Recipe adapted from Ana Garcia.
There are lots of recipes out there for chocoflan, but the one that I made with Ana Garcia is the best I’ve had. The magic happens when the two layers, a chocolate cake batter and a flan-like custard layer, switch places during the long baking process. For this reason, it also goes by the name Impossible Cake. It is a beautiful, wobbly dessert, the best of both worlds: moist dark chocolate cake and creamy vanilla flan all in one bite.
Chocoflan
Adapted from Ana Garcia.There are lots of recipes out there for chocoflan, but the one that I made with Ana Garcia is the best I’ve had. The magic happens when the two layers, a chocolate cake batter and a flan-like custard layer, switch places during the long baking process. For this reason, it also goes by the name Impossible Cake. It is a beautiful, wobbly dessert, the best of both worlds: moist dark chocolate cake and creamy vanilla flan all in one bite.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups store-bought cajeta, see note
- ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (136 grams) all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (40 grams) cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 ounces (57 grams) bittersweet chocolate, melted
For the custard:
- 1 can (295 ml) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can (356 ml) evaporated milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Butter a bundt pan and drizzle about ½-¾ cup of cajeta into the bottom and sides of the bundt pan. It does not have to cover the entire bottom of the pan evenly. Just drizzle and swirl into the pan.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F and heat a few cups of water to boiling. Have ready a baking dish that is large enough for the bundt pan to fit in, one that will allow the hot water to come half way up the side of the bundt pan.
- Place the sugar and eggs in a stand mixer and beat until pale and increased in volume, about 4 minutes. Add the oil and vanilla and beat again to incorporate, scraping down the sides if necessary.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the mixer, blending on low, until just combined. Pour in the buttermilk and mix, scraping down the sides, then add the melted chocolate and beat again on low just until it is mixed in. Pour this into the prepared bundt pan.
- Pour all of the ingredients for the custard into a blender and mix on high until smooth, about 1 minute. Slowly pour this over the cake batter, being careful to disturb the cake batter as little as possible. The best way to do this is to pour the custard over the bottom of a large spoon or spatula into the pan, held closely to the batter. Cover the bundt pan very tightly with aluminum foil.
- Place the bundt pan inside the larger baking pan and place in the preheated oven. Pour the hot water carefully into the larger pan, filling it enough to come half way up the sides of the bundt pan. Bake the cake for 2 hours, then test with a toothpick. It should come out clean. Remove it from the water bath to a cooling rack and remove the aluminum foil.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully invert a plate onto the top of the pan, and flip it over. The chocoflan should come out easily onto the serving plate. Allow to cool to room temperature, then serve with more cajeta. The cake can be made ahead and refrigerated, but bring it back to room temperature to serve.
Notes
Cajeta is a goat’s milk caramel that can be found in most grocery stores, or in Hispanic markets. Coronado is a popular brand.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
