Flan is a very popular and delicious dessert in Latin America. It is creamy and has a nice caramel topping BUT if you add a chocolate cake layer on the bottom, you will get the perfect celebration cake for any occasion. The flan part is usually a vanilla flavored one but because Fall season is just around the corner, I decided to make a pumpkin flan which has the right amount of spices and pumpkin. Chocolate and pumpkin are great together!
The method that I use to make chocoflan is a bit different from other recipes that you will find. First, we make the caramel. Then, we semi bake the flan until it is a bit set. Finally we make the chocolate cake batter and we pour it on top and finish baking. This trick will help you achieve better and clean layers and you will get the right texture for both flan and cake.
This post is sponsored by my favorite sweetened condensed milk Magnolia. Visit their website so you can see where you can find their products.
Let’s start baking and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales because I just posted videos of how I made this dessert.
Yield 1 Bundt cake
Ingredients
For the caramel
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
For the pumpkin flan
1 can sweetened condensed milk by Magnolia
1 can evaporated milk (has to be the same amount of the condensed milk)
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or mix: 1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves).
For the chocolate cake
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk (you can use any milk you prefer
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
For the caramel
1.- Grease your Bundt pan. I used butter and I covered the bottom and sides with butter very well. You can use a kitchen brush to grease each corner of your pan.
2.- In a saucepan mix water and sugar over low heat. When the sugar is all dissolved (no sugar granules left) , turn up the heat to medium-high and let the mix of sugar/water turn into the caramel, this will take about 15-20 minutes, do not mix , just keep an eye that it doesn’t burn because it will taste bitter.
3.- After a couple of minutes it will start to boil, bubbling a lot, please do not touch or stir. Just let cook and you will see that little by little the color of the mixture will start to change, to a light caramel color and then to a medium dark caramel color. Turn off the heat. Protect your hands with an oven mitt or a kitchen towel and pour into your bundt cake pan, covering all the inner surface with the caramel. Be very careful with your fingers, and don’t even dream of tasting it with your tongue. Hot caramel is dangerous. Let it cool, it will get hard.
For the flan
Preheat oven to 350 F.
1.- In a bowl mix condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs. Add in pumpkin puree, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Pour mixture into the cake pan on the top of the hard caramel.
Tip: You can use a sieve to pour the flan mixture into the pan. This will help you catch any leftover egg, pumpkin or big chunk of spices that you don’t need to achieve a smooth flan.
2.- Place the flan cake pan inside a larger pan with about 2 fingers of hot water.
3.- Bake for 40 minutes or until the flan is kinda set. We don’t need to have a fully cooked flan or liquid flan. It has to be semi-set.
4.-While the flan is baking, make the chocolate cake.
For the cake
1.- In a bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder. Add in sugar. Mix.
2.- Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until you don’t’ see any lumps of flour.
3.- Pour cake batter on the top of the semi baked flan. Finish baking for about 30-40 minutes. If you notice that the top of the cake is turning darker, cover it with a piece of foil and keep baking.
Also, always check that your larger pan has water. If the water has evaporated, fill your pan with water.
4.- Let it cool completely. Place the chocoflan into the fridge and let it rest overnight.
5.- Next day run a knife around the border and turn the cake over a bigger plate. If that doesn’t help, put the pan over some hot water for a couple of minutes, then try to turn the flan over again. Have patience, sometimes, it takes a little bit of time.
Enjoy!
If you make this dessert, send me a picture!
Keep this dessert in the fridge until ready to serve.
