe on TikTok. As soon as we saw the technique of bunching the phyllo dough, we knew we had to try it. And I'm happy to say, this viral recipe totally lives up to the hype. Crinkle cake is made by making bunches of phyllo dough and placing it in a baking dish. It's then topped with a custardy egg mixture and finished with honey syrup. Our recipe testers loved the balance of crispy edges and custardy center.

Why You Should Make Crinkle Cake

There's lots to love about this crinkle cake recipe. Here are a few of our recipe testers favorite parts of making crinkle cake.

  • The dish doesn't have to be perfect! As recipe tester Juli Hale shares, "Crinkling the phyllo is not that precise, just bunching in irregular folds no taller than the pan and scooching them in the dish as you go."
  • It's quick to assemble. "Crinkling all the phyllo goes pretty quickly," says Hale.
  • Each bite is a great combination of textures, and the finished cake isn't overly sweet. Many of our tasters mentioned it reminded them a bit of baklava without the nuts.

Ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) pkg. frozen phyllo dough, thawed

  • 1 cup butter, melted

  • 3/4 cup milk

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup honey

  • 1/2 cup water

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

  2. Stack 2 sheets of phyllo at a time and fold the phyllo from a short end, accordion-style, in about 1 1/2-inch folds. Place folded phyllo in the prepared pan along the short end. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with a clean kitchen towel while you work.) Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough. When all of the phyllo is in the pan, adjust the strips as needed so they are evenly spaced in the pan.

  3. Bake 10 minutes.

  4. Remove from the oven. Drizzle with butter. Continue baking 10 minutes more.

  5. Meanwhile, whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a 2-cup measuring cup until combined. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Bake until the top is golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

  6. In a bowl, sir together honey and water until honey dissolves. Drizzle honey syrup over hot cake. Let cake cool on a wire rack 15 minutes; serve warm.

How to Store Crinkle Cake

Cover and store any leftover crinkle cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

187 Calories
11g Fat
19g Carbs
3g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 20
Calories 187.3
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 11.2g 14%
Saturated Fat 6.4g 32%
Cholesterol 43.7mg 15%
Sodium 210.2mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate 19.4g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0.4g 2%
Total Sugars 7.5g
Protein 2.7g 5%
Vitamin D 0.2mcg 1%
Vitamin C 0.1mg 0%
Calcium 19.7mg 2%
Iron 0.9mg 5%
Potassium 43.9mg 1%
Fatty acids, total trans 0.4g
Vitamin D 8.6IU
Alanine 0.1g
Arginine 0.1g
Ash 0.8g
Aspartic acid 0.2g
Caffeine 0mg
Carotene, alpha 0mcg
Choline, total 20.1mg
Copper, Cu 0mg
Cystine 0.1g
Energy 783.7kJ
Fluoride, F 5.5mcg
Folate, total 23.3mcg
Glutamic acid 0.7g
Glycine 0.1g
Histidine 0.1g
Isoleucine 0.1g
Leucine 0.2g
Lysine 0.1g
Methionine 0.1g
Magnesium, Mg 5.5mg
Manganese, Mn 0.1mg
Niacin 1mg
Phosphorus, P 38.4mg
Pantothenic acid 0.2mg
Phenylalanine 0.1g
Phytosterols 0mg
Proline 0.3g
Retinol 89.2mcg
Selenium, Se 7.2mcg
Serine 0.2g
Theobromine 0mg
Threonine 0.1g
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.3mg
Tryptophan 0g
Tyrosine 0.1g
Valine 0.1g
Vitamin A, IU 328IU
Vitamin A, RAE 90.7mcg
Vitamin B-12 0.1mcg
Vitamin B-6 0mg
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 1.4mcg
Water 28.6g
Zinc, Zn 0.2mg

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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