Chocoflan
Moist, decadent chocolate cake layered with silky smooth flan delivers chocoflan. Top it with a Mexican caramel sauce called cajeta, and you have a deliciously magical cake. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and tastes even better.
The first time I encountered chocoflan was at a Cinco de Mayo party where my friend dubbed it the impossible cake. I was intrigued and had to make one of my own. The list of steps looks intimidating, but I was shocked to find it’s actually quite easy and impossibly delicious!
It’s seriously hard not to go back for seconds and thirds with this cake. For me, it’s all about the beautiful combination of textures and flavors. Cake, flan, and cajeta make the perfect trio if you ask me.
What Makes Chocoflan So Special
Cake and flan go beautifully together, but what makes chocoflan special is the cajeta, the Mexican version of caramel. It’s a lovely sticky sauce made by caramelizing goat’s milk and sugar until it turns into a thick, rich brown sauce. If you’re familiar with dulce de leche made with cow’s milk, which I’m also obsessed with, it’s similar as far as color and texture go. Cajeta is literally and figuratively the icing on this cake, and it is uh-mazing!
How to Make Chocoflan
The Chocolate Cake
- Pour the cajeta into the bottom of a greased Bundt pan and set it aside. (Photo 1)
- Cream the butter and sugar at a medium to high speed until it’s fluffy and starting to look white, 4-5 minutes. (Photo 2)
- Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well between each addition. (Photos 3-4)
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon into the batter, and then add vanilla extract. (Photos 5-6)
- Pour in the hot coffee and mix well. Finally, pour in the buttermilk. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined, and scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. (Photos 7-8)
The Flan Layer
- Combine all the flan ingredients: condensed and evaporated milk, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pulse on high for 30 seconds or until all the ingredients are combined. (Photos 11-12)
- Spoon the chocolate cake batter into the Bundt pan with cajeta and spread it evenly. (Photo 13)
- Pour the flan mixture carefully over the chocolate cake batter, forming a layer of cake and a layer of flan. (Photos 14-15)
- Cover the Bundt pan with foil. Place the cake tin on a roasting pan and then carefully pour about 1 inch of hot water into the pan (bain-marie).
- Bake for about an hour, or until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Chill in an airtight container in the refrigerator until the flan firms up. It will take a couple of hours.
- Flip onto a serving platter, grasping the cake pan and platter tightly together, jiggle a little so the chocoflan comes out onto the serving platter. Scrape any remaining sauce from the bottom of the pan and spread it on the cake. (Photo 16)
- Serve with more cajeta and garnish with chopped pecans, if desired.
Recipe Tips
- Vary the flan flavors. You could go with this creamy cream cheese flan, or try a coconut or rum flan.
- Grease and flour the pan thoroughly. Be sure to get into every single nook and cranny when you grease your pan, even if you are working with a nonstick Bundt pan. Oil and melted butter both work great for this.
- Remember to preheat the oven because getting the temperatures and timing right is key to this recipe.
- Allow the cake plenty of time to cool; otherwise, it could tear and fall apart. If the Bundt pan is still warm to the touch, please wait.
- Making your own cajeta is rather time-consuming. If you have the time, however, simmer 4 cups of goat’s milk with 1 cup of sugar and a cinnamon stick, stirring constantly, for an hour or two.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Chocoflan is actually best made ahead of time since it needs time to bake and then chill. You can make it three days in advance and store it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.
Store any leftover flan in the fridge in an airtight container, so it doesn’t pick up any strange flavors from the fridge air. It should stay good for 3-5 days.
FAQs
Chocoflan earned this title because of its strange behavior when you bake it. Even though the chocolate layer goes in first and the flan after, when it comes out of the oven, the layers are reversed, with the flan sinking to the bottom and the cake floating. 🤯
The baking soda with the buttermilk’s acidity produces gas, making the batter rise during the baking process. The denser flan batter sinks, and the ingredients switch places. Crazy, right?
I’ve done it, and it was awesome! However, it was incredibly time-consuming. Not a problem, though. Just replace the water and heavy cream in my caramel sauce recipe with an equal amount of goat milk, cut the sugar in half, and add a dash of cinnamon. You’re good to go with the recipe.
More Fancy Dessert Recipes to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”SOLgvLTf” upload-date=”2020-11-03T13:48:12.000Z” name=”Chocoflan” description=”CHOCOFLAN – Moist, decadent, chocolate cake layered with a luxurious silky smooth flan and topped with a Mexican caramel sauce Cajeta. This Chocoflan is one of the most delicious and magical cakes you’ll ever have.” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]
This blog post was originally published in September 2020 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Chocoflan
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- ½ cup (150g) cajeta, plus extra for drizzling on top when serving (you can also use caramel sauce)
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (118ml) hot coffee (or hot water)
- ½ cup (118ml) buttermilk (regular or low-fat)
- ¼ cup (30g) chopped pecans (or other nut)
Flan
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (regular or fat-free)
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)
- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350℉ (180℃).
- Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan, or spray well with a baking spray.
- Pour the cajeta into the bottom of the pan, turn to coat, and set it aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer at a medium to high speed until fluffy and starting to look white, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon into the batter, and then add vanilla extract.
- Pour in hot coffee and mix until combined.
- Finally, pour in the buttermilk.
- Stir until everything is thoroughly combined while scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl.
Flan
- In a blender, combine all the flan ingredients: condensed and evaporated milk, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pulse high for 30 seconds until all the ingredients are combined.
- Gently spoon the chocolate cake batter over the cajeta into the prepared cake pan and spread it out evenly.
- Carefully pour the flan mixture over the chocolate cake batter, forming a layer of cake and a layer of flan. Don't worry if the cake and flan mix together a little because they will separate while baking. Cover with foil.
- Place the cake in a roasting pan, then carefully pour about an inch of hot water into the pan.
- Transfer the roasting pan to the oven, and bake for an hour until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove and let it cool to room temperature. Once it has cooled, wrap it in plastic wrap to prevent it from absorbing other flavors from the fridge.
- Place in the refrigerator until the flan firms up, about two hours (but it will keep for four days).
- Place a large pan or serving platter over the cake pan, grasp both together tightly, flip it over, and jiggle a little so it releases from the pan.
- Remove the pan, scrape any remaining sauce from the bottom of the pan, and spread it on the cake.
- Top with more cajeta and garnish with chopped pecans if desired.
Tips & Notes:
- You can find cajeta at Mexican grocery stores. It’s a combination of goat’s milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Feel free to replace it with a thick caramel sauce.
- This cake’s magic happens in the oven as the flan passes through the cake and ends on the bottom between the cake and cajeta.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
i tried baking it right now, but after an hour the foil stuck to the cake and it’s still wiggly, why?
Hi Carmela ,
I understand the challenges you’re facing with your chocoflan. It’s important to note that without actually being present in your kitchen, it’s difficult for me to pinpoint the exact cause of the issues you encountered. However, there are a couple of potential factors that could have contributed to the foil sticking and the cake’s texture:
Oven Temperature: If your oven’s temperature is not calibrated correctly, it could affect the baking time and texture of the chocoflan. Ovens can sometimes run hotter or cooler than the temperature they’re set at, which would impact how the cake and flan layers set.
Pan Size: The size and depth of the pan you used can also influence the baking process. If the pan is larger or smaller than the size specified in the recipe, it could lead to the chocoflan not cooking as expected.
These factors are just a couple of possibilities, and there might be other reasons as well. Baking is often a process of trial and error, especially with complex recipes like chocoflan. Don’t be discouraged; each attempt is a learning experience!
I have a question rather than a comment. Could you substitute chocolate cake mix instead of making it from scratch? I love all of your recipes, BTW. Can’t wait to read your response.
Hi Linda,
I really cannot give you a definite answer with this one because I haven’t tested it out.
However, I don’t see why not. If you do make it let me know how it works out.
Thank you so much for trying out recipes.
Much love
Imma
I always use a cake mix and it still comes out so delicious! I made one a couple days ago and getting ready to make another!
Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing.
l can’t find evaporated milk here, can l use regular milk, or can you give me the recipe how to make evaporated milk by myself?
aprechiate your answer
renata
Hi Renata ,
Yes you could use regular milk. Or make yours from scratch using this recipe https://www.africanbites.com/how-to-make-evaporated-milk-2/.
Enjoy!!
This recipe sounds scrumptious, however I must have Gluten Free cake. Do you have such a recipe? Thanks.
So sorry we don’t have gluten free cake. However, you should be able to replace the flour with a gluten-free all purpose flour. Please let me know how it goes if you try it.
I would like to ask a rather simple question…. in the video clip and pictures the flan is on top of the cake, but it is poured into the pan last. How is that possible? (basically… how can I get the flan with the caramel sauce on top?)
thanks for the explanation.
I love your blog!!! It is simply outstanding!
Hi Claudia! The flan will change positions during baking. So when you flip it over, the flan is on top 🙂 Thank you for loving the blog!
This cake is also called “Impossible Cake” because it seems impossible that the flan, poured last, winds up on top over the cake. It’s physics! That’s what makes this cake wonderful.
That’s a pretty cool name for this and also true 😉
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, It looks amazing though! I was just wondering, as someone who doesn’t enjoy coffee, would it be possible to make this without the coffee, or do you know any substitutes? I would try with the coffee, but I just want to know incase I dislike it.
Also I was wondering do you have estimates on how much goats milk, sugar, etc. for the Cajeta sauce, or maybe a post with measurements?
Hi Kyle. You don’t usually taste the coffee, but it does intensify the chocolate flavor. You can use hot water if you absolutely don’t want coffee in your cake.
For DIY cajeta, simmer 4 cups of goat’s milk with 1 cup of sugar and a cinnamon stick, stirring constantly. You can also do it uncovered in a slow cooker for more hands off, but you’ll still need to stir it about every 30 minutes. How long depends on your appliances, but it does require patience.
Hope that helps.
Hi Imma! I’m new to your blog and love your recipe setup. I really appreciate the process photos. Can’t wait to try this out!
Awesome!Do let me know how it works out for you. Thanks