Puerto Rican-Style Flancocho (Vanilla Flan Cake)
This Puerto Rican-style Flancocho is a rich dessert made with layers of caramel, vanilla cake, and flan. It’s baked in a bundt pan for that signature flancocho shape, and combines the custard-like texture of flan with a spongey vanilla cake.
Why You Will Love This Cake
Flancocho is the perfect Puerto Rican recipe to share at birthday parties, potlucks, and family gatherings.
This delicious dish combines two of the most popular sweets (flan and vanilla cake) baked together into a spongey yet creamy cake with impressive layers.
If you enjoy Puerto Rican desserts like this one, be sure to check out my recipe for chocoflan, a version of this recipe made with chocolate cake instead of vanilla. You will also love this budin recipe, a Puerto Rican-style bread pudding.
Ingredients
Step by Step Instructions
Tip: Make sure to use warm water (it can be from a tea kettle) in your water bath, to jumpstart the baking process.
What to Eat it With
If you’re looking for some drinks to serve with your vanilla flan cake, here are my favorites:
Other Types of Flancocho
Because the base of this dessert is a combination of flan and box cake, the variations are endless. I recommend checking out the box cake isle at the grocery store for inspiration. Here are some ideas for other flavors of flancocho you can explore:
- Chocoflan
- Red velvet flancocho
- Funfetti flancocho
Check out this selection of box cake mixes online to get started with planning your own spin on this dessert.
Special Tools
To make this recipe you will need a few special tools:
- A blender to make the flan batter – alternatively use a hand mixer or stand mixer
- A bundt pan to bake the flancocho – you can also just use a traditional cake pan if you don’t have a bundt
- Nonstick spray or butter to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan
Aside from those, make sure you have a mixing bowl to mix together the vanilla box cake and a pan to make the caramel.
More Sweet Treats
Here are some more Latin desserts to try:
Storage
Flancocho can be made the day before and stored covered with plastic wrap in the fridge before flipping to serve.
Once flipped, make sure to store in an airtight container in the fridge. It should keep for up to 5 days.
Baking Tip
Make sure to check the vanilla cake box ingredients you will need for the batter before leaving the grocery store! Box cakes can sometimes require additional oil, water, and sometimes eggs.
Buen Provecho,
Puerto Rican-Style Flancocho (Vanilla Flan Cake)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican, Latin
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Puerto Rican-style Flancocho is a rich dessert made with layers of caramel, vanilla cake, and flan. It’s baked in a bundt pan for that signature flancocho shape, and combines the custard-like texture of flan with a spongey vanilla cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- nonstick spray or butter, to grease the pan
For the Flan:
- 1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
- 1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- a pinch of salt
For the Vanilla Cake:
- vanilla cake box mix
- any other ingredients required for the box cake mix
Instructions
- Make the caramel. Pour the sugar into a pan and melt over medium heat. Shake the pan occasionally to make sure the sugar doesn’t stick or burn. Once melted, carefully pour into the bundt pan, moving the pan around to get an even layer at the bottom.
- Prep the bundt pan. Preheat the oven to 350° F/ 176° C. Once completely cooled, grease the walls of the bundt pan with butter. Set the pan into a dutch oven or baking dish.
- Make the flan batter. In a blender combine all ingredients for the flan and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour the flan into the bundt pan over the caramel.
- Make the vanilla cake batter. In a mixing bowl, make the cake mix according to the directions on the box. Gently pour the batter over the flan batter.
- Bake the flancocho. Add hot water to the baking dish the bundt pan is sitting in. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and carefully transfer to the oven. Bake for 60-90 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the cake.
- Cool, flip & serve. Let the flancocho rest in the water bath for 20 minutes before removing from the water bath and setting aside to cool (this can take up to 2 hours). Carefully loosen the sides of the cake with a spatula or knife and flip onto a platter. Serve with the caramel drizzled over top.
Notes
Make sure to check the vanilla cake box ingredients you will need for the batter before leaving the grocery store! Box cakes can sometimes require additional oil, water, and sometimes eggs.
Wow this looks so delicious.
Hi! I’m going to try this recipe for my boyfriend birthday, but I want to make a tres leche cake (vanilla sponge cake) so I’m wondering does it have to be a box cake batter to make the flancocho?
Hi Brianna. I have only made flancocho using box cake batter, but I know it can be done from scratch with the right recipe. I recommend doing some research and finding a recipe for exactly what you’re looking for (the tres leche cake) so that the recipe comes out perfectly. Baking is one of those things where small changes can have a big impact on the end result, and I wouldn’t want you to waste any ingredients for this special occasion! Best of luck, Salima
I’m making it right now but I forgot to grease the pan and instead of vanilla I used almond. probably won’t be able to flip it because of no grease but I’m hoping it comes out