Dulce de Leche Chocoflan

Hola! How was your weekend?

I have another recipe from my new cookbook (Chicano Eats : Recipes from My Mexican-American Kitchen) that I am sharing with you today! We are going to be making the Dulce de Leche Chocoflan from the Desserts chapter!

If you’re never had chocoflan before, you’re in for a real treat! Chocoflan is sometimes referred to as “El Pastel Magico” (the magic cake) or “El Pastel Imposible” (The Impossible Cake) due to the magic that happens during the baking process! This is a two layer cake, with a moist chocolatey cake layer (with notes of cinnamon and coffee) on the bottom and a rich and creamy dulce de leche flan layer on the top! When you go to assemble the cake, you actually start by adding the chocolate cake batter in first, and then gently ladle the flan mixture onto, and while the chocoflan bakes, the batters swap places so when the chocoflan is inverted, you’re left with the flan on top and chocolate cake on the bottom. This tasty magic trick is just due to baking science, because the chocolate cake is less dense it floats up and the flan sinks!

Don’t let this recipe intimidate you, it is way easier than it looks! If you happen to make this recipe, make sure to use a bundt pan that doesn’t have a super intricate design, it’ll make it a lot harder for the chocoflan to release! Once you’re ready to serve, let your bundt pan sit at room temp. for 10-15 minutes and then invert, letting it sit at room temp for a few minutes will help the cold flan release much better. 

Before I forget, I’ve launched virtual cooking classes! If you’re interested, I have a few spots in my Virtual Salsa making class coming up this weekend and I also have a Mole cooking class, a Sopes cooking class and a Churro baking class scheduled for these next few weeks.

If you happen to make the chocoflan, tag me and send me pictures, I’d love to see how it turns out. I have another recipe from the book I’ll be sharing later this week to help with this heatwave, until then, nos vemos pronto!

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4.67 from 15 votes

Dulce de Leche Chocoflan

Course Dessert

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword chocoflan, chocolate cake, Mexican Flan

Servings 12 Servings

Calories

Ingredients

For the Flan

• 1 13.4 ounce can La Lechera dulce de leche (1½ cups/355 ml)
• 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese , at room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pinch Kosher Salt
• 5 Large Eggs

For the Chocolate Cake

• 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , cubed, at room, temperature
• ½ cup brewed coffee
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For serving

• Dulce de Leche
• Chopped nuts
• Whipped Cream
• Ground Cinnamon

Instructions

Make the Flan

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

   In a blender, combine the dulce de leche, evaporated milk, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and salt and blend until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds. Pour in the eggs and blend for another 10 seconds until smooth.

Make the Chocolate Cake

• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon directly into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on the lowest setting until just combined, then add the softened butter and continue mixing on low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
• In a liquid measuring cup, combine the coffee, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract, then slowly pour it into the flour-butter mixture with the mixer running on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat the mixture on high for a full minute.

Assemble the Chocoflan

• Liberally coat a 10-cup (2.5 liter) Bundt pan with cooking spray. Add the cake batter, smoothing out the top with an offset spatula or spoon. Carefully ladle in the flan so you disturb the cake batter as little as possible. Transfer the Bundt pan to a roasting pan or baking dish large enough to fit the Bundt pan. Grease a piece of foil and place it greased side down onto the Bundt pan, folding it over the edges to loosely seal it. Transfer to the oven, then pour water (from the tap is fine) into the roasting pan or baking dish to come up 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm).
• Bake for 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, checking for doneness after 1 hour 45 minutes, using a skewer inserted into the cake to make sure it’s baked through, with little to no crumbs sticking to the skewer when you pull it out.
• Carefully remove the Bundt pan from the roasting pan and let it cool to room temperature before placing it in the fridge to cool completely, at least a couple of hours.
• Once you’re ready to serve, carefully run a knife around any edges that are still sticking, then invert onto a serving platter, gently shaking it up and down if it’s being difficult (if it was greased properly, you shouldn’t have any major issues).
• If desired, serve with dulce de leche and a sprinkle of chopped nuts or with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.