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!
Dulce de Leche Chocoflan
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.
19 Comments
Randolph Marks
August 25, 2020 at 8:08 pmThis look great but I have a question. The finished cake shows the flan on the top. The directions tell you to add the cake batter first. In a Bundt pan that becomes the top of the cake.
I am going to do this on the weekend.
Esteban
August 25, 2020 at 10:45 pmHi Randolph, thank you so much! I explained what happens in the post! This is often referred to as the “Magic” or “Impossible” cake because during the baking process, the batters swap places due to their density! The cake will float to the top, and the flan is a lot more heavy so it will sink while it bakes! Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Chere
August 26, 2020 at 6:01 amWow! I will bake this cake soon.
Lore L Dowell
October 2, 2020 at 1:19 amI was looking for a special recipe to serve my Mexican hostess at an upcoming dinner. She is serving enchiladas and requested that I bring flan. Lo and behold chocoflan is the recipe I found. I am using a less fancy bundt pan and am confident in my abilities to turn out this flan perfectly.
Alex
October 3, 2020 at 12:43 amIve been wanting to make a chocoflan for the longest time. I had to make the chocolate cake part twice, the first time it was way too liquid. I followed the recipe to the letter and the second time the batter was thicker but still too liquid. I did not hold up the flan. I don’t know what I did wrong. :0(
Esteban
October 5, 2020 at 8:43 pmHi Alex, It sounds like something might not have been measured correctly! When you added the flan mixture, did you pour it in? When you introduce the flan mixture, it needs to be done carefully (I specify to ladle it in) so that it doesn’t disturb the cake batter. I made the chocoflan for Food52 a few weeks ago, and you can watch the tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD8nRoziBA0&ab_channel=Food52, just make sure bake at 350 like the recipe says (I accidentally said 325).
I hope the tutorial helps clear up any questions!
Arantza Ramirez
October 15, 2020 at 3:08 amI live for chocoflan so thanks for posting a recipe that does everything from scratch and not from a box! I live in Germany but miss this so much… its pretty much impossible to find la lechera dulce de leche… would it work if I subbed regular la lechera (I know it would miss its dulce de leche flavor) or other brand of dulce de leche?
Esteban
October 20, 2020 at 6:56 pmHi Arantza,
I wouldn’t use lechera in place of the dulce de leche, buut you can use lechera to make dulce de leche! It takes a few hours. I have a feeling my cajeta chocoflan might work a little better with what you might find in Germany! Here’s the recipe: https://chicanoeats.com/spiced-pumpkin-chocoflan/ I use the cajeta to coat some of the pan, but if you don’t have access to it, you can leave it out of the recipe.
Terumi
February 8, 2022 at 7:34 amSpeaking of your Cajeta Chocoflan recipe, can I use the cake mixture from THIS recipe as the cake for the Cajeta Chocoflan recipe?
Myrna
December 6, 2020 at 8:35 amI have been wanting to make a chocoflan for some time as flan is one of my husbands favorite desserts and he happens to love chocolate cake! This is a match made in heaven.
I made this recipe in my less intricate Bundt cake mold as i figured it would be perfect for this beauty. I baked according to directions, let sit out to cool before placing in fridge and finally placed in fridge over night.
I was incredibly eager to invert my chocoflan the next morning, like a kid waiting to open present on Christmas, sadly, I had the most difficult time getting it out of the mold. Some of the flan got stuck to the mold and ended up separating from the cake 🙁
While it does not look pretty at all it sure does taste amazing!!
Any suggestions for not having the flan stick? Maybe using a simpler pan?
Additionally, I bake GF as I have celiac and the recipe worked beautifully, well except for the whole sticking thing.
Esteban
December 6, 2020 at 7:12 pmHi Myrna, Let it sit out for 15-20 minutes at room temperature and it should be easier to unmold! Sometimes when the flan is very cold, it really holds onto the pan!
Planetzook
January 17, 2021 at 9:22 amHello, what a lovely cake!! Can’t wait to make it but unfortunately I only have a 6 cup Bundt pan. Is there a possibility to adjust the recipe for a smaller pan?
Bill
January 18, 2021 at 2:58 pmMine was perfect and delicious
Thanks for the recipe!
Bethany
February 7, 2021 at 5:36 pmI’m not the biggest fan of flan but I took a leap of faith on this and absolutely loved it! This is one of those recipes that gets even more delicious every day it sits in your fridge. It is a process to make, but SO worth it.
Esteban
February 9, 2021 at 8:12 pmThat makes me so happy to hear!!
Janet
March 10, 2021 at 5:19 pmLove this recipe but think I need to make some adjustments for cooking at high altitude – 6900 feet. Any recommendations?
Natalie
June 16, 2021 at 8:56 pmThis cake is delicious! The flip of the chocolate cake and the flan layers still blows my mind haha. It gets even better in the fridge in the days after baking, so I might even recommend making this a day or two in advance of serving (if you can hold back that long!).
Natalie
June 16, 2021 at 8:57 pmDelicious! The layer flip still blows my mind haha. And it gets even tastier after sitting in the fridge a while – I would recommend making this a day or two ahead of serving for that reason!
Liz
October 16, 2022 at 12:47 pmIncredible, showstopping, truly addictive work of art. The flavors of the dulce de leche flan and the contrasting textures of the cake make this an unforgettable dessert. My friends keep asking for this a year after I first made it…