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flancocho on a white plate

Puerto Rican-Style Flancocho (Vanilla Flan Cake)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Salima Benkhalti
  • 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

Units Scale
  • 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 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.