Chocolate Flan Cake {i.e. Magic Chocoflan!}
This Magic Chocolate Flan Cake looks absolutely stunning, but is beyond simple to make. One taste and you’ll where its been all your life.
In all my years of baking treats for family, never, I repeat never, have I ever had a reaction as glorious and overwhelmingly ecstatic as when I made this Chocolate Flan Cake over the holidays.
I mean, it bordered on the ridiculous (read: my dad, brother-in-law and husband literally arm wrestling for the last piece – there may or may not have been subterfuge involved as each tried to hide the others dessert in order to enjoy it for himself).
Even the kids, while devouring their own pieces with protective hands, were looking at these grown men as if they had grown horns and green fuzz.
I can’t blame the guys, really. This cake is terribly outstanding. And talk about gorgeous – it is elegant and eye catching to say the least (although you can bet the men in the house could have cared less how it looked, as evidenced when they each scrambled to claim the piece that fell off the serving spatula into a messy heap on the counter).
My friend Angela converted me to flan right before we moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota.
My experience with flan hasn’t been great in the past.
I don’t love the texture or extreme egginess of true vanilla flan. But cream cheese flan? Yeah, I’m all over that.
The flan layer of this cake incorporates a bit of cream cheese which makes all the difference between “ew” and “love” in my book. Creamy, silky, smooth and drizzled with caramel – flan is my new BFF, especially when it rests on a bed of rich, moist chocolate cake.
Honestly, this cake is unreal in it’s deliciousness.
If you aren’t convinced already, here are a few other reasons why this cake should be made as immediately as possible:
a) You can claim it as a science experiment for the kids, if you have them (or for yourself if you don’t) – the chocolate cake batter goes into the pan first and the milky flan mixture is poured over the top but as it bakes (get ready for this), the layers swap places and the cake ends up on top while the flan settles to the bottom. I know, get out, right? It has something to do with gas and physics and chemistry and magic and maybe baking soda. I’m not sure.
b) While it looks absolutely stunning, this cake is beyond simple to make. The flan ingredients all get thrown in the blender, for goodness sake, and the chocolate cake is easy as can be.
c) You can make it up to a day in advance and if that’s not a majorly redeeming factor, I don’t know what is.
d) One taste and you’ll wonder where Chocolate Flan Cake has been all your life.
This cake will make your life better. Promise. I can’t guarantee it won’t strain inter-family relationships while fighting over slices but you’ll have to figure out a way around that (there is a high possibility your family is more mature than mine which means you won’t have any fighting-over-flan issues at all).
One Year Ago: Delicious Braised Brisket with Mushrooms
Two Years Ago: Heath Bar Cake
Three Years Ago: Balsamic Chicken Noodle Bowl
Chocolate Flan Cake {i.e. Magic Chocoflan!}
Ingredients
Cake:
- ½ cup caramel sauce or topping (see note)
- ½ cup (86 g) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (28 g) cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (113 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Flan:
- 2 cans (14-ounces each) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 6 ounces (170 g) cream cheese
- 6 large eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup nonstick bundt pan, taking care to get in all the nooks and crannies. Pour the caramel sauce into the bottom of the pan (the caramel sauce, if storebought and thick, may need a quick warmup in the microwave to be pourable).
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate and butter and microwave at 50% power for 1-minute increments, stirring in between, until the mixture is melted and smooth, about 2-4 minutes. Whisk the buttermilk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the melted chocolate mixture until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Pour the chocolate batter evenly over the caramel.
- Add all the flan ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. Slowly and carefully pour the flan mixture over the the cake batter. Place the filled cake pan in a large roasting pan. Place the roasting pan in the oven and carefully pour warm water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the bundt pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick comes out clean and the flan registers 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 75 to 90 minutes (mine took the longer amount of time). Remove the Bundt pan from the roasting pan (the easiest way for cleanup is to leave the roasting pan and water in the oven until it has cooled) and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate for 8 hours (or up to 12).
- To remove the cake from the pan, fill a large bowl with hot water and place the bottom third of the Bundt pan in the water for 1 minute. Carefully invert the cake onto a flat plate or cake platter – I do this by putting the cake platter or plate over the Bundt pan opening and then, holding onto the edges of both platter and cake pan, I gently turn the pan upside down while flipping the cake platter. Slowly remove the pan letting the caramel drizzle over the top of the cake. Serve chilled.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Country Dec/Jan 2013
Great recipe! This recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated right?
I got it years ago from Cook’s Country – I have a link to the original recipe underneath my recipe.
I have Cook’s Country cookbook which recipe calls for unsalted butter. I used dark chocolate chili bar I picked up at Aldi’s to enhance chocolate flavor (like Mexican Hot Chocolate). I have dark roasting pan so I reduced temp to 325° and checked at 1 hour based on other reviews of cake being dry. Internal temp on flan was 182°. Let it rest as recipe called for and chilled for 8 + hours. Came out perfect, cake is fudgy brownie texture.
Made this for my neighbor’s birthday, which is 5/5. He was thrilled and loved it!
Does the bundt pan need to be covered/sealed with foil during the baking process? Will that help for the cake to be moist?
I don’t cover it while baking (but you could try – not sure if it would bake through all the way quite as well).
Made this today at about 4 pm and ate it the same night. I didn’t have any problems with ingredients fitting in my blendtech or in my bundt pan. I let it cool for 30-40 min on a cooling rack on the counter then moved it outside where it was 25 degrees. It was completely cool after an hour outside. Did the water bath right then and flipped it onto a tray. It turned out great but the cake was dry. I wonder if I could’ve shortened the baking time?. Mine was in the oven for 70 minutes and the flan was a little over 180 degrees. If I make it again I’ll try to check it at an hour, maybe less.
Did you substitute almond flour or another type to make it gluten free? What did you use the almond milk in place of – the buttermilk, sweetened condensed, whole milk or all 3. Please advise and adjustments to portion/ratio you use?
Love this! And I love the way the chocolate cake tastes! I’m wanting to make a layered cake for a birthday and thought about just using this cake part recipe and maybe making triple the amount. Is there any reason I shouldn’t expect it to taste just as amazing?
Honestly, I’m not sure because I’ve never made the cake just on its own. Good luck if you decide to go for it!
This was wonderful! I made it gluten free and used almond milk and it turned out delicious! I poured the leftover flan ingredients in ramekins and baked in water bath for dessert that night, it was fabulous, Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Did you substitute almond flour or different flour/same ratios? Was almond milk used in place of buttermilk, whole milk and/or sweetened condensed milk? I have a friend who loves flan but needs to eat gluten and dairy free. Please share!
I have an 8 cup bundt pan, i really wana try this today whatttt do i doooooo :((
If i use half of the cake mixture will it it be okay?
If you halve the cake mixture, I’d also halve the flan.
Hi mel came across your recipe, i tried it, it was good! But my flan and cake layers didnt separate nicely…. what do you think was the problem? Thanks
This chocoflan is SOO cool! Based off of your experience while making this, how’d you think this would work out if I tried these in cupcake form?
I don’t think it would work very well as cupcakes.
Hi Joleen! I actually made them in cupcake pans and they turned out perfect!
I have made a different recipe in cupcakes works great.
Help! This is the third time I have made this cake and the last two times I’ve made it the cream cheese has separated from the flan mix and is dispersed throughout the cake. I can’t seem to get the flan mix smooth. What am I doing wrong?
Are you using a blender to mix the flan?
Could you use a box mix for the cake? I’m worried that it wouldn’t turn out the same way.
I’ve never tried it with a boxed mix – good luck if you decide to experiment!
Mel, this sound amazing! I want to make this for a friends birthday so I’m going to have a trial run, having never made Flan before. This should be interesting because I’m teaching my 15 year old son how to bake and we will be taking this adventure together! Lol…. I do have one question, I’m wondering if a blender is a must or can I use a mixer? We’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks!!
HI Angel – your son is a lucky kid! I hope it’s a fun project. I would definitely recommend a blender – you want that flan filling very smooth.
Hi Mel,
I’m wondering if this recipe can be made with gluten free cake. My concern is, will the texture/consistency of the cake hold up and swap positions with the flan? This recipe sounds amazing so I’m hoping you will give me the ‘go-ahead’!
Thank you!
PS. I just discovered you now and I think I am hooked! Your description of this cake had me laughing and drooling simultaneously.
Hi Jane – that’s a great question but unfortunately I don’t know. I’ve only made a few gluten-free chocolate cakes in my day and the texture is a bit different than the cake in this recipe. I’m not sure I can say 100% it would work. Good luck if you experiment!
Hi Tried this twice. Both times the cake was to dry. Comes out picture perfect and
taste is wonderful but the cake is iffy. Cut back the oven time the second time but to
no avail. Still dry and hard. How about more oil. Plan to make the flan and skip the cake but do love cake. HELP!!!!
Sorry to hear your cake is turning out dry, Delaine. Others have said the same thing although I haven’t experienced that. Maybe try adding less cake batter to the pan and cutting down the baking time just a bit.
Just pulled out of the oven. Looks like the cake bled through the flan, darn!! Hope it taste good .. Try try again.
I did one of these a few days ago. After reading the ‘dry’ comments about the cake layer, I would have to say that the cake layer is more like a ‘brownie’ layer. Its not as fluffy as chocolate cake, its much denser. Reminds me of the cake layer thats in my triple layer choco mousse cake. Denser. A mushier basic cake layer would make the whole thing… uh, mushy. The cake is already precarious enough, just a slight slam to the table will render the entire thing into a custard puddle. I think this brownie bottom takes the cake above and beyond, and adds as a stable platform for that flan to sit on.
Hi Mel,
Looks yummy and delicious.. can’t wait to try it out….By any chance can this be made in a microwave ??
Thanks alot for the recipe!!
Nandz – No. You need to cook it in the oven.
I’m hoping to make this for my office for Cinco de Mayo. My blender’s pretty small but I have a 12-cup food processor; could I blend the flan mixture in my food processor?
Colleen – If you have used your food processor before and it gets wet mixtures really smooth then it should work fine, I just worry a little bit that it won’t process it quite as well as a blender.