ChocoFlan (The Impossible Layered Cake)
ChocoFlan is a Mexican twist on a classic Puerto Rican dessert, flan! Made with a layer of chocolate cake topped with a layer of flan, it’s a guaranteed show stopper dessert no matter the event.
If you enjoy Puerto Rican recipes, you’re familiar with flan and maybe even this vanilla flancocho. It’s a milk and egg based dessert made with a homemade caramel topping.
ChocoFlan is like if flan and chocolate cake had a delicious, caramel covered baby.
What makes it truly impressive and gives it its ‘impossible’ name, is how the layers of the cake flip during the baking process.
The chocolate layer that gets poured in the center of the cake ends up on the bottom as a result of its density.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make ChocoFlan:
- white granulated sugar
- butter, softened to room temperature
For the Chocolate Cake
- chocolate cake box mix
- any other ingredients required for cake box mix
For the Flan
- evaporated milk
- sweetened condensed milk
- vanilla extract
- eggs
- a pinch of salt
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make ChocoFlan
Make the caramel. Pour the sugar into a pot and melt over medium low heat, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent any sugar from burning. Once melted, carefully pour the caramel into your bundt pan and move the pan around the get an even layer at the bottom. Set aside to cool.
Prep the bundt pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 176 degrees C. Grease the walls of the bundt pan with butter once it’s cooled completely. Gently set the bundt pan into a baking dish filled halfway with hot water to create a water bath.
Make the chocolate cake. In a mixing bowl, make the cake according to the directions on the box. Gently pour the batter over the caramel sauce.
Make the flan. In a blender combine all ingredients for the flan and blend until smooth and creamy. Slowly ladle the flan into the bundt pan over the cake batter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Carefully transfer the baking dish and bundt pan into the oven. Bake for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.
Making magic: this step is where the cake gets its ‘impossible’ name, as the chocolate layer is poured on top of the caramel and under the flan, and comes out on the bottom layer.
Cool the chocoflan. Remove the bundt pan from the water bath and set aside to cool completely (this will take several hours).
Serve. Once it has cooled completely, carefully loosen the sides of the cake with a butter knife. Grab a platter and place it over the bundt pan. Carefully flip the chocoflan onto the platter, allowing any caramel to drizzle over the top. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Caramel Sauce Options
There are a few different routes you can take when planning what caramel to use for this recipe.
The Mexican caramel traditionally used is called Cajeta and can be found online or at most Spanish grocery stores.
Alternatively, you can use Dulce de Leche. This kind of caramel is more commonly found in South American desserts, and can be easier to find at the store or make yourself with one simple ingredient.
And if you’re not interested in either of those options, you can make the traditional Puerto Rican one-ingredient caramel we use for flan, like I did in this recipe.
The Chocolate Cake
For this ChocoFlan recipe we are using a box mix for our chocolate cake layer.
If you feel like being extra, you can totally go above and beyond and make a classic Mexican chocolate cake from scratch. Just make sure to half the recipe, so you aren’t making too much for the bundt pan to hold.
And if you’re keeping things simple with a box cake like me, you can add a pinch of cinnamon and/or chile powder to give it that Mexican chocolate cake spice.
The Flan
If you’ve made my Puerto Rican Flan recipe, you may notice the same recipe that is used for this chocoflan.
This easy recipe is made in the blender in a matter of minutes and has that perfectly creamy and light texture that compliments the chocolate cake so well.
Otherwise, this flan recipe is almost identical to the classic. Same ingredients, same super simple instructions, we love letting the blender do the work for us!
Equipment
Speaking of… you will need a good quality blender to make this recipe.
You will also need a 12 cup bundt pan.
Caramel Sticking to the Pan?
Sometimes a thick layer of caramel will stick to the bottom of the pan, even after flipping the flan.
This can happen for a few reasons:
- Reason 1: The layer of caramel was too thick at the bottom of the baking dish, which means the caramel was too thick to melt all the way through
- Reason 2: The surface area of the baking dish was too small, making it difficult for the caramel to melt all the way through
Either way, you can melt the caramel that is stuck to the pan over low heat until it returns to a liquid form, and pour over the flan.
In the future, try using a baking dish with a wider surface area on the bottom, and/or making and using less of the caramel mixture.
Storage
This cake can be made the day before and stored in the fridge before flipping to serve. Once flipped, it should keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
More Flan Recipes
Hot Tip
Heat up the water for the water bath before pouring into the pan, to help the cooking process in beginning as soon as the ChocoFlan hits the oven.
More Puerto Rican Desserts
This ChocoFlan is a great introduction to Latin desserts. Here are some of my favorites you should definitely check out:
Also be sure to try my vanilla flancocho if you love this chocolate version!
Buen provecho,
ChocoFlan (The Impossible Layered Cake)
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican, Latin, Puerto Rican
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
ChocoFlan is a Mexican twist on a classic Puerto Rican dessert, flan! Made with a layer of chocolate cake topped with a layer of flan and caramel, it’s a guaranteed show stopper dessert no matter the event.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp butter, softened to room temperature
For the Chocolate Cake
- chocolate cake box mix
- any other ingredients required for cake box mix
For the Flan
- 1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
- 1 (12oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- Make the caramel. Pour the sugar into a pot and melt over medium low heat, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent any sugar from burning. Once melted, carefully pour the caramel into your bundt pan and move the pan around the get an even layer at the bottom. Set aside to cool.
- Prep the bundt pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 176 degrees C. Grease the walls of the bundt pan with butter once it’s cooled completely. Gently set the bundt pan into a baking dish filled halfway with hot water to create a water bath.
- Make the chocolate cake. In a mixing bowl, make the cake according to the directions on the box. Gently pour the batter over the caramel sauce.
- Make the flan. In a blender combine all ingredients for the flan and blend until smooth and creamy. Slowly ladle the flan into the bundt pan over the cake batter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Carefully transfer the baking dish and bundt pan into the oven. Bake for 60-90 minuts or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.
- Cool the chocoflan. Remove the bundt pan from the water bath and set aside to cool completely (this will take several hours).
- Serve. Once it has cooled completely, carefully loosen the sides of the cake with a butter knife. Grab a platter and place it over the bundt pan. Carefully flip the chocoflan onto the platter, allowing any caramel to drizzle over the top. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
I am going to make this beautiful cake