Crispy Crinkle Cake

Crinkle Cake—a crispy, buttery layered pastry soaked in sweet custard. It’s usually made with phyllo dough and baked until golden and crinkly. Here’s the full recipe 👇

🧾 Ingredients

For the cake

1 package phyllo dough (about 1 lb / 450 g), thawed
1 cup (225 g) melted butter
1 cup milk
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt

Optional syrup topping

½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tsp lemon juice

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. Preheat oven

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Prepare the phyllo

Take one sheet of phyllo dough.
Scrunch or accordion-fold it loosely lengthwise.
Place it in a greased baking dish.
Repeat with all sheets until the pan is full and packed.

(This creates the “crinkle” look.)

3. First bake

Bake the folded dough 10 minutes so it firms up.

4. Add butter

Pour the melted butter evenly over the baked crinkled dough.
Return to oven and bake 15–20 minutes until lightly golden.

5. Make the custard

In a bowl whisk:

milk
sugar
eggs
vanilla
salt

6. Pour custard

Remove pan from oven.
Pour the custard mixture evenly over the baked dough.

7. Final bake

Bake again for 30–35 minutes until golden, crisp, and set.

🍯 Optional syrup (extra sweetness)

Boil sugar + water for about 5 minutes.
Add lemon juice.
Pour warm syrup over the hot cake.

⏱ Time

Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: ~50 minutes
Total: about 1 hour

💡 Tips

Sprinkle powdered sugar or pistachios on top for garnish.
Best served warm with tea or coffee.
The top should be crispy while the inside stays custardy.

If you want, I can also show you:

The viral 5-minute shortcut version of Crinkle Cake (much easier)
3 flavor variations: chocolate, cream cheese, and apple.