A portmanteau of chocolate cake and flan, chocoflan is often referred to by bakers as “pastel imposible.” It’s easy to see why: The Mexican dessert is composed of layers that mysteriously switch places as it cooks, but simple science can explain the seemingly impossible feat. The dish starts with a roasty homemade caramel set in the bottom of a cake pan. Next, you’ll whip up a rich chocolate cake recipe by hand and spread it over the caramel before pouring a liquid flan mixture over the top and popping the pan in the oven. The transformation happens when the baking powder in the chocolate cake batter is heated, creating thousands of little air bubbles. Like a balloon, the now-airy cake layer rises while the thickening flan layer sinks.
To make our chocoflan recipe even more magical, we added cream cheese and condensed milk to the velvety-rich custard and used oil in the cake, not butter, to keep its texture soft even when fridge-cold (this also means you don’t have to wait for anything to come to room temperature before getting started). We also opted to bake our version in a loaf pan instead of the more traditional Bundt pan because it fits more easily in a baking dish or large roasting pan (necessary for the water bath) and makes the process much more seamless.
No one part of this dessert is particularly complicated, but a careful reading of all the steps will aid in your success. Your reward is a layered loaf that jiggles when you unmold it onto a serving plate, revealing a flan cake crowned with a gloriously dark caramel sauce that glistens like some kind of sorcery.
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What you’ll need
Instant-Read Thermometer
$35 At Thermoworks
Loaf Pan
$19 At Amazon
13x9" Baking Dish
$20 At Amazon
Mesh Sieve
$13 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Yield
6–8 servings
Ingredients
Flan
⅔
3
1¼
3
2
1
1
1
Cake and Assembly
½
½
¼
1
½
1
⅓
3
1
Preparation
Flan
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 325°. Set an 8½x4½" loaf pan inside a 13x9" baking dish. Bring ⅔ cup (133 g) sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally (do not stir), and cook until caramel is dark amber, about 4 minutes. Carefully pour into loaf pan, scraping saucepan with a heatproof rubber spatula to remove as much caramel as possible. Let caramel sit until set, about 10 minutes; reserve saucepan.
Step 2
Place 3 oz. cream cheese, cut into pieces, in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring 1¼ cups whole milk to a simmer in reserved saucepan over medium-high; immediately pour about half over cream cheese. Whisk until cream cheese is melted and mixture is smooth. Add 3 large eggs, 2 large egg yolks, one 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract; whisk gently to combine (to minimize bubbles, you don’t want to be too vigorous). Stir in remaining milk; strain into a large measuring glass or small bowl with a spout.
Cake and Assembly
Step 3
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk ½ cup (63 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) sugar, ¼ cup (21 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ½ tsp. baking powder in a medium bowl. Add 1 large egg white, ⅓ cup whole milk, 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, and 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or extract and whisk until smooth. Scrape batter into loaf pan with caramel, pushing to edges with a spoon if needed. Holding spatula as close to batter as possible without touching, pour flan mixture over spatula into pan. (This distributes force, preventing holes in the cake.) Pour boiling water into baking dish to come halfway up sides of loaf pan; carefully transfer to oven.
Step 4
Bake until cake is slightly domed, firm to the touch, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of flan (not the cake) registers 180°, 45–55 minutes. Transfer loaf pan to a wire rack. Let chocoflan cool 15 minutes, then refrigerate, uncovered, at least 3 hours and, preferably, up to 12 hours.
Step 5
To serve, dip base of pan into a skillet of hot water to loosen caramel. Run a small offset spatula around edges of flan. Set a platter upside down over pan and, holding together, carefully invert out onto platter.
Do Ahead: Flan can be baked 2 days ahead. Cover loosely and keep chilled.